Comments on: Data Centers on Cargo Ships?

By: greg

greg — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:59:49 +0000

nothing new, i have my asus mobo floating in liquid hehehe and its breathing

By: Bob Lozano

Bob Lozano — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:16:56 +0000

I think this is an interesting way to think about heat dissipation, but has way too much baggage to be practical.

The real solutions require some enablement from the app folks. More on this point at http://www.appistry.com/blogs/bob/architecture/floating-data-centers-id-rather-have-a-grid/.

By: mino

mino — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:38:15 +0000

Many people forget that datacenters generate huge ammounts of heat.
Guest what, heat is not a problem on a ship.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:11:49 +0000

Yes sounds like storms are manageable, but I imagine the real advantage is if the “real estate” savings outweigh the additional tech costs.

But here’s the million dollar question : Why is one better off putting data centers on ships instead of new apartments? Are data centers more profitable? Or are old ports just too ugly?

By: Meh

Meh — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:57:57 +0000

When is the Counterstrike mod coming out?

Also, Alex- not a good idea to post your phone number online. This story just got slashdotted.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:31:38 +0000

By and large there should be no noticable rocking on a ship of any size at dock. The one exception would be during a storm. If it were a sufficiently large storm, like a hurricane, the ship would HAVE to leave port just as Naval vessels do. When that storm surge comes in, along with the wind, even an enormous ship can carried inland and grounded, have it’s hull breached and sink, or destroy piers. I hope all data transfer can be halted or it’s all satellite or wireless.

I ditto the thought on waste heat being used. Certainly heat can be used to drive refrigeration units (early refrigerators used a flame) and generate electricity, but I don’t know how efficient or realistic this claim is.

By: Charles Soto

Charles Soto — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:19:41 +0000

I grew up on the Gulf of Mexico, and while I agree hurricanes are a real problem, let’s not forget that ships are very easy to protect against them. With sufficient warning, you can move the whole datacenter to a less risky port. If you have “sites” replicated to each other in pairs, you just temporarily take one “site” offline, float it somewhere safer, then return it once the disaster is past.

The US Coast Guard definitely had their act together during Katrina. I read an account 2 days before landfall of their entire Gulf operations being mobilized. They moved everything out of harm’s way, and positioned them to be ready to move back in immediately following the storm. This sort of event is manageable. Now think of how long it took (if ever) to restore terrestrial datacenters in LA, MS, AL, etc. Ships and cargo containers (e.g. Sun’s Project Blackbox) are a really brilliant idea that bears exploration.

By: blazespinnaker

blazespinnaker — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:44:31 +0000

Well, there might be some hidding value proposition here (ie, the ability to detach and move beyond legal juristiction), but from a simple engineering point of view .. it’s gotta be the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:52:42 +0000

I cannot resist:

What do you do when your datacenter sinks?

By: jlc

jlc — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:44:32 +0000

Rocking motion? Not tied to the pier in a sheltered anchor.