Computers And Technology

Data centers have never been exciting places. That is, until now. Its official, the coolest data center in the world is the Pionen, located in 100 feet below the bedrock in Stockholm, Sweden. Originally built as a nuclear bunker used during wartimes, it's now the home of a space-age, Bond-worthy data center.

Instead of focusing on hardware and servers, the designers of this ultra high-tech data center decided to focus on humans, making it a hip and fun place to work. The center features greenhouses, waterfalls, German submarine engines, simulated daylight and it can withstand a direct hit from a hydrogen bomb.

Design Straight Out of the Movies

The location of the facility was the inspiration for the unique design. Building a data center in an old nuclear bunker demands something out of the ordinary and a boring design wouldn't do. To find inspiration for the center, the designers turned to science fiction movies like Logan's Run, Silent Running and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Additionally, the James Bond movies were a huge inspiration for the design. The designer even wanted to get a white cat, but realized that would be going a bit too far.

Word of Mouth Marketing

One of the hidden benefits for such an intriguing and interesting design is the word of mouth marketing it automatically produces. The space-age design, waterfalls, greenhouses, artificial sunlight and smoke machines make the data center stand out. Since collocation is one of the services they offer, customers frequently visit the facility. When something is this unique customers are sure to share what they saw with their friends and business associates. Something like that can't be ignored. Other companies will want to check it out and see what's so special about the center and voila, they have another customer.

Space-Age Features

But it's not just design and no substance. In fact the data center is just as high-tech as it is aesthetically pleasing.

• Located in a nuclear bunker- the data center is located at the site of an original nuclear bunker from the Cold War. It has also kept the original name: Pionen White Mountains

• Bomb Proof- located 100ft underground and in an original bomb shelter, no hydrogen bomb is going to destroy these servers. It was built to be secure and protect soldiers in case of an attack. No longer needed for these purposes, it now protects servers... even from a nuclear attack.

• Triple Redundancy Internet- Losing internet connection is not a concern in this facility. Even though it's located deep within the mountains, there are both fiber and copper wires running into the facility through the mountains from three different directions.

• Cooling- The facility uses Baltimore Aircoil fans to cool the facility to the effect of 1.5 megawatts. This is enough cooling to cool several hundred servers.

• Houses Sweden's largest ISP- this center is home to the NOC for all of Bahnhof's operations. This is the largest ISP in Sweden, with five locations- of which, Pionen is the biggest. Additionally the data center is a colocation facility so you can put your servers there if you want.

This data center is by far the world's coolest data center and deserves its title. It's tough competition for anyone to outdo Pionen, but if anyone is up to the challenge, the world could use more cool data centers.

With the green movement getting more and more attention every day, data centers are starting to get more and more flack for the amount of power the use up and companies are looking for ways to start "greening up." Most of the initiatives that data facilities are taking involve recycling the power within the facility, using energy-efficient servers and cooling the server room more effectively. These efforts are great and lead to less wasted energy and a more efficient system.

But with all the attention focused on saving, little is being paid to making better use of the existing heat generated by the servers. As it stands, this heat gets wasted. It's removed from the facility by whatever cooling system the data center uses. Most commonly this is in the form of air conditioning or water cooling.

Missed Opportunity

But what if there was another way - what if the heat generated by the servers could be put to better use? There is. The solution lies in using the heat generated by the servers and putting toward something useful, rather than simply discarding it in the atmosphere.

Energy is wasted all the time these days. Companies spend thousands of dollars to remove the heat from their server room, while simultaneously spending more money to heat other parts of the building. This wasted heat is a missed opportunity in energy efficiency.

There are a few companies that have seen this opportunity and have taken the initiative to put the heat generated by servers to good use. There is no limit to the potential that this has when harnessed and used productively.

