#Data Center

[mjhartwork]

icon for the town of Ashburn, VA. I remember it as an endless map of townhouses (I once had a dream that as i walked around the square I used to live in, new houses kept revealing themselves, as if I was walking along a dimension I couldn't comprehend.).

I only learned that it was the data center capital of the world years after moving away. I also only realized a little bit ago why the sky felt so unnervingly open: there's no telephone poles! Everything's connected by underground cables.

[opendirectories]

[humanoidhistory]

Computer center at Swedish State Railways office at Tomteboda, Stockholm, Sweden, July 21, 1965.

(digitaltmuseum)

[caffeinesam]

FFS I THOUGHT IT WAS OVERWHELMING THE MUNICIPAL WATER PUMPS BUT NO THEY'RE DROPPING THE MOTHERFUCKING WATER TABLE AND CAUSING THE MOTHERFUCKING GROUND TO COLLAPSE

[veronikazemanovafans]

[probablyasocialecologist]

The rapid growth of the technology industry and the increasing reliance on cloud computing and artificial intelligence have led to a boom in the construction of data centers across the United States. Electric vehicles, wind and solar energy, and the smart grid are particularly reliant on data centers to optimize energy utilization. These facilities house thousands of servers that require constant cooling to prevent overheating and ensure optimal performance. Unfortunately, many data centers rely on water-intensive cooling systems that consume millions of gallons of potable (“drinking”) water annually. A single data center can consume up to 3 million to 5 million gallons of drinking water per day, enough to supply thousands of households or farms. The increasing use and training of AI models has further exacerbated the water consumption challenges faced by data centers.

[...]

The drinking water used in data centers is often treated with chemicals to prevent corrosion and bacterial growth, rendering it unsuitable for human consumption or agricultural use. This means that not only are data centers consuming large quantities of drinking water, but they are also effectively removing it from the local water cycle. Dry air reduces the risk of corrosion and electrical issues in the sensitive equipment in the data centers. The lack of humidity in water-stressed regions, such as the American Southwest, makes it an attractive location for data centers. This means that the regions in which it is “best” to locate a data center due to its arid environment has the highest marginal cost in terms of water consumption. In the Phoenix area alone, there are 58 data centers. If each data center uses 3 million gallons of water per day for cooling, that equates to over 170 million gallons of drinking water used per day for cooling data centers. This massive consumption of drinking water for data center cooling puts a strain on the already fragile water supply and raises ethical questions about prioritizing the needs of tech giants over the basic needs of residents and agriculture.

[...]

Optimizing renewable power with AI and data centers at the expense of increasing water consumption is not a sustainable solution. Prioritizing one aspect of sustainability, such as reducing carbon emissions, while neglecting another crucial resource like water creates an illusion of sustainability. In reality, this can lead to unsustainable practices that can have severe unintended consequences for individuals and farmers, especially in water-stressed regions.

[nixcraft]

[supplyside]

cable runs

[rotor25]

[juh-wasnt-deactivated19691231]

most of this gear was shit when i got it, including the UPS that i bought new from tripp lite that’s mysteriously mounted at the top (put batteries at the bottom smh)

[mikael-darkan]

[opendirectories]

[dreamscontent]

Ballin Dash & Happy Birthday Adventure & Data Center Operation-2 Full Playthrough In PC - Unity Play

[arianod]

What Zuckerberg Doesn’t Want You to See

[cyberegypt]

Cyberpunk Aesthetic + Ancient Egypt = A data pyramid surrounded by ancient ruins.

[nixcraft]

IT IN A NUTSHELL 😂