Google floating data centers

Has been awarded a U.S. patent for its floating data centers that are powered by waves and cooled by sea water. The patent award was spotted first by SEO by the Sea. As noted previously, the floating data center idea is quite novel and makes a ton of sense. For Google these floating data centers could be a boon because there are no real estate costs or property taxes. The offshore data centers would site 3 to 7 miles offshore and float in about 50 to 70 meters of water. According to the abstract Google was awarded a patent (7,525,207) for: A system includes a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the plurality of computing units. Inventors were listed as Jimmy Clidaras, David Stiver and William Hamburgen. The general idea is to move computing power closer to users. The larger question is whether Google will actually deploy these data center barges. Rich Miller at Data Center Knowledge writes: Does Google have any intention of actually building these floating data centers? Many in the data center community are deeply skeptical about the concept, and find it difficult to believe that Google would ever pursue such a project. So here’s the interesting precedent: In December 2003 Google applied for a patent for a portable data center in a shipping container, which was awarded

With. Some of those ideas later mature into real products, services or infrastructure; some don’t. We do a lot to make our infrastructure scalable and cost-efficient,” a company spokesman said in response to an e-mail. The idea, however, is fully outlined in the patent application. Google says computing units could be mounted in shipping containers, which could be stored on ships or floating platforms and loaded and unloaded via equipment already used in shipping ports. The computers in the containers, or “modules,” could easily be replaced or updated as technology advances and adverse sea conditions exact their toll. Proposed configurations include putting the modules on land next to a body of water. Water is key for generating power, according to the patent, which cites the use of Pelamis machines and other devices such as wind generators to create energy. The Pelamis machines use a series of hydraulics powered by water motion to drive motors connected to electrical generators. Other devices, such as a floating power-generation apparatus, use tethers and a spring-loaded hub to gather power from the rise and fall of water levels. Google also proposes the option of building tidal basins with channels to the sea that are used to control the rise and fall of water that would engage the tethered power-generating devices. The power-supply methods could be used for floating data centers or wired into on-shore data centers. Google says such data center options can help satisfy the growing public use of the Internet and the need for bandwidth to support graphics, video and Web 2.0 applications. But it also says highly flexible and mobile computing centers would provide “transient data centers” that could be used in times of natural disasters, military maneuvers or special events to provide temporary computing and telecommunications services. Google’s application also details

Whether you call them tidal-powered, water-powered, or simply floating data centers the fact is, they are being utilized more than ever.Efficiency in Floating Data CentersAccording to CB Insights, data centers are in demand because “over 175 zettabytes of data can be expected by 2025.” ( In congruence with the population growing every day, land and energy need to be conserved as much as possible. The trend of floating data centers will save precious land area by utilizing lakes and oceans. The most common way to cool the data processing centers currently is with air-based efforts; however, becoming more common and more energy-preserving is utilizing liquid cooling.In a recent GeoTel article, sustainable solutions to data centers were discussed. The two main sources mentioned in that article were wind-powered and solar-powered renewable energies. Another trend in energy preservation and data processing are floating data centers. These structures are coined floating due to the fact they will be located on various bodies of water.Data-Driven ShorelinesLimerick Docks, Ireland can expect its first center that will implement cooling by water. The over $43-million project was first proposed by Nautilus Data Centers in 2018. One benefit that Limerick can expect to see with this construction is 100 people will be needed to build the structure and it will create 24 long-term jobs to run the data center. Ireland will still want to see more developments like these. By the year 2027, the Irish Academy of Engineers is expecting 31% of demand to be derived from data centers. Between the mainland of Scotland and the Orkney Islands, a new company that focuses on green power, Simec Atlantis Energy is planning what they call a tidal-powered data center. The proposed data center will benefit from the naturally cool temperatures of the region and current fiber optic submarine cables and landings. These undersea connections in the area are extremely reliable and reach various areas in the US, Europe, and London. The company’s CEO, Tim Cornelius, believes that Scotland has the potential to become the central hub for data centers and assist in the total decarbonization of the telecom sector.Keppel Data Centres is also hopping on this new trend and developing a floating data center in land-constrained Singapore. The city-state is a tiny island where land is in short supply. The government of Singapore is desperate to grow its digital infrastructure, but they also have extremely tight controls on land use. This is precisely why water-based structures will be so promising for the area. The floating data center will be located offshore in the Singapore Strait.Data centers are an essential asset of the worldwide telecommunications infrastructure. The amount of daily data that is used, processed, stored would be impossible without