How Bitcoin Mining Affects Data Centers
Bitcoin has been in the news many times over the years as its price skyrockets and plummets dramatically. People who enjoy high-risk investments with big payoffs are easily drawn to this 21st-century currency. The United States is one of the more friendly governments for Bitcoin transactions while some nations have not legalized its use. Furthermore, Bitcoin has become more mainstream as many of the biggest online retailers have accepted the cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
How does the rise of Bitcoin usage affect data centers? Bitcoin is a blockchain technology that requires ASIC miners like the Dragonmint 16T and the Antminer S9 miners to create the coins. One of the unique characteristics of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is the algorithms become exponentially more difficult to solve as more coins are created. Because of this, the cost and demand for hardware resources increase rapidly over time.
With greater hardware demands and computational activity comes a greater need for cooling solutions. The heat that is generated by specialized hardware for Bitcoin mining is particularly high. In order to cool these machines, most data centers use a liquid cooling solution called immersion cooling.
One example of this cooling technique is implemented by the data center built by ASIC Miners. This data center uses a new cooling liquid called Novec, created by 3M, that is designed for data centers that mine cryptocurrency. The cooling technique immerses the entire server rack in the liquid which cools the entire environment around the rack as the hardware begins to produce heat.
The need for electric power increases as the computing power demand for mining Bitcoin grows over time. Bitcoin mining data centers range from one to five megawatts of power usage. This level of power is comparable to that of supercomputers. Green Revolution Cooling produces another of the most prominent liquid cooling compounds for Bitcoin data centers.
It seems clear that data centers that mine Bitcoins should use liquid cooling. The cooling tanks are able to cool up to 92 machines in one tank, and there will be a greater need for high-capacity cooling as Bitcoin mining becomes more difficult and the demand for the currency increases. In the near future, there will be a need for more high-tech facilities with cutting-edge hardware and cooling solutions. For more information on data centers check out this blog.
