You have to love the ingenuity of Google. If it’s not using pigeons to power its index, it’s sending up WiFi-equipped balloons.
Now it appears that Google might have plans to deploy a vast navy of ships, loaded with data centers, and powered by the sea’s waves!
According to The Times:
The company is considering deploying the supercomputers necessary to operate its internet search engines on barges anchored up to seven miles (11km) offshore.
The “water-based data centres” would use wave energy to power and cool their computers, reducing Google’s costs. Their offshore status would also mean the company would no longer have to pay property taxes on its data centres, which are sited across the world, including in Britain.
Right now, Google’s navy exists only in the form of a patent application–which means it may never see the light of day.
Here’s an idea for Google. Google Gyms! Connect the treadmills and exercise bikes to your power grid and use the heat from the servers to keep the swimming warm!
Quick, I need a blank patent application, stat!