WILSON NG wilson@ngkai.com Hosting data centers

The term “cloud” is rapidly becoming a buzzword in IT circles. Whenever we go on Facebook, use Google Search, send or receive e-mails, buy things from Amazon, listen to spotify, watch YouTube/ Netflix, book a car on Uber, buy a ticket from an airline site, or backup to iCloud, our data is processed and stored in some servers somewhere.

The big three in cloud providers are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google. Each of them probably have millions of servers. Their electricity consumption probably exceeds that of a big town or small city.

Servers need a lot of electricity and also generate a lot of heat. That is why half of the electrical requirements of servers is to cool them. And that is also why most of the big data centers are found in the northern American and European countries.

If they are based in the frigid weather near the North Pole, then they don’t have to spend much for air conditioning, and if they can generate electricity from a nearby waterfall, they can save a lot.

Does that mean that we are losing in this business, and it is a given that our own data will be stored near the North Pole because of cost considerations? Maybe not.

Microsoft has a project, dubbed Project Natick, which aims to find a viable solution in operating data centers. One of these is the possibility that data centers can be put under the sea, and using the water and the waves to generate electricity. They have undergone the first phase of testing, and it seems to be working.

If this becomes a viable solution, then obviously, one of the beneficiaries is the Philippines. Few countries are nearer the sea than our own. If it can be viable, then Philippines can be a lead in hosting data centers that are operating under the sea.

In line with new releases, Jose Rizal’s birthday on June 19 was fittingly celebrated with the release of a manga written by Takahiro Matsui, with illustrations by Ryo Konno. The manga contains the story of our hero’s life.

As an avid enthusiast of Japanese culture, Rizal easily mastered the language during his stay there. Fittingly, the manga will be translated into three languages— English and Japanese; although Filipino is still in the works.

I myself am a fan of Japanese culture and it will be very exciting to see the depiction of Rizal’s life in a very animated format. The comics come in episodes every week, and as of this writing, two installments are now online for free. If you are interested, do check out www.manga.club for the English version.

Servers need a lot of electricity and also generate a lot of heat. That is why half of the electrical requirements of servers is to cool them.