Will a switch to light speed cut power use at data centres?
For example final assembly is done in so-called packaging houses, which are clustered in Taiwan.Engineering challenges remain. Optical networking devices may generate far less heat but other components within a data centre are still making the local environment hot.And that's a problem for optical components which are very sensitive to heat, explains Wheeler. This raises reliability concerns, unless data centre operators and equipment manufacturers can keep within strict thermal limits.And while optical networks can carry data at – almost - the speed of light, installing and maintaining them will still proceed at human speed.
- ▪For example final assembly is done in so-called packaging houses, which are clustered in Taiwan.Engineering challenges remain.
- ▪Optical networking devices may generate far less heat but other components within a data centre are still making the local environment hot.And that's a problem for optical components which are very sensitive to heat, explains Wheeler.
- ▪This raises reliability concerns, unless data centre operators and equipment manufacturers can keep within strict thermal limits.And while optical networks can carry data at – almost - the speed of light, installing and maintaining them wil
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Will a switch to light speed cut power use at data centres?Image source, The Dallas Morning News via Getty ImagesImage caption, Data centres use vast amounts of copper in electrical and data systemsByJoe FayTechnology ReporterPublishedJust now"I think we're at the end of copper," says Chris Sharp, the chief technology officer at data centre operator Digital Reality.He's not saying that we are running out of copper, instead Sharp, and many others in the data centre industry, are betting that it will be used less.Data centres use vast amounts of the metal: around 400 tonnes, external will go into typical facility of around 100MW (data centre size is measured megawatts, a unit of electrical power).Most of that copper is used in the electrical infrastructure needed to power the datacentre and…
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