An abandoned mine-turned data center in Norway will officially open on Wednesday. It claims to be the largest green data center in Europe. Its first two tenants are IBM and the German industrial conglomerate Friedhelm LOH Group.
It offers 1.3 million square feet of space, much of it provided in containers designed, built and shipped by Rittal. A fully customized container can be fitted out, shipped to the mine and brought online in six to eight weeks. There will also be three floors of traditional data center space where more racks and cabinets can be installed.
Situated within a deep fjord, the servers will be cooled using seawater cooling systems. The saltwater brought from the depths of the fjord is 45 degrees and cools the less corrosive fresh water. The fjord water remains pressurised and requires little energy to pump, eliminating the need for costly high-capacity equipment.
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