Comment on Is there a practical reason data centers have to sprawl outward instead of upward?

Pistcow@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• IcedRaktajino@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Which begs the question why not magnets at the top of the building to help pull the electricity up?

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  • Triumph@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because nobody knows how magnets work.

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    • actionjbone@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Solution: instruct the buildings upside down, so the foundations are up in the air and the roofs are underground. That way, the electricity will flow down instead of up.

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      • FaceDeer@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        But then the roof has to support the entire weight of planet Earth on top of it, which is a much harder engineering challenge than pumping the electricity in the first place.

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  • a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because when it rains poof, no more magnets.

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  • jol@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because the electricity pulls the magnets down in the same measure, so they meet in the middle. Newton’s 2nd law or something.

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• phx@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  You joke, but heat does rise and a tall building would need to make extra concessions for cooling concerns, while also dealing with the issues if weight. Large racks of servers are actually quite heavy, which is why many datacenters in i.e Toronto were built in an ex parking garage

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  • Prime@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Heat is no issue of relevance for the question. The rising effect it negligible compared to what has to be transported anyway

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    • phx@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      How many high-rise libraries do you see? Weight is absolutely a factor in data center design, as is airflow/heat

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      • Prime@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        4 story libraries are common in my area.

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• Successful_Try543@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Unironically, I’ve had people telling me they save electric energy by inserting the angled Schuko plugs of their electric devices ‘upwards’.

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