Datacenters: the central heating systems of the future?
Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Virginia are developing the idea to use cloud computing data servers as central heating units in private homes. In their paper, entitled The Data Furnace: Heating Up with Cloud Computing“, the academic researchers argue that data servers could easily be installed in homes and office buildings and could be used as a source of heating. Traditional data centers housing hundreds of computers are intensive power users. In the United States alone, they account for nearly 1,5 % of total energy consumption, and the current trend of cloud computing is believed to further increase…
