Will a switch to light speed cut power use at data centers?

Will a switch to light speed cut power use at data centers?

To save power and add capacity, data centers are switching from copper wires to tech using light.

Data centres use vast amounts of copper in electrical and data systems. Copper is used for electrical infrastructure, cooling systems, and computer servers.

Up to 70 tonnes of copper is used by computer servers alone, while up to 20 tonnes is used for network wiring connecting those servers.

The use of copper in data centers is expected to decrease as companies switch to light speed technology.

Photonics uses light rather than electrons to transmit data, which can be faster and more energy-efficient than traditional copper wiring. This technology involves intricate engineering where optical components are connected directly to electrical ones, sometimes on the computer chips themselves.

The benefits of photonics include less heat generated by light compared with electricity, resulting in reduced energy needs for cooling data center systems. Additionally, multiple data streams can be transmitted down the same channel to create more capacity.

Companies like Cornerstone Labs are working on scaling up photonics manufacturing and repurposing older silicon manufacturing equipment used for earlier generations of processors. This ability to reuse knowledge gained through electronics manufacturing will ultimately help lower the cost of photonics.