Monday, October 31, 2011

Facebook to build facility @ the Arctic Circle


I had been hearing rumors of this new server farm that Facebook plans on constructing. First off it will be huge. According to the Telegraph, Facebook plans to build three giant server halls covering an area the size of 11 football fields. As we know, these "farm" use copious amounts of power. The servers themselves do use quite a large fraction, but the most watts used for the least bang is the cost of cooling the equipment. That is why Facebook has selected a most unusual place for it's newest facility. Luleå, Sweden, which is located just 60 miles south of the arctic circle. There the mean temperature is 35 degrees Fahrenheit and rarely goes above 80. With such frigid temperatures, the farms will simply use outside air to cool the servers.

Even with this massive cost saving, and not discounting the impact it will have on the environment, the facility will still use 120MW of power, enough to supply 16,000 detached homes, and costing some £45m a year. However even this will be provided by a renewable resource, the nearby Luleå river, which by itself, produces twice as much electricity as the Hoover Dam so Luleå exports more than half the power generated.

Telegraph Article Here

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