The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center – known as MassNZ – is set to be unveiled in Holyoke, according to Mass Live.
MassNZ – which stands for Mass Net Zero – is only 200 square feet. It is aimed at researching more efficient ways to operate datacenters, which are voracious users of energy, and other facilities that are densely packed with computing equipment. MassNZ is driven by 100 foot by 30 foot solar panels. Inside the small facility are computer servers and storage and network systems, batteries and micro flywheels for energy storage, the story says.
The computing center is a partnership of several schools and businesses, including EMC, Cisco, MIT, the University of Massachusetts, Boston University and Northeastern. The Holyoke Gas and Electric Department is providing the batters and linking MassNZ to the grid.
Powering datacenters is a hot topic. Recently, Microsoft announced Project Natick, which focuses on submerging datacenters in the ocean.
