Some cities are examining the possibility of installing data centers, those energy-gobbling server rooms we all rely on, on mothballed ships. Although high-speed lines would have to be extended to the docks, the energy savings would be tremendous because these ship-bound data centers would need far less air conditioning than standard data centers. Air conditioning accounts for 33 to 50 percent of the power that gets pumped into data centers. The…
Some cities are examining the possibility of installing data centers, those energy-gobbling server rooms we all rely on, on mothballed ships. Although high-speed lines would have to be extended to the docks, the energy savings would be tremendous because these ship-bound data centers would need far less air conditioning than standard data centers. Air conditioning accounts for 33 to 50 percent of the power that gets pumped into data centers. The air is cool in many of the world’s seaports. More important, ships sit in the water. ”It (a ship) has the biggest heat sink in the world beneath it,” said Subodh Bapat, who oversees Sun’s green and energy efficiency efforts. Sun is hosting a data center energy summit today. For the past two years, Sun has been touting the energy efficiency message hard. (via Greentech Media: Green Light » Blog Archive » Will the World’s Oceans Help Run Data Centers?)
The Smarter Planet tumblelog is an outgrowth of IBM’s strategic initiative to help a world of smart systems emerge.
See this primer on Smarter Planet