Google wins floating data center patent
Summary: Google has been awarded a U.S. patent for its floating data centers that are powered by waves and cooled by sea water.
Google has been awarded a U.S. patent for its floating data centers that are powered by waves and cooled by sea water.
The patent award was spotted first by SEO by the Sea. As noted previously, the floating data center idea is quite novel and makes a ton of sense. For Google these floating data centers could be a boon because there are no real estate costs or property taxes.
The offshore data centers would site 3 to 7 miles offshore and float in about 50 to 70 meters of water.
According to the abstract Google was awarded a patent (7,525,207) for:
A system includes a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the plurality of computing units.
Inventors were listed as Jimmy Clidaras, David Stiver and William Hamburgen.
The general idea is to move computing power closer to users. The larger question is whether Google will actually deploy these data center barges. Rich Miller at Data Center Knowledge writes:
Does Google have any intention of actually building these floating data centers? Many in the data center community are deeply skeptical about the concept, and find it difficult to believe that Google would ever pursue such a project.
So here’s the interesting precedent: In December 2003 Google applied for a patent for a portable data center in a shipping container, which was awarded in Oct. 2007. At last month’s Efficient Data Center Summit, we learned that Google deployed its first container data center in the fall of 2005, less than two years after filing its patent application.
Hmmm.
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Talkback
Does it really make sense?
Why collocate the data centres - we have extensive electrical grids to pump power from point of generation to point of use - why not leave the data centres where they are. People have been looking at wave power for decades, but it doesnt seem to ever have come to much.
I also assume these are not intended for off the coast of Somalia.
International Waters
Who has jurisdiction?
RE: Who has jurisdiction??
They have data centers all over the world.
RE: Google wins floating data center patent
RE: Google wins floating data center patent
Yes, makes sense
But your comment makes complete sense, and solves the pirate issue.
Who says Google created and patented the idea for their search engine business? There is lots of money to be made with the military, and the battlefield requires two very important things that this solves:
1. More and more sophistication and horsepower. With applications such as battlefield networking (an IP for every soldier!) and pilotless aircraft, every branch of the military needs more technology in the field.
2. Mobility. The military needs these high-power solutions to go where the latest hotspot is. I think if one looks at the major engagements of the last 20 years, that much is very clear.
RE: Google wins floating data center patent
I have the same problem with Google's shipping container data centers. The US Military has been using portable data centers built into trailers and shipping containers for at least as long too.
Starting their own country
RE: Google wins floating data center patent
Only 15 years ago, the Internet was negligible. Today the Internet has grown rapidly, but I would imagine that it still has a long way to expand.
Google will deploy these ships
[i]Google applied for a patent for a portable data center in a shipping container,[/i]
This makes much more economic sense than shipping individual components and putting the room together at its destination. They can build and deploy a barge ship to go anywhere in the world. If a data center off the coast of China can better serve Australia or California, no problem. Pull up anchor and plot a course.
Why is this patentable? People have
Why is this patentable? This is why...
> People have harnessed wave action for thousands of years...
First of all, a principle in patents is that you cannot patent an idea, what is granted a patent is the expression of an idea.
More to the point, however: Why did they grant a patent to the multiblade razor to Gillette and Schick? People have been shaving with razors since ancient times.
How on Earth do you think we have ended up with a number of patents that is in the millions (10s of millions)? There HAS to be a lot of similarity among many of them.
BTW: You cannot patent "wave harnessing" - It is too vague.
Depends on what the patent applies to
But in many cases, a patent can be applied to the method used to create the multiple blades as a whole, not the idea of multiple blades.
They also have the sinking datacenter patent
I guess we can now patent anything already existing on land once we adapt it to float?
RE: Google wins floating data center patent
Will this work ?
I am all for going green but sometimes things can be taken too far. Environmentalists are arguing over the massive solar panel farms being planned for our deserts because these farms could negatively impact the local plantlife and may endanger some species of animals. then we have to run cables from them.
I hope this works for them and they are looking at all the angles. Too often things are done solely for political reasons.
??
And, if this plan saves money (which is usually the case for green when the cradle to cradle costs are factored) and resources that would be a plus. It's not tainted left, it's more capitalist and benefit driven.
You sir are a troll.