We use search engines everyday to look for information around the web but what goes into finding that information for us to look at in a matter of seconds. So what goes into a basic search like “Why does it rain.
”Well when I enter into the search bar, “Why does it rain” my internet server takes that query to the information database, usually referred to as a server farm. The server farm retrieves that information and in a matter of seconds returns that information back to you device. This means that the search engine you are using (Google Bing Yahoo etc) has there own server farm full of servers and computers that retrieve data. This brings us to the topic of data farms. So what exactly are data farms? The basic definition of a server farm is a space composed of networked computers used to store large amounts of data. They can also be used as processing power for certain websites. So what search engine is mostly used the most? The answer is google chrome.
Google chrome is one of the largest search engines with other engines running off of its servers. Google chrome has 2 billion installs so how do they have this much processing power. The answer is their data centers.
According to Data Center Knowledge “Google lists eight data center locations in the U.S., one in South America, four in Europe and two in Asia.
” Each of these data centers holds approximately 2.5 million servers about ten to a rack. This means that some of the largest facilities have up to 250000 racks of computers which can lead to a huge facility and tons of energy use.
The energy use of these facilities is of the charts insane not including the power needed to cool the facility so the computers do not get damaged by overheating. The requirements for these data centers internal heat is 50-70 degrees of the facility will shut down. These servers are used day and night and consume massive amounts of energy, almost 91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
This is the equivalent of 34 large coal powered plants adding up to a total of 5% of the nations energy use. This comes to the problem of solving this energy waste. This is why companies like google are starting to become responsible with energy. Google is currently using a system where all of the energy comes from hydroelectric and solar power. The hydroelectric power pumps water into the building and into copper coils where it is pumped through the coils cooling the facility. The water is pumped back out of the building called again and then pumped through building again.
This is a great way to save energy and avoid cooling systems. DATA CENTER LOCATIONS GOOGLEBerkeley County, South CarolinaCouncil Bluffs, IowaDouglas County, GeorgiaJackson County, AlabamaLenoir, North CarolinaMayes County, OklahomaMontgomery County, TennesseeThe Dalles, OregonQuilicura, ChileChanghua County, TaiwanSingaporeDublin, IrelandEemshaven, NetherlandsHamina, FinlandSt Ghislain, Belgium
