stuvy
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Screwdriver
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there is a fascinating correlation or virtual equivalence between energy and information. It is an issue of entropy which is way too bizarre and complex to discuss here but if you cram enough information into anything, it will literally increase its mass/energy!
Parm
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Not coooling.
A little known fact that most data centres have diesel powered sub stations. They burn fuel to make electricity very inefficiently and release huge amounts of so2 and Nox.
I was told a typical sized data centre has a 250 mega watt diesel power station
ronan
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Is that not the uninterruptable power supply system though ? If the mains grid goes down, the generator takes over seemlessly ? Maybe @brightspark could tell us.
Parm
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From what we were told today, these things run 24/7 and supply excess back into the grid
daleyd
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I’ve done (admittedly a very little) work at an amazon data centre in Ireland and while they do have a diesel generator it’s only for emergency back up, their usual power source is direct from the grid.
I imagine using a diesel generator at such a scale would be horribly inefficient, and given these companies would be out to make the most money they can I can’t imagine them using this unless absolutely necessary? It may potentially get started a few times per year for maintenance but otherwise just sits there idle for the majority of the time - though that’s only 1 centre I wouldn’t like to say what goes on in others.
Parm
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That’s what I thought too. I questioned the EA bloke and he said no, they use diesel generators, perhaps not all. It was quite interesting to see their data on big polluters, some unusual sources
Dutch Welder
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That was Franky Chili I thought?
eLuSiVeMiTe
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Thieving gits they are.
Wouldn't accept my insurer for some reason. £460 for a new screen.
Local place £210.
Dutch Welder
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When WSB was at it's best (though this incident was not)
I remember being at Assen, when a Dutch guy won the Supersports class just a small cheer, but when Foggy won the race the track was invaded by Brits.
It looked like half the crowd was on the track.
Shame they placed Assen much earlier in the season in recent years, the chance of a British rider clinching the title at Assen is now impossible.
I remember being at Assen, when a Dutch guy won the Supersports class just a small cheer, but when Foggy won the race the track was invaded by Brits.
It looked like half the crowd was on the track.
Shame they placed Assen much earlier in the season in recent years, the chance of a British rider clinching the title at Assen is now impossible.
mangocrazy
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I'd say your EA man has got the wrong end of the stick. If Diesel gennies are present in a data centre, they are only used as last resort backup. Any data centre of any size has its own electricity substation attached. Diesel power is horribly inefficient and very expensive. And the things make a racket like you wouldn't believe. Data centre power comes from the Grid.
It's pretty poor that someone from the EA is saying datacentres run on diesel, that's totally wrong.
In all the datacentres I go to that have diesel generators they are for power outages only. They have big battery banks that keep the site up long enough for the generator to start up. The only time most of these generators run is when they test them.
NGD in Newport is one of the biggest datacentres in Europe, according to the info video on loop in there reception area the only way they could lose power is if a UK super grid went down as they have their own private connection and the last time that happened was in 1942. In normal operation they run from 100% renewable sources. It's an incredible place that you need to see to believe. It's also the most secure place we attend.
In all the datacentres I go to that have diesel generators they are for power outages only. They have big battery banks that keep the site up long enough for the generator to start up. The only time most of these generators run is when they test them.
NGD in Newport is one of the biggest datacentres in Europe, according to the info video on loop in there reception area the only way they could lose power is if a UK super grid went down as they have their own private connection and the last time that happened was in 1942. In normal operation they run from 100% renewable sources. It's an incredible place that you need to see to believe. It's also the most secure place we attend.
daleyd
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https://www.techuk.org/images/programmes/DataCentres/Data_Centres_and_Power.pdf
See point 4 in the link above, it seems that very occasionally a data centre may have an agreement to use on site generation during times of peak demand but it’s far from usual and the on site generated power accounts for less than 0.1% of total power used by data centres.
See point 4 in the link above, it seems that very occasionally a data centre may have an agreement to use on site generation during times of peak demand but it’s far from usual and the on site generated power accounts for less than 0.1% of total power used by data centres.
dobbslc
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Yes you're right
Munkul
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Like bitcoin farms. It takes so much computing power that the virtual currency generated can't even pay for the electricity consumed. It only makes sense in streamlined special purpose efficient bitcoin computers, situated right next to cheapest power sources possible, like geothermal in Iceland etc.
ajlelectronics
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That surely is the definition of socialism though, everyone will be equal bar the few who will be MORE equal.
Screwdriver
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I once worked at a decent size data centre where we managed the ONS database and BBC iPlayer among other stuff a few years ago. I won't mention Siemens Maidenhead by name because I successfully sued them for <whatever>. The server rooms were half full of massive battery banks for automated UPS and the rooms themselves were like walking into a fridge. It was so noisy in there you'd really have to wear ear defenders. There were (are?) a couple of shipping container sized generators though I don't recall ever seeing them fired up.
Security was incredibly tight so the real boffins (not me I hasten to add, I was a video/streaming geek) installed a few "back door" workarounds to avoid the burden of having to go through the parlava of passwords and bottlenecks of single point monitored access. No machines in the server rooms were allowed to have USB sockets or CD/DVD drives, the iron doors were security locked and remotely monitored etc.
But in the summer, it was quite common to see the doors propped open and the windows wide open to promote cooling. Anyone could wander in but you wouldn't have to. Any one of us could log into the system even from home (!) because the Unix geeks had installed a "secret" remote service.
Having said that, you'd struggle to "steal" the ONS database. It was several Petabytes iirc (millions of Gb) and you'd either need a hundred years to transfer it or a van full of hard drives to make off with it. Like I said, information is HEAVY!
Security was incredibly tight so the real boffins (not me I hasten to add, I was a video/streaming geek) installed a few "back door" workarounds to avoid the burden of having to go through the parlava of passwords and bottlenecks of single point monitored access. No machines in the server rooms were allowed to have USB sockets or CD/DVD drives, the iron doors were security locked and remotely monitored etc.
But in the summer, it was quite common to see the doors propped open and the windows wide open to promote cooling. Anyone could wander in but you wouldn't have to. Any one of us could log into the system even from home (!) because the Unix geeks had installed a "secret" remote service.
Having said that, you'd struggle to "steal" the ONS database. It was several Petabytes iirc (millions of Gb) and you'd either need a hundred years to transfer it or a van full of hard drives to make off with it. Like I said, information is HEAVY!
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