Iced Raktajino@startrek.website to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world · edit-221 hours agoIs there a practical reason data centers have to sprawl outward instead of upward?message-squaremessage-square40fedilinkarrow-up154arrow-down11file-text
arrow-up153arrow-down1message-squareIs there a practical reason data centers have to sprawl outward instead of upward?Iced Raktajino@startrek.website to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world · edit-221 hours agomessage-square40fedilinkfile-text
Like, would a skyscraper-style datacenter be practical? Or is just a matter of big, flat buildings being cheaper?
minus-squareFaceDeer@fedia.iolinkfedilinkarrow-up14·19 hours agoBut then the roof has to support the entire weight of planet Earth on top of it, which is a much harder engineering challenge than pumping the electricity in the first place.
minus-squareactionjbone@sh.itjust.workslinkfedilinkarrow-up4·19 hours agoNo, it’s not. It’s all empty space under the foundation. There’s nothing to create crushing force against the building.
minus-square4am@lemmy.ziplinkfedilinkarrow-up5·18 hours agoYou are failing to account for the weight of the atmosphere on the foundation
minus-squareactionjbone@sh.itjust.workslinkfedilinkarrow-up4·16 hours agoThe atmosphere is just air. Air doesn’t have mass or weight, that’s why it floats.
But then the roof has to support the entire weight of planet Earth on top of it, which is a much harder engineering challenge than pumping the electricity in the first place.
No, it’s not. It’s all empty space under the foundation. There’s nothing to create crushing force against the building.
You are failing to account for the weight of the atmosphere on the foundation
The atmosphere is just air. Air doesn’t have mass or weight, that’s why it floats.