Microsoft Puts Datacenter In a Barn

aesoteric writes "Microsoft has announced that it will open a new datacenter in Washington State housed in a 'modern' barn-like structure that is 'virtually transparent to ambient outdoor conditions'. It was not the first time Microsoft had toyed with the idea of a datacenter without walls. In September 2008, it successfully ran a stack of HP servers in a tent for seven months, apparently with no failures."

How about at the Alaska pipeline?

[ron_ivi]

I seem to recall a business plan back in the late 1990's to do something similar adjacent to the alaska pipeline; complete with a refinery.

The argument was that it would have

* Free airconditioning with the clean dry cold alaska air.
* Unparalleled physical security - with miles of visibility in all directions.
* A well-protected network (if they could run their lines along the well-defended pipeline)
* Unlimited backup-generator fuel (tapped directly into the pipeline)

I seem to recall they raised funds. Wonder what happened to them.

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[account_deleted]

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Re:Washington state is CHEATING!

[bennomatic]

Well, it's QC, not AR, but apparently, someone did think what you're suggesting was a good idea [greenm3.com]. The way they've got the systems oriented and the venting, all the heat is pushed towards the middle, creating an updraft which vents out the top and sucks in outside air so that you've got a natural cold aisle on the outside of the ring of computer systems. Pretty sweet stuff.