http://gigaom.com/2012/04/06/making-the-web-more-efficient-a-thousand-servers-at-a-time/ Sun, 19 May 2013 22:45:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://gigaom.com/2012/04/06/making-the-web-more-efficient-a-thousand-servers-at-a-time/#comment-830283 Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:30:26 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=506919#comment-830283 Well here’s me typing on a Dell computer – they must be good then!

]]> http://gigaom.com/2012/04/06/making-the-web-more-efficient-a-thousand-servers-at-a-time/#comment-827129 Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:12:38 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=506919#comment-827129 Somehow, encasing racks in trans-oceanic steel cocoons and loading roof trusses with them out in the hot sun of places like Phoenix and Salt Lake City doesn’t seem very efficient. One only has to look at Asian pagodas or middle eastern architecture to see thermally efficient structures. Break this down to essentials. You need data I/O, power, and a way to handle the dissipated energy of the electronics inherent inefficiency. Those are the three legs of the stool. All are interdependent. Particularly the distribution of energy between useful functions and waste. The cooler something is, the more efficient it runs. But there is a trade off with how you get it cooler. So now you’re down to getting power in and out. Electrical current in, and heat out. Guess what the most efficient conductor of current and heat is? Turns out the same few materials are in the running. Now, develop a physical architecture that maximized both effects.

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