DCD Zero Downtime: The Bi-Weekly Data Center Show

In 2022, Mark Monroe's podcast about hydrogen was one of our most popular podcasts ever. At Microsoft, Mark had just made a prototype hydrogen fuel cell UPS system that could potentially replace diesel generators to provide low-carbon backup power at data centers. One year on, he's back for some more detail. A hydrogen economy will need a distribution system - but will that look like a power network, a gas grid, or a system of trucks?  Data centers won't be the first big users of hydrogen: Mark tells us where it will take off.  This year, we've heard stories of natural hydrogen mined from underground. Mark assesses that prospect, along with the other sources of hydrogen, and suggests that the new energy source could rewrite the world's map of energy providers. Listen to our talk with Mark to find out where and when you will start using hydrogen. 

Hunter Vaughan and Nicole Starosielski discuss the complexity of sustainability language, reclaiming the term 'sustainability' and avoiding greenwashing. They explore shared environmental strategies and the role of Greenpeace in promoting sustainable practices. The evolution of sustainability reporting and accountability is examined, along with the role of language in driving environmental change.

If you think transitioning the tech sector to net zero is all about renewable energy and heat reuse, think again. Small changes in software could make entire data centers redundant - for a much bigger saving for the planet.  Green Software is not just about more efficient code, says Anne Currie. Rewriting everything in C might cut energy use - but it would destroy your company.   As a leader in the Green Software Foundation, and a seasoned green developer and entrepreneur, Anne has much better ideas. She is working with Sarah Hsu and Sara Bergman, on Building Green Software, an O'Reilly book about what green software really means, and how we can achieve it.  Find out more in this podcast.

How does the Internet keep running? A close-knit community of engineers has been developing and supporting the protocols that support it for more than forty years. During that time, new Internet services have emerged and scaled beyond recognition, and new features have been added, all without breaking the whole system.  Mirjam Kuhne has been closely involved with this for 20 years, and in 2020 became chair of the European forum for Internet development -  RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens, French for "European IP Networks").  Since then, Internet services have become crucial to the continued operation of society during the pandemic, and European Internet services have faced unprecedented technical and political challenges during the war in Ukraine.  Mirjam says the protocols take care of themselves. What you need is a community of motivated engineers to maintain them. RIPE is open to new members, and when you hear how it all works, why wouldn't you get involved?

The global interests of the mobile industry are represented by the GSM Association (GSMA).  This governing body was established in 1995 to support mobile operators using the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard for cellular networks.  It has become synonymous with the mobile industry and has driven it forward through industry programs, working groups, and initiatives.  The GSMA’s legacy has even inspired something similar but for broadband instead, with Martin Creaner, director general of the Worldwide Broadband Association (WBBA) seeking to use this model.  Can the GSMA’s model be replicated for broadband as well? Creaner explains why the need for a governing body representing broadband interests is important.  “It’s all about creating a member-led organization that creates a platform to drive broadband cooperation and partnership across the whole industry to accelerate broadband adoption everywhere in the world,” said Creaner. If you liked this discussion or any of our other episodes, please give it a like or subscribe on your platform of choice. If we are not available on your favorite podcast player, get in touch.

Chris Monroe, chief scientist at IonQ, discusses the future of quantum computing. Quantum computers could soon fit into classical data centers, with minimal cooling and power requirements. They explore the unique nature of quantum computing, the minimum number of qubits needed for valuable tasks, and the potential integration of quantum computers with data centers.

There has been an ongoing issue with the representation of women in the tech industry, but why? In this episode, we talk to Kelley Mullick about her career to date, the factors that have helped her get to where she is, and the importance of supporting and empowering women to pursue these careers so they can find confidence within themselves. We also talk a little about her recent job change from Intel to vice president of technology advancement and alliances at Iceotope - what drew her to the company and why she thinks precision liquid cooling is the future.

Having trouble finding a location for your data center project? This DCD podcast could have the answer. Build underground.  Andrew Bourget of Swiss engineering firm Eccus has a design for a 2MW data center built in an underground tunnel - and he can dig that tunnel wherever you want it, even under existing buildings.  The way he tells it, tunneling is the future. There's no planning permission required, and you can build under your existing facility. You can migrate underground, and still have your above-ground space available for offices or to rent out. Is he serious? Time will tell. He's currently working on projects in Switzerland and France - with his eye on London, where the clay subsoil is apparently ideal for underground data center vaults. 

In March this year, a swimming pool in Devon, UK, was the unlikely setting for the most widely covered data center story (so far) of 2023.  A small immersion-cooled high-performance computing module from Deep Green is giving its heat to the swimming pool, saving Exmouth Leisure Centres £20,000 ($24,000) per year. It's not the first time data center waste heat has been harnessed. It's not even the first time it has heated a swimming pool. But Deep Green CEO Mark Bjornsgaard tells us that, this time, all the pieces are in place to make the idea mainstream.  In the future, he asks, why should the heat from any computing be wasted? Put it another way: if all our heating needs were produced by GPUs and CPUs, that would provide way more computing power than we currently know how to use.  

Cloud gaming was heralded as the future of games, and was set to become a major data center workload. Now, after the death of Google Stadia and layoffs at Amazon's Luna, what's left for data center gaming? We catch up with Omdia's George Jijiashvili to discuss all things gaming, as well as VR, AR, and a dash of the metaverse.