Could data centres be built on the moon?

Data centres play an important role in facilitating our digital world. But what exactly is a data centre, what are the different types, and is the moon really a viable location?

What is a data centre?

A data centre is a physical facility/building that consists of servers, storage devices, power supplies, network equipment, and cooling systems. The servers and storage devices contain vast amounts of data.

Different Types of Data Centres

Data centres have evolved considerably since they were first developed in the 1940s. There are now five common types of data centres: colocation data centres, managed data centres, enterprise data centres, cloud data centres, and edge data centres.

Colocation data centres are large buildings that contain servers and network devices. These are rented out to multiple companies.

Managed data centres are completely or partially managed by third-party providers.

Enterprise data centres are facilities that support a single organisation/business.

Cloud data centres allow clients to run websites/apps and manage their data within an infrastructure in the cloud. Data is duplicated across several locations.

Edge data centres are smaller facilities that are located geographically close to where the data is generated. This reduces latency and enables real-time data collection and analysis.

Data Specialists

A data collection company can help you to identify the most useful data to collect. A specialist data collection company can also advise on how to store and use that data.

Could a data centre really be built on the moon?

There are a number of companies investigating the possibility of putting data centres in orbit or on the moon.

The potential advantages of this are that they could use solar energy to power them, reducing their environmental impact. They could also offer greater security as data could be transmitted directly to the moon without having to pass through terrestrial networks.

However, putting hardware into orbit or on the moon would be extremely expensive, the infrastructure to cool and protect them would be complex, space weather could cause physical or electronic damage, and maintenance would be very tricky.