'We're mowed over': colossal data centers are taking over the US countryside

[Jilly_in_VA]

New developments for cloud computing could threaten civil-war era and post-emancipation historical sites in rural Virginia
As you drive west from Washington DC, an imposing cluster of rectangular buildings emerges from the countryside. They emit a whirring sound, and could be confused for warehouses.

But, in fact, this is the home of the cloud internet.

These are data centers, where companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft store and distribute information. Prince William county, 40 miles (65km) from the US capital, is set to become the world’s capital of cloud storage if an ambitious but controversial project goes through.

“It’s a flash flood,” said Blaine Pearsall, who serves on the county’s historical commission.

On a gloomy morning earlier this year, Pearsall unloaded stacks of yellow manila folders from his red SUV. As he laid them out on the hood of the car, large maps stuck out from the pile of permits, zoning records and historical documents.

He traced the topography of Prince William county on a map, pointing to ridges and river valleys that make up his home. Pearsall noted the Manassas National Battlefield Park, where two key engagements of the US civil war took place, as well as historic sites that preserve the country’s history of slavery and emancipation, such as the remains of one of the only schools accessible to Black students in this area in the late 19th century. But he believes this familiar landscape is on the verge of becoming unrecognizable.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/05/virginia-historic-preservation-data-center-development

[Igel]

1. Close to the East Coast backbone.

People to troubleshoot nearby.

Sure.

But hey, it mars the view. Infringes on the sanctity. Diminishes the right "ambience."


Sucks up huge quantities of energy. Some server farms have their own solar panel "farms". (Which, I have to assume, provide the server farms with 24/7 power.)

Some have sucked up the electricity from new (cough-< fossil >-cough cough-< fuel >-cough) power plants.

I put crap on my hard drive and when my computer's off it consumes no energy; when my 'puter's in hibernate mode, it consumes a trickle. I put it in the cloud for my convenience, my info consumes more energy (but hey, it's hip and the carbon's ascribed to somebody else; I hate clout computing ... clod computing ... whatever--if it's hackable, then it's presumed public).