Shen Yihang: "East Computes West": Data Centers Store More and Compute Less, What's the Ecological Cost?

 —— Waste is the Greatest Evil

This morning, I came across an article titled "Insight into the Blockages of 'East Computes West'" published by the Outlook Think Tank, revealing the challenges facing the current "East Computes West" project in the western region of China. This project aims to build an integrated computing network of data centers, cloud computing, and big data, directing the ordered computing demand from the east to the west. The original intention was to alleviate the energy supply shortage in the east while achieving low-carbon, green, and sustainable development.

The article points out that despite some progress in the overall advancement of the "East Computes West" project, the efficiency of some data centers in the western region remains low, facing the problem of having more storage than computing power. Shelf rate is a key indicator reflecting the ratio of actual used rack units to the total rack units in a data center. According to the "2021 China Data Center Market Report," the shelf rates in the eastern, northern, and southern regions are between 65% and 68%, while the rates in the northwest and southwest regions are only 34% and 41%, respectively.

This indicates that there is a certain degree of waste and inefficiency in the construction of data centers in the western region. In my opinion, this phenomenon of "storing more and computing less" not only challenges resource utilization efficiency but may also lead to an increase in ecological environmental costs.

Therefore, this article aims to discuss the consideration of environmental costs. When exploring the issue of "storing more and computing less," we must look at it from the perspective of sustainable development and carbon footprint. The high energy consumption and low efficiency of data centers directly affect their environmental footprint, and this issue is particularly prominent in the western region. While pursuing the development of computing power, we cannot ignore its potential impact on the environment.

The report mentions the phenomenon of "storing more and computing less" in data centers in the western region, which is worth reflection. In addition to the low economic benefits, this may also increase the demand for energy. Excessive reliance on the construction of large-scale data centers may lead to more energy consumption, posing a potential burden on the local ecosystem.

Therefore, from the perspective of sustainable development, the "East Computes West" project needs to fully consider the impact on the ecological environment during its development. In the construction of data centers in the western region, attention should be paid to improving utilization efficiency, reducing waste, and avoiding negative impacts on the local ecosystem.

So, in terms of solutions to address the issue of "storing more and computing less," I believe we can start from the following aspects:

First, adhere to market-driven factors. More emphasis should be placed on market demand, using the market as a guide to promote the construction of data centers. This can not only improve the efficiency of data center usage but also help meet actual needs, avoiding blind expansion and waste. It's like building a house; the purpose of the house is for living, not for speculation. If speculation exceeds the demand and affordability of ordinary people, "ghost towns" will gradually appear.

Second, explore diverse application scenarios. During the testing and verification phase, collaboration with users with computing demand in the east can be conducted, focusing on various application scenarios such as "East Computes West," "East Computes West Rendering," and "East Computes West Training." This helps discover technical bottlenecks, solve mechanism defects, and continuously optimize the operation of data centers in practice.

Furthermore, it is essential to strengthen technological innovation. Heterogeneous computing, as the underlying support of the "East Computes West" project, requires continuous promotion of technological innovation to address issues related to computing power scheduling and integration. Only through technological innovation can we better achieve the goals of "East Computes West" and improve overall efficiency.

(Note: This article represents the author's views only and does not represent the platform's viewpoint. Comments are welcome.)

Contributed by: Shen Yihang

Editor: Richard

【Reference】

Liaowang ThinkTank: "East Computes West": Where Are the Blockages? (2024-01-16)

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/KMYC91HDAKg-M2SJnvSLCQ

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