Swiss Data Center Uses Glacial Water to Keep Cool

A mountain located in the proximity of the Swiss Gotthard massif is presently home to a data center that uses glacial water in order to keep cool.

As several studies have shown, data centers are major electricity consumers, and some researchers went as far as to argue that 1% of the energy burnt on a yearly basis all throughout the world goes into keeping such facilities up and running.

Most of the power fed into such data centers is actually used to bring indoor temperatures down, meaning that the air conditioning units that are part and parcel of such facilities are in fact the primary energy consumers.

However, this Swiss data center, known as the Deltalis RadixCloud, figured out a way to avoid overheating while keeping its energy requirements down to a minimum.

Thus, the data center relies on the cold glacier water it has at its disposal to cool down, and this translates into its being highly energy efficient.

Energy Manager Today explains that the data center is built in what used to be a command and control facility for the Swiss Air Force, and that its rock chambers keep a cool and constant temperature all throughout the year.

“The Deltalis data center consists of several multi-story buildings built into the granite rock, providing its customers with military-grade secured colocation space. Deltalis has vaulted ceilings in separated rooms and pillars around which colocation facilities had to be created,” Energy Manager Today reads.

Furthermore, “Data center supplier Minkels implemented its modular products at Deltalis RadixCloud, such as Minkels Varicon M data center racks and Minkels Cold Corridor aisle containment meant for an energy-efficient separation of cold and warm airflows.”

Thanks to its being so energy efficient and innovative in terms of pushing for sustainability, the data center was signed up to compete for the Datacenter Dynamics EMEA 2012 Awards, which is to take place on December 13, 2012.

The category it was shortlisted for is “Most Extreme Data Center Deployment.”