You know, as much as we love our complex high-minded gadgets, we've always had a soft spot for simple,
low-tech solutions to the problems posed by modernity. To wit, check out HP's latest
data center, which is strategically located in a blustery part of northeast England and avoids costly and energy-sapping cooling systems in favor of good old wind cooling. Equipped with eight 2.1-meter (just under seven feet) intake fans and a bank of contaminant filters, the Wynyard facility is purpose-built for the circulation of cold external air through and around the servers within. It's said to be HP's most efficient data center yet, and its natural cooling solution is estimated to save a healthy £2.6 million ($4.07 million) in annual energy bills. A couple other optimizations bear mentioning too -- such as the rainwater collection which is used to humidify the air if it's too dry, and the choice of lighter-colored servers racks, which saves on lighting costs inside. Hit the source link to learn more.
posted February 11th 2010 9:23AM
Nausicaa!
@osterzone
D/N/T Miyazaki-sensei.
@osterzone
Return the baby Gnome. :p
@osterzone My word EXACTLY.
@osterzone
I never thought Nausicaa to grace an Engadget post. All I can say is "w00t!"
@osterzone
Studio Ghibli rules!!!
@osterzone Vladislav you win massive amounts of cool points for this image, I think I'm going to watch Nausicaa tonight. I'm off tomorrow, maybe I should run the gauntlet? MIYAZAKI MARATHON
@osterzone Im ashamed of myself. I'm a huge fan of his work but I don't believe I've seen this one. Gonna order this this as soon as I get home!
So does it mean that the sysadmins in that particular data center will be called Nausicaans?
How much energy would it have saved to NOT erect this data center?
@ajcfreak
Bit of a moot point. "I just saved infinite energy because I have made nothing!"
@Hobsie
It's not moot. How much energy would be saved by simply replacing or adding more efficient servers/capacity/whatever to existing data centers.
@MAS
No, It is moot. With cloud computing and virtualization on the rise, data centers are having to expand physically to accommodate those new servers, no matter how efficient they are. Not to mention the other variables like power requirements for newer servers and the need for adequate cooling.
@PBB
It is moot, because the correct meaning of moot is that the subject is debatable anyway. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moot
But I digress in the wrong direction, because ajcfreak's question is worthy of being answered... everything is a cost benefit ratio, so the question is appropriately asked: When a product claims to save energy by operation, are the other expenses imposed worth the construction / operational costs?
The point that data centers are growing because of cloud computing does not refute the question, it should make you wonder whether cloud computing is worth the cost. All costs, not just convenience.
I approve of Engadget's choice of images. My favorite of Miyazaki's films.
Nausicaa! Love that movie, Miyazaki-sama master piece.
@(Unverified)
I love Miyazaki films but I thought Nausicaa was a bit of a snoozer.
@glamajamma I like Miyazaki but hvent seen that one for some reason.
@glamajamma
I found it hard to appreciate because I had already read the book (written by Miyazaki), which is roughly 4 times as long and detailed. So of course the movie'd be a disappointment.
Check this:
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/green/index.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAovypQcUik
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/28946.wss
No one else thought of changing data center colours from black to something else to reduce the lighting requirement?
@Nitesh You ever see white server racks? Most are grey or black.
@barry99705 Exactly. Seems like someone should have clued in by now.
Compaq racks used to be a very light beige, almost white. Of course they have been replaced by black because it looks cooler. Never underestimate how many decision in data center design have to do with looking cooler or displaying flashy lights. I have worked for two seperate companies that have compromised the hot row/cold row layout because it would mean you couldn't see the blinky lights from the doorway.
That being said, lighting for a 3000 sq ft server room takes less power than a couple of beefy servers. Better to just equip the racks with lights that turn on when you open the door, just like a fridge.
Most datacenters don't have windows, so how would a white rack help? We have some of those older Compaq racks and they still can't be seen with the lights out.
@PBB I didn't say they would eliminate the need for light. Datacenters that are black obviously require more light to illuminate them though, just like with a room painted a darker colour.
Yay, they're thinking with their brains! Next step - open up datacenters in Iceland. It has a cool climate, practically unlimited geothermal energy, and their economy would really appreciate the investment :)
@r3loaded isn't there an earthquake/volcano risk?
@r3loaded geothermal energy isn't free. It will change earth internal temperature.
@yejun Hence the term "practically". There is so much thermal energy within the earth that we're unlikely to ever exhaust it in millions of years.
Warriors of the Wind!
Not sure if using 8 huge fans to move air is really wind cooled. Air cooled is more like it. Also someone posted the IBM link which I am pretty sure is also cooled with air at time. And netapp has had a center with air cooling for about a year. Both of them are located in RTP North Carolina so even in not so cool climates it is still worthwhile.
In other words, it costs less to install the bandwidth to a remote location than to cool a building closer to where the data is consumed.
Great effort, but it's funny -- in some localities, it's illegal to collect rainwater...
That's one heck of an electric bill.
Am I confused? This article was suppose to show us HP's new datacenter, right? Not googles. The link goes to googles data center secretes revealed.
*Wynyard.
I'm local to the new datacentre, will be handy for me getting a job in Computer Networking after my Uni course.
Bravo HP! Now that Carly Fiorina is gone, you're one of the few corporations that Americans can still be proud of!