Google at Sea

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/09/18/computer.navy/index.html?eref=rss_tech

The mighty google is now looking to expand to the open sea, by introducing barge-based data centers. This certainly will not be an easy (or quick) endeavor, but shows huge promise considering the current cost of energy and the almost sickening bandwagon of all major corporations trying to appear "green" (whether they truly are or not).

So, what better way for a server-heavy organization such as google to accomplish both of these goals in one shot? As a mechanical engineer working in the HVAC and process cooling industry, I am very aware of the energy required to power and cool data centers. In a traditional brick and mortar setting, these massive data storage devices need to be powered and mechanically cooled (typically by an electric driven chilled water system), 24/7, 365 days a year, no exceptions. According to this article, the annual worldwide electricity bill for data centers was $7.2 billion back in 2005, and we all know that the amount of servers hasn't decreased since then, and certainly won't start decreasing any time soon.

Traditional data centers also requires a good deal of real estate, which incurs a lot of first construction cost as well as daily/monthly operating costs. Moving this entire function to an offshore barge would reduce the overhead costs by eliminating rent and/or property taxes and could potentially eliminate operating costs of the actual servers, by harnessing wave energy to power them and using seawater to cool them.

Unfortunately, this isn't going to happen immediately. There are plenty of issues and concerns that need to be worked out before going live with such a venture. Security and mother nature are the first 2 things that come to my mind as potential difficulties. Would this new data center setting increase the risk of attack? If this eventually became the "norm" and these barges were strategically placed around the globe, set up specifically to serve their respective geographic region(s), I think that could be a possibility, but hopefully a remote one. The bigger challenge, I believe, will be adapting this sensitive equipment for long term survival at sea. But at the rapid rate of technological advances in electronics, surely this will be perfected over time.

So, what's the next step? I think Google needs to put a bid on their first barge before someone else beats them to this game! It proves to be a logical and pro-active step in regards to saving energy, reducing their carbon footprint, and would serve as a catylyst for wave-energy research/technology.

I'll stick with the paper.... or my Laptop...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157580
This is an article on paperless newspapers that caught my eye. To me, putting current efforts into creating and marketing yet another electronic device customized purely to read an electronic newspaper is a major step backwards in today's Web 2.0 platform. In the age of trying to make everything compatible (or at least interoperable to some degree), why would we want to buy another proprietary device to carry around in our bag every day to read our newspaper(s)?

Proponents of this technology feel that people will be willing to pay for (or buy into) this monthly e-service because of it's convenience. Users wouldn't have to wrestle with a traditional newspaper on a train or in the car. They wouldn't miss the paper if they were traveling on business.. and this standalone device would give them a change of pace from staring at their computer screen to read a newspaper on-line. All of these reasons are logical and indisputable from the consumer's standpoint. From the newspaper's standpoint, this device would cut tremendous costs in printing, distribution, and traditional home delivery. The overall motivation mirrors that of Amazon's Kindle, geared towards textbooks (as covered in last week's Web 2.0 reading at http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/09/open-source-tex.html), which I DO believe will sustain longterm.

So, why won't e-newspapers work??? My position is simply the need for consolodating devices. We've been living through the lightning-speed advancements over the past 5-10 years in cellular phones, PDAs, and all consumer electronics for that matter. We've all seen basic cell phones, pagers, MP3 players, electronic organizers, blackberries, all hanging from people's belt clips, oftentimes multiple devices to serve multiple functions. Now, Apple's iPhone (just as one example) can perform all of these functions from a single device smaller than a typical cell phone was just 5 years ago! I see the exact same issue with launching another "new" device to handle only e-newspaper media. People have enough stuff to load in their bag on their way out the door every morning. If the argument is that a laptop is an inconvenient user interface for scrolling through a paper, then perhaps a new software application could be developed (and sold by the major newspapers for $$) to enhance the reader's experience?? I'm confident that someone will eventually figure out a sustainable solution. In the meantime, I think I'll make do with just my laptop for reading the paper...