Heat Recirculation

One example of a company using the existing heat from the servers is Quebecor, a Canadian media company. Located in Winnipeg, where temperatures frequently reach 35 degrees below zero, Celsius in the winter. The company found that even during the coldest months of the year, they were spending thousands of dollars cooling their data center, despite the harshly cold temperatures outside. At the same time, they were spending just as much money heating up other parts of the building.

It just didn't make sense. Fortunately the regional director for the company saw this as an opportunity for the company to reuse the heat generated by the servers which helps save energy all around and at the same time reduces costs. So that's exactly what he did. Instead of merely cooling the server room, he implemented a system whereby the excess heat was harnessed and pumped into other parts of the building to provide heat.

The heat generated from the servers is used to heat the offices upstairs which host the Winnipeg Sun. Additional heat is allocated to the warehouse across the street which is often chilly due to the door opening and closing all day. Whatever heat is left over is put back outside.

Heating a Swimming Pool

Another company in Switzerland had a similar idea of putting heat generated by servers to good use. This company is located about 25-feet underground and 500 feet away from a swimming pool. Instead of wasting the heat generated by the servers, the company decided pump the heat into the nearby swimming pool in order to provide it with the necessary heat. Using custom-made cooling units overhead and powered by 200 servers, they are able to use the hot exhaust air to heat up the water and then filter it into the pool. This creates a practical use for the excess heat while simultaneously eliminating the need for the pool to use oil as its energy source.

Going Green(house)

The latest example of a data center putting their excess heat to good use is at the University of Notre Dame. Raising energy costs are forcing the local greenhouse to shut down. Currently it costs around $1,000 a day to heat the greenhouse, which politicians have decided is too much to ask taxpayers to pay.

That's where Notre Dame comes in. They've developed a new type of data center that's housed in a standard shipping container and placed right next to the greenhouse. The excess heat from the data center will be pumped into the greenhouse to heat it. This will reduce the costs of running the greenhouse enough so that it won't have to shut down.

As an added bonus, the data center will be able to use the humidity generated by the greenhouse in the fall, winter and spring. This reciprocal relationship benefits not only the greenhouse, but the servers as well.

Future of Heat

Reusing heat from data centers has many applications and lots of potential as an energy-saving initiative. Most companies aren't thinking along these lines though. But they should. Creating more efficient servers and cooling systems, reducing the amount of heat generated, and reusing the heat that is generated are all integral components of an energy-efficient data center. Companies have many options to choose from and reusing excess heat is yet another way they can help reduce the amount of waste produced in their facility.

Science has invented many things. The triumphs of science are too many to be counted. Some of the latest triumphs of science are really wonderful. They are quite remarkable discoveries. It has made our life easier by the computer a few years ago. It is considered as the brains of the human beings. It has opened up new vistas. These can make any number of calculations, modes of particulars hypothetical situations can be produced & studied.

In business, businessmen can simply deal through internet with their client regarding quantity and quality of the materials they require and can satisfy their clients. They can also give advertisement of their company through internet to attract more customers towards it. In schools, children are given knowledge about software of computer like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and for small kids games are available in PCs for their refreshment. Through computers, we can easily chat or give tenders, graphics to the person living in other parts of the world. We can also do e-commerce through computer by booking for the product & delivery is done at home. We can also come to know about new products and their prices through PC. Now, a days all the designers shows their talent of design through websites. We can also send picture on any topic to the person living in other parts of the world via email. We can now book railway tickets and airplane tickets with the help of internet. Thus it helps us to save time because initially people had to stand in long queues for booking which used to consume much time. Now, a days all the queries are solved with the help of video conferencing and tele-conferencing. In computer we have to only feed the data and it gives us the accurate result in a time not less than a second.

It has certain disadvantages too. It has created the problem of unemployment. Initially people use to keep accountant for keeping their records of their business but with the invention of accounting software, need of personnel has reduced. Thus, computer ha relaxed mankind in a number of ways by making their life easier to a great extent. So, it has been a boon to the mankind.