• Baggie@lemmy.zip
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    2 hours ago

    Yeah so they literally always could have done this. They probably only started now because there was so much of a stink being kicked up about it

  • tidderuuf@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    Datacenters: “It cost how much? Fuck that we need profit today not tomorrow. Fuck yo environment. Where we buildin next?”

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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      5 hours ago

      The whole reason they don’t do it already is that evaporative cooling saves on energy. So their energy consumption will go up if they want to save on water lol

      • 0x0@infosec.pub
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        2 minutes ago

        Requiring any datacenter to also include a basin system with recycling of the water should be mandatory.

        It doesnt matter how the datacenter is “too big” to handle that, build a bigger fucking pool.

  • Jiral@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Wow, they invented closed loop cooling.

    I guess they will be completely blown away when they find out, that one can actually link data centers to distributed heating networks and thereby actually use the primary output of those premium priced electrical heating plants, instead of just wasting it and lots of water while doing so. Of course, for doing so one would have to properly plan those data centers and need more time developing them etc. And then it would take longer than this bubble might last so that is not an option.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      I read a story of one datacenter years ago where their waste heat was heating the industrial complex around them. It was a nice change to see. Regulations around it would really help. Oh you want to do this? You need to reuse 80% of your waste heat to get approval, and have x% of power be renewable.

      We know how do it, people just dont.

    • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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      13 hours ago

      They’re using water cooling directly on each component, swapping heat sinks for water blocks. It’s not a new idea, water cooled PCs have been doing it for a very long time, but never done at data centre scales as far as I know.

      • Nouvellalia@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        The world’s fastest computers have been using them for a very long time. Though not data center sized, they are usually 100+ racks.

      • Jiral@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        I thought that water cooled server gpus have been around for a while now, maybe I am mistaken.

        • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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          5 hours ago

          Given how long water cooling has been around, I’m certain that technology is nothing new. I remember Linus Tech Tips trying to do something similar, where they water cooled all the video editing PCs on one big system.

          Doing it on the scale of a data center will be something new though.

      • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        No closed loop system is 100% efficient. I worked in my youth with steam loop systems and even they developed leaks. Every few years needed to be shutdown and drained. 100% if they truly meant that is a fantasy/lie.

        • Nouvellalia@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          Refilling the whole system every few years is a 99.99999+% reduction though. I’ll give them a pass for rounding up on the headline or press release.

            • Nouvellalia@lemmy.world
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              9 hours ago

              Lol, and now you’re being persnickety about a 100,000th or 10,000th placeholder for the 9 in a forum comment. Do I need to smell your pits? I think we know how often you bathe. XD

              • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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                8 hours ago

                Nope. Just the reality that I described one closed loop system while Data centers represents thousands of closed loop systems. You need to work on your responses. Your attempt at descibing the odor of my response has nothing to do with where I pulled it from. I pulled it from reality. That thing you try to create not the one we all live in.

  • Bieren@lemmy.today
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    16 hours ago

    Maybe so. But it would cost money. And companies just don’t do that in America.

    • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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      13 hours ago

      It’s genuinely the same idea. It’s also something that has been done for many years in PCs, but not on the scale of a data center.

    • ramble81@lemmy.zip
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      24 hours ago

      However, radiators in your car are also effective due to a constant airflow over them as they are moving. Datacenters don’t move, so what will help that transfer?

      • elucubra@sopuli.xyz
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        4 hours ago

        Convection? Just install chimneys with the radiator at the base. That can even be coupled with fan driven generators. Fairly old tech too.

      • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        My car has this ancient technology called a “fan” to move air over the radiator when its running but not moving.

        • elucubra@sopuli.xyz
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          4 hours ago

          Well, that’s pretty cutting edge, it’s only been used since the beginning of the last century.

      • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        Wait…do you think no air is pushed over the radiator without it moving? Clutch fans and electric fans run when you’re stuck in traffic or idling. They turn on or off when the tstat tells them to (minus clutch fans that run off the engines own power).

