FRIDAY FUNNY: Hot Tub Data Centers!

data center hot tub

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

This week, we take you to the data center for some comic relief. Sure, it’s not the typical backdrop for humor, but a few years back, Intel launched an amusing ad campaign tapping into the temperature issues inherent in server rooms packed wall to wall with essential computer technology.

Here’s the explanation of the thought process behind the campaign (from Intel):

Data centers, the big computer rooms used by all big enterprises and Internet companies, consume 1.5% of the world’s total power generating capacity. This energy production creates hundreds of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases and costs business more than $27 billion per year in energy overheads. With the rapid growth of the mobile Internet, this could double in the next few years.

Typically, about 40% to 45% of this energy goes into cooling the data centers with air conditioning. Most data centers are cooled as low as 18’C. But is this cooling necessary? Could business save money, and the environment if so much air conditioning wasn’t required?

This funny video explores the unintended consequences of kicking the cooling habit.

Unfortunately, the video is no longer available on YouTube.