Generational Typology of Data Centres
As a systems thinker, I've seen a lot conversation about data centres that we currently use and what's being proposed, the issue is that we just label all centres as being the same. This is actually because of a story that was aired on the ABC about a new data centre being proposed 2hrs north of Adelaide, South Australia and how it misrepresented some facts about the typology of systems. So I thought, why not classify these into generations, because theirs some really good ones planned and some really bad ones that should be fixed. I would class the one in Bundee (Goyder Regional Council) as being one of the best case versions if their's goes ahead. A clear, engineering‑accurate classification from 1990s → 2030s. --- Gen‑1: Industrial Air‑Cooled Boxes (1995–2010) Typology: Warehouse‑scale, monolithic, inefficient. Cooling: - Air‑cooled CRAC units - Evaporative cooling common in dry climates - Very high water use ...