        • ramble81@lemmy.zip
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          21 hours ago

          My point was more about forced airflow, whether it be the movement of the car (less use of energy, as you’re using the motion of the air to provide airflow) or if you’re sitting still you have those fans, which are a power draw. In the case of a DC, you’d always have to have a fan to do what a car does passively. So that increases, cost, energy use and complexity.

          Most DC builders are avoiding closed loop systems already as they’re more expensive.

          • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            I see, I don’t understand why they’re not doing thermal cooling. Just a little below the surface the temp is like 50-55, cooling liquid down from that level is a lot easier than doing it from 100+ in a desert. Go closed loop then…and build these things in the middle of no where, where no one lives…then power them off solar and nuclear power…or just don’t build them because no one wants this shitty clippy 2.0 anyways.

  • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    This article fails to mention (I presume, after skimming it) that all these data centers aren’t using water because it is magically better suited for this job, it’s just cheap and abundant.

    This “new cooling design” doesn’t mean shit when it doesn’t address the reason data centers are using so much water

    • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      They kinda do, they say that, because the coolant is so efficient at transferring energy, a data center will not need evaporative cooling.

      It would be very interesting to know what the upper limit of air temperature would be.

      • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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        1 day ago

        They already don’t need evaporative cooling. They just don’t want to pay for closed loop systems because they’re more expensive than evaporative cooling.

        The solution exists, it’s just not required so no one is paying to do it when they don’t have to.

        • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          Existing systems rely on air to pass heat to a radiator, which then relays heat to the ambient air outside. In order to keep temperatures inside the data centre at sane levels, the cooling water needs to be below ambient temperature, which can be done with either chillers or evaporative cooling. Running a chiller takes a lot of electricity to say the least.

          By exchanging heat between the chip and the cooling water directly, it seems they’re claiming they can just have a heat exchanger with no chiller or evaporative cooling required. Which is probably true, it’s why over clocked gaming PCs are often water cooled.

          • Damage@feddit.it
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            21 hours ago

            Why a chiller? You don’t need to freeze the servers. If you just use a normal radiator you remove the compressor and just need a pump and a fan

            • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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              16 hours ago

              This has to be the dumbest reply I’ve had in a while.

              I said below ambient, not below freezing. You can only ever cool to ambient temperature with a radiator.

              • Damage@feddit.it
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                2 hours ago

                Yeah and a processor’s ideal temperature is 70°C… If the ambient temperature is above that, nevermind the server.

                You’re a rude motherfucker btw

      • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        Again, they’re not using water for its properties. Heat transfer efficiency is low on the list of priorities. Cost, both upfront and running, is the deciding factor

        • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          Surely you must realise heat transfer efficiency and cost are closely linked, right? You haven’t told us anything we don’t already know. Of course this is about saving money, that’s already obvious.

        • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          I’m not sure what argument or point you’re trying to make here. Why do you think they’re using water, exactly? And surely you must realise how efficiency and cost are linked?

          • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works
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            1 day ago

            I don’t know how to be any clearer.

            LOW COST > HIGH COST.

            It’s money. The goal is to save as much money as possible. Businesses, corporations, contractors, investors. All the people making decisions are trying to save every bit of money possible.

            Surely you realize heat transfer efficiency isn’t linked to the cost of water. Which doesn’t even show up on the balance sheet.

            100 * 0 = 100000000 * 0

              • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
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                1 day ago

                You seem to have a hard time understanding that water is used because it is cheaper than the alternatives which already exist. This new development won’t replace water while the water remains cheap.

                • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 day ago

                  Are you talking about evaporative cooling? Because this new system still very much uses water, in a closed loop.

                  And I’m aware water is cheap, it falls out of the sky.

              • Mac@mander.xyz
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                1 day ago

                After your previous comment, i thought that about you as well.

                • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 day ago

                  Why do people keep acting like a company wanting to save money is a revelation? It’s so blindingly obvious, there’s no need to tell everyone all the time?

  • Victor@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Still gonna be using tons of energy, so hit me up when they claim 100% reduction in energy and I’m interested.

  • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    It sounds like genuinely cool technology in multiple ways. A water block on every single major component, and no cooling fans at all.

    That would also be a very quiet room, rather than having thousands of tiny little fans screaming all the time.