How trivial is the operation of a data center today? Does the data
center itself, in its common form, still provide room for patents? Would
the supply of electricity if it came from a wind turbine that is
connected to the data center, in its simplest form, qualify for a
patent? Apparently so.
Microsoft’s patent application for a wind-powered data center claims
the rights to the invention of a data center that is not connected to an
electrical grid, but to its own wind turbine. The turbine itself
appears to be a generic model of a wind turbine that is described as a
device that “includes blades mounted to the top of a tower that is at
least partially hollow, the blades configured to rotate when the wind
blows to generate the power.”
Further claims include descriptions of how servers are installed
within racks, a battery system, as well as controllers that figure out
whether a turbine creates enough, not enough or too much power. In those
cases, the system would be able to either draw power from a battery and
the servers would be throttled (if there is not enough power) or divert
excess power to the better, if there is too much power generated. If
there is any idea that could be called new – if we are willing to go
that way – it would be the thought that, as the towers of wind turbines
are hollow, these towers could be used as chimneys and leveraged to
dissipate heat from the data center.
The motivation for such a data center, which, in fact may not be such
a far-fetched idea to be used in the future, at least if greenhouse gas
emissions truly affect climate change that could favor such a power
supply model for an individual data center, is somewhat obvious. In
Microsoft’s words: ” Computer data centers, that include
network-connected computer servers that receive, process, store, and
transmit data, utilize an immense amount of power to operate.
Conventionally, therefore, computer data centers are connected to the
power grid. As the amount of data stored on and transmitted over the
Internet increases, however, more and more computer servers are utilized
which is causing the amount of available power to become a scare
resource and a resultant increase in the amount of carbon emitted to
power servers.”
Makes sense to me. But does this idea call for a patent? I am not so
sure. If someone else would build a data center with an attached
windmill, would Microsoft, if it is granted this patent, in fact, demand
license fees? Someone ought to stop this nonsense.
The conclusion in the patent could be considered amusing, if it was
not part of what appears to be a serious submission for a patent:
“This document describes various techniques for powering computer
data centers using wind-powered generators. A data center may include
network connected servers that are electrically connected to, and
powered by, a wind-powered generator that generates power by converting
the energy of wind into electricity used to power the data center. The
wind-powered generator may include blades mounted on top of a hollow
tower. When the wind blows, the blades rotate to convert the energy of
wind into kinetic energy. The kinetic energy is then converted to
electricity used to power the data center. Server containers, configured
to hold the servers, may be mounted to an outer wall at the bottom of
the tower to form a supportive base for the tower. In some embodiments
the hollow tower of the wind-powered generator may be used as a chimney
to cool the servers.
In some embodiments excess power generated by the wind-powered
generator may be redistributed to an alternate source, such as a battery
storage device. The excess power may then be drawn from the battery
storage device, at a later time, to provide power to the data center
when the wind-powered generator generates insufficient power for the
data center. In other embodiments one or more of the servers may be
selectively turned off or throttled down into a lower performing state
when the wind-powered generator is generating insufficient power for the
data center.”
My take? It seems as if every simple idea is considered to be a
candidate for a patent today. It is somewhat obvious that society is
screwing itself with this kind of behavior – the thought that you would
need a patent to protect an idea that could be viewed as common sense is
simply wrong.
Wolfgang Gruener in Business Science & Research on November 18
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