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Singapore to set up first tropical data center

Xinhua, May 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) will try to set up its first Tropical Data Center (TDC) in the third quarter this year, announced Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim on Monday.

Aimed at reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, the trial will study if the data center can function optimally at temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius and ambient humidity at 90 percent or more.

Yaacob Ibrahim said it would prove that data centers need not be run in tightly-controlled cooled environments if the trial is successful. This would not only expand the geographical limitation of siting data centers, but also cut back on the existing requirements for the running of such centers.

"Efforts like these help Singapore realize our Smart Nation vision, and we welcome more collaborations to test-bed interesting innovations here," added the minister.

Currently, data centers are cooled to between 20 to 25 degrees Celsius, and kept to within 50 to 60 percent relative ambient humidity for safety. Thus, a data center's main operating costs go towards energy consumption to maintain such controlled environments.

According to estimates from IDA, the TDC could reduce energy consumption by data centers by up to 40 percent. The trial is part of the IDA's Green Data Center Program that was launched in 2014.

Yaacob Ibrahim on Monday announced the news at the Ministerial Forum on ICT 2016, the theme of which is "Connectivity, Content, Cybersecurity." Endit