Liquid cooling?

[Fitch, Chester]

Yes, there was some talk on /. a while back about putting a server farm up
on the North slope of Alaska... here's the link:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/05/14/159258&mode=thread 

Idea was lots of cooling capacity (especially in winter) and lots of
low-cost natural gas to power the thing.. Problems, however, included
staffing and getting the data traffic to/from the lower 48 states.. (not to
mention the time required for a service call!) 

Interesting idea -- I actually used the idea as an exercise in class last
semester - as a (obviously extreme) exercise in facilities management. Point
was to get them to think about all the infrastructure we often take for
granted..
    
As far as selling the heat generated by our systems... A co-generation
facility off of the computer room? (Hmm.. Maybe, for some of our bigger
beowulfs..) But if your campus buildings have steam heating, well, there
might be something to it..

;-)

Chet 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Velocet [mailto:math at velocet.ca]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 3:59 PM
> To: beowulf at beowulf.org
> Subject: Re: Liquid cooling?
> 
> 
> On Wed, Apr 24, 2002 at 01:49:03PM -0400, Robert G. Brown's all...
> > On 24 Apr 2002, John Hearns wrote:
> > 
> > > On Wed, 2002-04-24 at 15:10, Worsham, Michael A. wrote:
> > > > Has anyone attempting to create a beowulf cluster using 
> extreme methods of
> > > > cooling, such as the liquid cooling?
> > > > 
> > > > Example sites: http://www.koolance.com/, 
> http://www.senfu.com.tw/, &
> > > > http://www.overclockershideout.com/
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > Well, I think Robert Brown has FINALLY been beaten here.
> > > You're not going to install Freon tanks, complete with plastic
> > > fish are you Bob? 
> > > I just have this bizarre vision of Bob in an aqualung visiting
> > > a Freon-flooded machine room...
> > 
> > Oh no, this has all been discussed before on the list before (many
> > times, actually -- look back at the archives with google to 
> find some of
> > them) and MY favorite solution is to build a really large 
> computer room
> > in, say, Antarctica and just put fans in the windows.
> > 
> > Liquid solutions (no pun intended:-) tend to be expensive, messy,
> > environmentally nasty (if you don't use water), risky (water and
> > electricity don't mix well) and, as you note, servicing the 
> machines in
> > a full immersion rack can be, well, "involved".
> 
> Wasnt someone suggesting putting a huge machine room in 
> alaska for this
> reason? Right near 'pacific rim fabric' and right near some huge
> power plants in alaska or what not?
> 
> Environmental damage notwithstanding.
> 
> Anyone ever sell the heat generated from the clusters to 
> someone else? :)
> 
> /kc
> 
> > 
> > ;-)
> > 
> >    rgb
> > 
> > -- 
> > Robert G. Brown	                       
> http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/
> > Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305
> > Durham, N.C. 27708-0305
> > Phone: 1-919-660-2567  Fax: 919-660-2525     email:rgb at phy.duke.edu
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> 
> -- 
> Ken Chase, math at velocet.ca  *  Velocet Communications Inc.  * 
>  Toronto, CANADA 
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