Postcards from Tomorrow's Data Centers

Today's data centers are essentially the same: long rows of metal racks stocked with machines, miles of cable, and elaborate cooling systems. But just because we build data centers this way in 2013 doesn't mean that's how it will be in ten, twenty or fifty years. Here's a few glimpses of what the future might hold, from printable electronics to nanotube processors to nuclear batteries.

Kevin Fogarty

April 15, 2013

8 Slides


Print Your Own Circuits

Photo: Printed Electronics

Image Source: Aneeve

3D printing will revolutionize the market for electronic equipment, if not the science behind it. With the right materials on hand, IT might simply print electronics for servers right inside the data center. For instance, Aneeve, a company spun out of research labs at UCLA and USC, is developing "nano enabled carbon electronics" based on nanotubes that can be printed on a carbon nanotube machine.

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