Re:Microsoft's underwater data centre resurfaces after two y...
by JeremyNT on Monday September 14, 2020 @01:42PM
(#24472892)
Really, you have to isolate the variable you care about here, which is 'how much energy is spent on cooling.'
Consider, if you can achieve a fully passive cooling solution by dropping a datacenter into a lake, you've reduced the energy consumption in service of cooling by 100%.
(In reality, water cooling isn't "free," but I'm willing to bet the amount of energy required to dump heat into surrounding water is a whole lot less than the amount of energy spent for the compression cycles and forced air of above-ground HVAC systems. Water cooling using direct application of chilled water is already a thing, using lakes or retention ponds as places to dump heat; what being at the bottom of a lake gives you is a more consistent and proximate source of cool water than you might expect from a current chilled water distribution system)
Consider, if you can achieve a fully passive cooling solution by dropping a datacenter into a lake, you've reduced the energy consumption in service of cooling by 100%.
(In reality, water cooling isn't "free," but I'm willing to bet the amount of energy required to dump heat into surrounding water is a whole lot less than the amount of energy spent for the compression cycles and forced air of above-ground HVAC systems. Water cooling using direct application of chilled water is already a thing, using lakes or retention ponds as places to dump heat; what being at the bottom of a lake gives you is a more consistent and proximate source of cool water than you might expect from a current chilled water distribution system)