A Brief Introduction to Data Centers

Many people are concerned with the recent acceleration in the buildout of data centers throughout various parts of the United States. Whether you have this concern or not, you may just be curious as to what exactly is a data center and how what you do contributes to their high level of demand. As a first step in understanding data centers a bit more, please watch the following video (which comes to you via a data center).

https://youtu.be/cTwvUqLNQrM?si=YZ3HFhCBB-wMbF8K

As mentioned in the video, a data center at its most basic level is a facility used to store, process, and distribute digital information; it consists of rows of servers that allow it to accomplish these tasks. Servers must be continuously operational and therefore require enormous amounts of electricity. Even small interruptions can cause data loss and service outages for millions of people. Electricity goes in and enables computing work to be performed, after which heat is created and released. Managing this heat is important as equipment can be damaged if temperatures rise too high. Repairing equipment or merely performing routine maintenance must also be done without interrupting operation of the servers. Even if any of the equipment fails, the data center must continue to operate properly; this requires a high level of redundancy in both the mechanical and electrical systems.

Therefore, the core functions of a data center are the following:

1. Ensure continuous power.

2. Provide continuous cooling.

3. Guarantee continuous operation.

Much of the infrastructure of a data center is part of one of three systems used to maintain the core functions above:

1. electrical systems that bring in power and distribute it throughout the data center,

2. mechanical cooling systems that remove the heat created by the servers, and

3. controls and monitoring systems that bring everything together into one operating environment and allow automatic responses to changing conditions and failures.

Before assessing your own contribution to the need for data centers, it is important to be aware of the types of daily activities that rely on the continuous operation of these facilities.

• Sending an email.

• Conducting or attending a virtual meeting, especially if your camera is on (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet).

• Streaming videos and music.

• Storing a file in the cloud via Dropbox, Apple iCloud, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive, or any other cloud storage provider.

• Using AI to ask a question or create an image (e.g., ChatGPT)

• Performing an internet search, which utilizes AI to facilitate enhanced and more complex search capabilities (e.g., Google, Bing).

• Creating and maintaining a website.

• Sending messages, videos, or photos via Social Media.

• Paying via a mobile payment service (e.g., Apple Pay, Venmo, Zell).

If you are concerned with the high level of data center development, consider reducing your own contribution through any of the above. The 'Helpful Hint' below provides one example of reducing your reliance on AI, many more of which are given in other blog posts on this topic.

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Helpful Hint

Tip for reducing your reliance on data centers through AI usage: Turn off Smart features within your email platform. The steps specific to Gmail are given here; feel free to reach out if you have questions regarding how to apply this to other email platforms.