Data Furnaces Arrive in Europe

May 28th, 2015

Via: Ars Technica:

Nerdalize is a small Dutch company that is trying to commercialise Microsoft’s data furnace idea. The first product is the eRadiator, which, given its size, probably contains two or three servers that pump out around 1000W of heat—probably just enough to heat a small room in winter. In an interview with the BBC, one of the first users of the eRadiator says it takes “about an hour” to heat up.

To be eligible for the eRadiator, your home has to have a “fibre-optic connection” and “an external wall.” The fibre link is necessary to connect the eRadiator to Nerdalize’s core network, and the external wall is needed for venting (if you “turn off” the eRadiator, the servers don’t actually turn off; the heat is just pushed outside).

In exchange for free heating (after the €400-500 setup cost), Nerdalize uses the network of eRadiators to provide a cloud computing service. Because the company doesn’t run a centralised data centre, operating costs are much lower, which means the “cost-per-job [to the customer] is up to 55% lower.” The quality-of-service will be be lower than centralised cloud compute, too—Nerdalize won’t have any control over the access network (what if the home owner decides to do some torrenting?)—but there are plenty of use cases where cost is more important than latency.

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