The most popular and comprehensive Open Source ECM platform
Let us know more
Data Centers: The Noise Pollution Problem
Data centers are highly efficient. Consolidation of computing resources into centralized locations typically comes with overall cost savings due to the economies of scale. Data centers offer improved energy efficiencies, better security, redundancy, and increased productivity.
Data centers also consume massive amounts of electricity, a huge environmental problem. Much of the electricity that is consumed feeds air conditioners for cooling the many servers in the facility. Electricity consumption for traditional data centers has hovered around 2 percent of all electricity usage — something that has stayed relatively constant over the last decade. Computing at newer hyperscale data centers is denser and even more energy intensive, and many of these facilities are investing in green technologies to reduce energy consumption or to attempt to move the needle closer to some level of sustainability.
Noise pollution from data centers is an environmental problem that is discussed much less than energy demands. But the HVAC system of data centers constantly pushes out cool air but those systems are seldom silent, and noise pollution in the areas surrounding data centers has become a major problem for communities. Side effects due to noise pollution from living nearby data centers include headaches, difficulty sleeping, poor digestion, and anxiety.
Traditional data centers emit a constant 24/7 hum that ranges from 55 and 85 decibels.
One homeowner in Manassas, living near a North Virginia region AWS data center, said that “If I’m outside, it’s a constant humming. It sounds like I’m next to a highway. I wish it wasn’t brought to my attention because now it’s driving me crazy.”
What’s the fix to data center noise pollution? Probably more technology and more money. One suggestion is to use liquid cooling — doing that would make the fan noise disappear.
