What’s been going on in the world of data centers recently? Find out in our bimonthly news roundup below!
Artificial Intelligence Plays Football
New advancements are being made in the world of artificial Intelligence (AI) almost constantly, with perhaps the most interesting of late being a game of football. Google’s artificial intelligence division ‘DeepMind’ has taught AI humanoid characters how to play football, testing their capacity to work together as part of a team.
On a wider scale, this is ultimately to enhance communication and coordination between independent AI systems, which could open a plethora of exciting uses once further refined in and across data centers.
You can read more about it on DeepMind’s website
New Record Fiber Optic Speed Achieved
A team of researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (also known as NICT) in Japan have achieved a new record speed for data transmission in a standard cladding diameter (0.125 mm) multi-core fiber cable at 1.02 Petabits per second (Pbs). This was over a distance of 51.7km.
NICT set the previous record for data transmission speed back in December 2020 at a speed of 1.01Pbps. However, the previous record was achieved using a single-core cable with 15 fiber modes (multi-modes) – via the C + L wavelength bands, over a distance of 23km. This new record has transmitted data a fraction of Petabit faster, but also covered over double the distance!
In addition, the previous record required complex MIMO (Multiple-input-multiple-output) digital signal processing to unscramble the signals. The new record did not require any specialist transceiver hardware.
You can read NICT’s Press Release here:
First Data Center in India to Deploy Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Nxtra Data have announced that they will be working with Bloom Energy to deploy hydrogen fuel cells at their data center in Karnataka, the first data center in India to do so. Nxtra hopes that this move will help further their sustainability efforts and achieve their goal to be net zero by 2031.
Tim Schweikert, Senior Managing Director of International Business Development at Bloom Energy, had this to say: “Bloom Energy’s technology is distinctly capable of helping India meet its decarbonization objectives as it transitions to a hydrogen economy.”
Data Center in Japan Explores Use of Snow for Cooling
The White Datacenter Project is a sustainability test site located in Bibai City on Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. They are currently exploring how to utilize stored snow during the summer for cooling in addition to capturing heat emitted by the data center for greenhouses.
Initial results of the experimental project are encouraging but are currently only being tested in a 20-rack facility. The plan is to further scale this to a 3,000-rack facility. The researchers involved in the project believe that the results will show improved HVAC charges, potentially reducing them by up to 80% in comparison to traditional data center models.
IBM Builds Giant Fridge Capable of Getting Colder than Space to Keep its Quantum Computers Cool
The majority of quantum computers need to be kept in temperatures as close to zero as possible in order to function optimally. This temperature must also be constantly sustained with as little variance as possible, which is no mean feat, which is why IBM have built their proof-of-concept for a new cooling system altogether.
The solution is what is known as a ‘dilution refrigerator’, which uses a mixture of helium-3 and helium-4 to cool the contents down a minute fraction of a degree above absolute zero. IBM’s super-fridge, also known as Project Goldeneye, has been designed in a modular, clamshell fashion that allows the outer vacuum chamber to open sideways for scientists to easily access the hardware.
In tests, Goldeneye was able to cool down to just 25 mK, which is 1,000 times colder than the average temperature of space. When the IBM team of researchers placed a quantum chip inside, they were able to achieve a coherence time of around 450 microseconds.
While this concept won’t be a fully deployed solution just yet, it is hoped that it will help shape the future of cooling equipment for computing applications.