RSS Feeds
Computers
Google Claims Most Efficient Data Centres Ever
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 1:00 PM on October 2, 2008
Responding to criticism for its secrecy over its data centres, Google has lifted the veil a little on how much energy its information hotbeds use. The world's largest search engine insisted that Google-designed data centres used nearly five times less energy than conventional facilities, and launched a website to inform environmentally-bent customers on their 5-step approach to efficiency.
The move is important since data centres are becoming an ever-increasing drain on the energy grid, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all electricity consumed in the U.S. in 2006 (expected to rise to 2.5 percent in three years). While the efficiency levels Google touted are admirable, data centre trackers cautioned that the test results hadn't been verified by a third party. [NYTimes]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
willyolio
Posted 1:32 PM 2/10/08
they'd better have efficient datacentres. apparently Google archives the internet several times over for research purposes.
willyolio
usa1
Posted 1:26 PM 2/10/08
Old news, at least if you have been listening to IBM: [www-03.ibm.com]
usa1
Yetibelle
Posted 1:24 PM 2/10/08
Yeah I want to see Goats on the grass roof...and really if they wanted free cooling build them in North Dakota and leave the windows open. (real window, not MS) hehe
Yetibelle
Wrynocerous
Posted 1:11 PM 2/10/08
You want a Green Datacenter? these guys have a cool green storage product: [www.atrato.com]
Totally the wave of the future though. Even if this market crashes, internet technologies will march forward and green Datacenters will be at the heart of that.
Wrynocerous
thefutureisnow
Posted 2:07 PM 2/10/08
wow, I didn't know that.
thefutureisnow
os_2
Posted 2:51 PM 2/10/08
I wonder who's their data center vendor? IBM, HP, Dell?
os_2
Felix26591
Posted 2:50 PM 2/10/08
Still google's data centers are mostly powered by clean hydroelectric power
Felix26591
Geisrud
Posted 11:10 PM 2/10/08
As you can see in the image, Google uses electricity at nearly 90% of capacity. The typical data center uses only 50% capacity.
Geisrud
ILoveToast
Posted 11:36 PM 2/10/08
@os_2: Google uses custom Intel boxes. Supposedly they build em pretty cheap and are constantly racking them and do not even bother to hunt failed units down to replace them.
ILoveToast
beekerstudios
Posted 1:43 AM 3/10/08
@Geisrud: I think you are misreading this graph, read the google article. I think it's showing that the data-centers themselves use less energy, and that the google servers themselves use less energy. The datacenters only use a 1/5th or so more than the servers, where in a typical datacenter, the datacenter uses twice as much energy as the servers.
beekerstudios
geekpi
Posted 2:35 AM 3/10/08
@beekerstudios: I believe the 'data center' portion of their graph is mostly the cooling requirements needed by their facility. In a typical installation you need a watt of cooling for every watt of processing power consumed. They've massively increased efficiency in the cooling of their centers.
geekpi