China Unicom has built a cloud data center in Changji, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where servers are cooled by natural air throughout the year, a design the operator presents as part of a green computing push.
China Unicom · Changji, Xinjiang
A western data center aims to cool its servers with natural air all year
China Unicom's Changji facility runs continuously on ambient air instead of conventional mechanical cooling, a design presented as part of a green computing push tied to the "East Data, West Computing" program.
HOW THE PROJECT FITS TOGETHER
From eastern demand to a western hub
Dense eastern regions
Data-processing demand concentrated where people and land are limited.
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East Data, West Computing
National program moving processing to western areas with more available land and energy.
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Changji, Xinjiang
Servers run year-round on natural air rather than mechanical cooling.
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Regional gateway
Described as a "green computing gateway" linked to Central Asia.
THE CASE FOR IT
Cooling is one of the largest energy costs in data centers.
Natural-air cooling aims to cut electricity use and carbon emissions.
Cooler climates and lower land costs can make large facilities more practical.
WHAT REMAINS UNVERIFIED
Independent verification of the claims is not yet available.
Performance under extreme seasonal conditions is untested in the material.
Impact depends on figures not yet disclosed.
KEY FIGURES NOT YET PUBLISHED
The facility's real-world significance hinges on these
Power Usage Effectiveness
Energy efficiency metric
Capacity and power draw
Scale of the site
Server count and workloads
What it will process
Customers and cooling detail
Who uses it and how it works
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