[SGVLUG] ebay data center using fuel cells and drop generators and batteries

[matti]

ebay using bloom energy fuel cells in Utah data center,
dropping backup generators and batteries..

The question of how eBay would find clean power for its Utah data center — which is part of eBay’s global consolidation of its data centers into just three mega data centers in Utah, Arizona and Nevada — opened up another possibility: would it make more sense for the online marketplace to power its Utah data center by generating its own power and use the grid as backup?

“Fuel cells are primary power for the computers and then the grid is used as backup. We have a higher available data center with this design than we would have with a traditional generator and UPS design. That was a big ah-ha moment for me,” said Nelson.

While getting off the grid was not eBay’s primary motivation for the fuel cell installation, Nelson did say, “If there are limitations within the grid, we’d like to not be bound to them. And we got the benefit of having the grid as backup.” Using the grid as backup creates a relatively safe redundancy, and if it enables the elimination of UPS and generators, data center operators can rethink the up front capital costs of installing costly on site power generation.

more:
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/what-ebays-bet-on-fuel-cells-means-for-the-modern-data-center/