Data Center Outage Puts Spotlight On Power Systems

from the the-other-grid dept

This week's outage of a major San Francisco data center has prompted a lot of discussion about the tech industry's massive energy requirements, and whether or not the existing energy infrastructure will continue to prove satisfactory. Although we blamed excessive hubris for the crash, some are pointing fingers at the utility PG&E, for letting the underlying power outage happen. Of course, this doesn't explain why 365 Main's extensive energy backup system failed to kick in as it was supposed to. Either way, it's likely that continued investments into energy systems are in order. IBM has been investing in technology that will reduce the energy demands of data centers, but the trend is helping low-tech firms as well: yesterday, engine maker Cummins reported strong earnings, due in part to the sale of generators to data centers. All of this is further evidence that tech firms are increasingly forced to get down and dirty with tangible, physical goods in order to stay competitive.

18 Comments | Leave a Comment..