Technology companies like Google are always trying to find new ways to make their data centers consume less energy. It cuts down on one of their biggest costs, and it helps them maintain their cleantech image.
Data centers get very hot, and need to be cooled. But Google’s data center in Belgium gets all the cooling it needs from two non-electrical sources: non-municipal water brought in from nearby canals, and the surrounding air. Belgium’s cool climate means that the air outside is usually cold enough to naturally cool the hot computing parts inside, except for about seven days per year, on average.
So here’s the cool part (pun somewhat intended) – when it gets too hot outside, Google will automatically divert all processing away from that data center, to one of their many other data centers around the world.
Just one potential green benefit of cloud computing. But that’s another post…
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