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(Image credit: Getty Images) The proliferation of data centers worldwide has raised more than a few environmental concerns. The most obvious one is the power requirement, but regional water consumption has just as bad (or even worse) an effect, as people in rural Georgia have come to realize . Government authorities everywhere have taken notice, including the Malaysian state of Johor, which is now reportedly nuking all proposals for Tier 1 and Tier 2 data centers.
Johor is the nation's tech hub and has attracted substantial international investment and tens of data centers, creating thousands of highly specialized jobs. However, the thirst for water has led the authorities to drown out any notion of building data centers that are not Tier 3 or 4. In fact, official Amira Aisya specifically brought up what happened in Georgia. That particular story isn't the only one, as citizens in Las Cenizas, Mexico, might also have strong words on the topic.
Data centers fall into four categories: the bottom two have single cooling and power paths, while the larger, higher-end ones have multiple systems. Crucially, they tend to have far better power efficiency (and thus lower water consumption) than Tier 1 and Tier 2, thanks to better planning and the use of more frugal hardware.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/malaysian-state-of-johor-drowns-any-ideas-for-tier-1-and-tier-2-data-centers-water-concerns-have-authorities-only-allowing-energy-efficient-builds#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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