Google to set up Offshore Data Centers

So, what exactly is the giant upto now ? It’s “computer navy” – a set of supercomputers necessary to operate its Internet search engines on barges anchored up to 11km offshore!

The “water-based data centers” would use the sea wave’s energy to power and cool the computers in the datacenter. Their offshore status would also mean Google would no longer have to pay property taxes on its data centers halfway across the world.

In the patent, Google writes, “Computing centres are located on a ship or ships, anchored in a water body from which energy from natural motion of the water may be captured, and turned into electricity and/or pumping power for cooling pumps to carry heat away.”

Sun Microsystems said it could save $9 million of electricity costs a year and use half the power the data center would have required if it was at ground level (SUN had planned datacenters in underground abandoned coal mines). Technology experts said Google’s “computer navy” was an unexpected but a clever solution.