Comments on: Intel: Data centers could use some fresh air

Chipmaker says an experiment in which it exposed servers to outside desert air for 10 months proves that millions of dollars could be saved in cooling costs.

[brett_cgb]

Filters for large particulate dust would need to be cleaned/replaced frequently, and may have no effect on fine particulates.

Consider a pair of electrostatic precipitaters with automatic grid washdown (assuming humidity really is not controlled) connected in parallel. When one is washing/drying, the other is filtering, otherwise both are filtering.

I live in Phoenix, and I know dust.

During most of the year, the air is very dry, so a little humidity (from a washdown) would help to cool the air. There are about 2 months each year that have high temp / high humidity, so open-loop cooling may not always be practical.

[acpang]

They should build datacenters in northern Canada to take advantage of the cold climate

If they're in dry weather, why not use a Coolerado system. It can drop temperatures dramatically using just evaporative cooling. Much cheaper to run than an A/C system.

[raylopez]

Yeah a Swamp Cooler a.k.a. Coolerado system is the ticket for Phoenix