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A comment on Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run their data centers. Parent comment

Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hn_version_0023 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:28PM (#31793530)
Having worked in MS's DCs, they are, in fact, hazardous. They absolutely push the limits on heat exposure for humans -- those hot aisles are HOT, and we all carried heat index alarms as a result.

Further, I think its weird you don't think of the sound as a hazard. When its so loud you must wear 30+NRR hearing protection, it sure seems like a hazard to me.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by userbinator on Saturday June 18, 2022 @06:02PM (#31794201)
They absolutely push the limits on heat exposure for humans

That sounds very different from my experience (not with MS DCs) --- where it was loud (though not quite as loud as e.g. an automotive shop) and windy, but the temperature was kept at a controlled 68F (20C) and alerts were raised if it got even slightly hotter than that.

Yes, I suppose there is more risk than sitting at a desk all day, but I think the parent is comparing it to many other jobs like those in the heavy equipment industry, mining, farming, petro, etc.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hn_version_0023 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @07:04PM (#31794607)
I'd agree its very different even from my own experience at other data centers. MS really were pushing it in the locations I worked. In early May, the hot aisles were already topping 112F! Given that, the policy in place was, IIRC, 15 minutes of work w/ a mandatory 45m break & fluid consumption.

Certainly there are riskier jobs. Certainly, by and large, data centers are safe places to work. But they are not without hazards and I (obviously) find it irksome when those hazards are dismissed so easily.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by dekhn on Sunday June 19, 2022 @11:25AM (#31800258)
Keeping data centers at 68F is a huge waste of power. It makes perfect sense to run them at the limit of what humans can tolerate (but no further).
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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by nsheridan on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:51PM (#31793719)
Not to mention fire suppression systems and electrical risks.
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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by Group_B on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:46PM (#31793684)
Sounds like as long as you follow basic protocol it isn’t really hazardous.
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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hn_version_0023 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @05:20PM (#31793931)
As long as you follow basic protocol your outcome won't involve injury. The hazard remains, and is the reason the protocol exists.
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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hllooo on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:50PM (#31793710)
requiring special safety equipment seems like a pretty good place to draw the line...
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