INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The inside of data centers is loud and hot — and keeping servers from overheating is a major factor in the cost of running them
It no surprise then that the big players in this space, including Facebook, Microsoftand Google, all look for different ways of saving
Facebook uses cool outside air when possible, Microsoft is experimenting with underwater data centers and Google is being Google andlooking
to its AI models for some extra savings.
A few years ago, Google, through its DeepMind affiliate, started looking into how it could use
machine learning to provide its operators some additional guidance on how to best cool its data centers
At the time, though, the system only made recommendations and the human operators decided whether to implement them
Those humans can now take longer naps during the afternoon, because the team has decided the models are now good enough to give the
AI-powered system full control over the cooling system
Operators can still intervene, of course, but as long as the AI doesn''t decide to burn the place down, the system runs
autonomously.
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The new cooling system is now in place in a number of Google data centers
Every five minutes, the system polls thousands of sensors inside the data center and choosesthe optimal actions based on this information
There are all kinds of checks and balances here, of course, so the chances of one of Google data centers going up in flames because of this
is low.
Like most machine learning models, this one also became better as it gathered more data
It now delivering energy savings of 30 percent on average, compared to the data centers& historical energy usage.
One thing that worth
noting here is that Google is obviously trying to save a few bucks, but in many ways, the company is also looking at this as a way of
promoting its own machine learning services
What works in a data center, after all, should also work in a large office building
&In the long term, we think there potential to apply this technology in other industrial settings and help tackle climate change on an even
grander scale,& DeepMind writes in today announcement.
