HIVE Blockchain Technologies became a partner of the Boden Type Data Center (BTDC) research project, a European Union-funded project with the key objective of demonstrating a range of highly innovative key engineering principles to construct the most cost- and energy-efficient data centers with minimal environmental impact. The BTDC pilot project utilized a range of techniques, processes, and equipment developed by cooling provider EcoCooling (UK).
To improve data center energy efficiency
A normal data center has a PUE between 1.6 and 2.2, which means that for every 1,000 watts (W) of power output delivered by the data center’s IT equipment, another 600W to 1,200W are used for cooling, power conversion losses, etc. This BTDC prototype inaugurated in early 2019 has achieved a significantly better Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) than typical data centers, of less than 1.01; a PUE rating of 1.0 is equivalent to a 100% efficient facility.
Tobias Ebel, Board Director, HIVE, said,
“Our mission at HIVE is to provide High-Performance Computing capacity with environmental responsibility. Our past achievements have been very good but the BTDC presents an opportunity to set new standards for this sector. We are targeting a PUE of <1.01 in the BTDC with a plan to apply this in both new projects and retrospectively incorporate these techniques and processes into our existing facilities.”
The EcoCooling approach is to use direct fresh air cooling combined with a holistic approach to integrating the cooling system with the IT equipment.
Alan Beresford, MD, of EcoCooling, said,
“The collaboration with HIVE in the BTDC project is a great opportunity for EcoCooling to develop a complete solution for both business needs and environmental responsibilities. Our key objective is to make HIVE the most efficient and lowest cost GPU operator in the world.”
According to the announcement, EcoCooling will work with HIVE to assist in HIVE’s plan to expand its High-Performance Computing (HPC) facilities with the lowest cost of operation, rapid deployment and minimum environmental impact. HIVE currently operates green energy-powered digital currency mining facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland which produce newly minted digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continuously.
The collaboration between HIVE and the BTDC is important for the HPC sector. The research should lead to unparalleled levels of efficiency in HPC which shall be applied to large scale facilities.
The BTDC is an Horizon2020 research project funded by the EU to improve the efficiency of data centers, which consume 3% to 5% of global power. Future applications are expected to drive demand even further. The consortium is made up of EcoCooling, H1 Systems, RISE SICS North, Fraunhofer IOSB and Boden Business Agency.