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Orbital Server Farms

Never run out of space...
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As server farms grow increasingly larger, the logistics of running them become problematic. Generation of and removal of waste heat, providing power, etc.

So, utilizing complex communication arrays, to maintain vast channels of data transfer to these mega-satellites from earth, we co-locate our processing needs to server farms in near earth orbit.

Solar panels, working in conjunction with massive battery systems, generate the necessary power, waste heat is vented to outer space, and the computers are serviced by robot technicians controlled from earth.

Craenor, Sep 22 2008

IKECE IKECE
Optimizing radiation. [bungston, Sep 22 2008]

I wonder how much per pound costs are in microgravity Near_20Earth_20Orbi...ation_20Corporation
[normzone, Sep 22 2008]

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       We have Prior Art on this. [+]
8th of 7, Sep 22 2008
  

       8th is the robot technician.
wagster, Sep 22 2008
  

       NEO ? got something against geo-synchronous ?
[+] anyways for the near-future opportunity to say "with frikken com-lasers on their heads" at some point.
FlyingToaster, Sep 22 2008
  

       How are you going to vent waste heat to outer space? This is not a trivial problem. Space is a great insulator. You must radiate it away somehow. Check out the IKECE idea for more on this than you ever wanted to know.
bungston, Sep 22 2008
  

       Your processors will probably have to be radiation-hardened.   

       Also, due to the cost of getting things in orbit, let alone astronauts, your hardware must need no maintenance. Failure is not an option.
Spacecoyote, Sep 22 2008
  

       Actually Bungston, space (contrary to popular belief) is not a perfect vacuum, and any object left in space, that is then left to collide with those few molecules will conduct quite a bit of heat. This is what the ISS does.   

       With a proper heating/cooling system, this could work fine. Computers are also more forgiving than people in the temperature range they can safely operate in.   

       Would this really be a better alternative to having a server farm on Earth? Couldn't we just place it in Antarctica? Plenty of room there.
swimr, Sep 22 2008
  

       I just saw this in the news, but I can't find a link now. I'll keep looking. I thought it was another Google patent like the server farms at sea thing.
MisterQED, Sep 23 2008
  

       Give it also the ability to fire missiles from orbit and you then have the coolest rocket launching solar powered orbital data farm off earth, in fact, it would then be able to take on google... [+]
xxobot, Sep 23 2008
  

       First, I don't get it...second it has too many moving parts...third, everthing in this filed of dreams has already been invented.
Blisterbob, Sep 23 2008
  

       //Check out the IKECE idea //
Hah! I knew within the first four paragraphs that it had to be one of [Vernon]'s
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Sep 23 2008
  

       Found this while doing a prior art search for an interesting variation (also verging on the halfbaked, but a few orders of magnitude cheaper). Craenor, contact me through my website: ( www.keithl.com )
keithl, Feb 11 2009
  


 

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