
Data Center Costs as a Driving Force for Energy Efficiency: Part 1 - Caveman_Coder
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/industry-perspectives/data-center-costs-driving-force-energy-efficiency-part-1
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Caveman_Coder
> It is estimated that data centers consume between three and five percent of
> the world's power. Apparently, bigger is better when it comes to data center
> operations.

This is only going to increase as the world becomes more and more digitally
driven. I bet we'll see a lot of consolidation in the upcoming years. There
will still be smaller "edge" data centers in key markets, but the strategy of
building large 200MW+ data centers is here to stay.

> Another strategy that data center operators are using to become more energy
> efficient is to look for natural resources to benefit. Google for example is
> pumping seawater into one of their data centers. At Microsoft, engineers are
> exploring housing data centers underwater. Technically speaking, at the
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology, computer scientists have found that
> by slashing the common queries or "caches" energy consumption can be greatly
> reduced.

I wonder if larger energy savings will come from the software side of things
or from the traditional mechanical engineering side (more efficient cooling
systems/electric power infrastructures). Either way, its definitely an
interesting industry to keep an eye on.

