What's up with data centers.

#1
Volnanza

Volnanza

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#1
There is all this uproar about data centers. Uses up all the water. Uses up all the power. Etc. Do people not realize that the data centers are a result of consumers wanting all the bells a whistles in their new cell phones. It seems to me that if you don't want data centers, then give up Tic Tok, Youtube and a whole host of other apps (especially AI). Where are all the environmentalists? This is the absolute perfect chance to use the old slogan "Think Globally , act locally". Remember that one? If you really want to make a difference, then put your phones DOWN. It's kind of hypocritical to complain about the data centers and to be on your phone all day. This is just my opinion.

Me? I carry a phone so that I can receive 20 or 30 spam calls a day. Map directions are nice when traveling. Other than that, it's in my pocket.
 
#4
#4
Volnanza said:
There is all this uproar about data centers. Uses up all the water. Uses up all the power. Etc. Do people not realize that the data centers are a result of consumers wanting all the bells a whistles in their new cell phones. It seems to me that if you don't want data centers, then give up Tic Tok, Youtube and a whole host of other apps (especially AI). Where are all the environmentalists? This is the absolute perfect chance to use the old slogan "Think Globally , act locally". Remember that one? If you really want to make a difference, then put your phones DOWN. It's kind of hypocritical to complain about the data centers and to be on your phone all day. This is just my opinion.

Me? I carry a phone so that I can receive 20 or 30 spam calls a day. Map directions are nice when traveling. Other than that, it's in my pocket.
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AI data centers are particularly resource greedy and need more power/water than storage/server data centers of the past.

Also, because the competition is super hot in AI right now, AI data center expansion looks to be explosive and very well funded by big players in the tech industry.

It's the combination of "resource thirstier" data centers and how many the heavy hitters will build in the "AI boom" that worries people, I think.
 
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#5
#5
I checked my usage over the last month. I'm clocking in at about 12 minutes a day. If people want to start slowing them down a bit then I could probably cut that down to maybe 8 minutes. 😁
 
#7
#7
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
AI data centers are particularly resource greedy and need more power/water than storage/server data centers of the past.

Also, because the competition is super hot in AI right now, AI data center expansion looks to be explosive and very well funded by big players in the tech industry.

It's the combination of "resource thirstier" data centers and how many the heavy hitters will build in the "AI boom" that worries people, I think.
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Agree 100%. 10 years ago, we were dropping one in the system about every month. That has accelerated since then.
 
#10
#10
Data centers were supposed to utilize closed systems that recycle water for cooling - load them once, and their impact on municipal water systems and groundwater reservoirs would be minimal. Mm hm…
 
#11
#11
Tin Man said:
Data centers were supposed to utilize closed systems that recycle water for cooling - load them once, and their impact on municipal water systems and groundwater reservoirs would be minimal. Mm hm…
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They don't want the cost of building cooling towers. Eventually they will have to do so to keep growing.
 
#12
#12
Volnanza said:
They don't want the cost of building cooling towers. Eventually they will have to do so to keep growing.
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There's a thought. Putting huge data centers near the TVA nukes or at the ones they only half built that have towers already started might be a good start.

I'm not educated on how much water, cooling, etc is needed but putting a few ill used or outdated nuke towers to work might be an idea.
 
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#13
#13
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
There's a thought. Putting huge data centers near the TVA nukes or at the ones they only half built that have towers already started might be a good start.

I'm not educated on how much water, cooling, etc is needed but putting a few ill used or outdated nuke towers to work might be an idea.
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Any tower for a nuke will be more than enough for a DC. They were probably designed to cool one or two reactors somewhere in the 1200 MW range. That's a lot of heat to disperse. TVA probably still owns the land around them mostly in sparsely populated areas . Sounds like a package deal.
 
#14
#14
Volnanza said:
Any tower for a nuke will be more than enough for a DC. They were probably designed to cool one or two reactors somewhere in the 1200 MW range. That's a lot of heat to disperse. TVA probably still owns the land around them mostly in sparsely populated areas . Sounds like a package deal.
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There's an unfinished one somewhere near Guntersville Lake that's been sitting there useless, as far as I know, for decades. Perhaps they've repurposed it since I don't fish down there anymore.

Share the water tower lease among Meta, Amazon, etc whoever wants to build a data centers around there and lease the land from TVA too. Lord knows they probably wasted trillions down there just letting it sit.
 
#15
#15
Volnanza said:
There is all this uproar about data centers. Uses up all the water. Uses up all the power. Etc. Do people not realize that the data centers are a result of consumers wanting all the bells a whistles in their new cell phones. It seems to me that if you don't want data centers, then give up Tic Tok, Youtube and a whole host of other apps (especially AI). Where are all the environmentalists? This is the absolute perfect chance to use the old slogan "Think Globally , act locally". Remember that one? If you really want to make a difference, then put your phones DOWN. It's kind of hypocritical to complain about the data centers and to be on your phone all day. This is just my opinion.

Me? I carry a phone so that I can receive 20 or 30 spam calls a day. Map directions are nice when traveling. Other than that, it's in my pocket.
Click to expand...
Govt tech grants, private investors, Govt entities needing it. Its an arms race.

They're going in front of State Govts, esp in rural communities and being given carte blanche. Its really perfect storm of coal country being ravaged and needing solutions to generate income streams and jobs.

most all the fiber and colos are in N VA. so you see these energy companies throwing out $ to sell off natural gas to power them. also gives diversity and natural geographic protection in the mountains.

the water issue is real. there's one we talked too in W VA, near Ahia. They got approvals before checking on infrastructure. There is zero dark fiber there. We would have to build 30-40 miles of fiber.
 
#16
#16
Volnanza said:
There is all this uproar about data centers. Uses up all the water. Uses up all the power. Etc. Do people not realize that the data centers are a result of consumers wanting all the bells a whistles in their new cell phones. It seems to me that if you don't want data centers, then give up Tic Tok, Youtube and a whole host of other apps (especially AI). Where are all the environmentalists? This is the absolute perfect chance to use the old slogan "Think Globally , act locally". Remember that one? If you really want to make a difference, then put your phones DOWN. It's kind of hypocritical to complain about the data centers and to be on your phone all day. This is just my opinion.

Me? I carry a phone so that I can receive 20 or 30 spam calls a day. Map directions are nice when traveling. Other than that, it's in my pocket.
Click to expand...
I think a lot of the issue is there is a lot of bait and switch that happened and now there is general push back.

before with the data centers they were sold as ways to make the internet happen with faster phones and all that. and then either subsidies went into it, or straight up public money. but then the data centers were used for private businesses, and then eventually AI. most AI work is not going into the public sphere, its going to serve private businesses. so people are wary about what they are actually getting/paying for.

the water/power issue is similar, when the centers were proposed they were sold at X resources over Y time, or Z water total; and again the reality came back far different. largely because the closed systems were not installed due to costs, and the one time water thing became an annual issue.

and lastly you are seeing utility companies drop towns. this uncertainty, and increased costs, is never going to be popular.
futurism.com

Electric Company Says It's Cutting Off an Entire Town So It Can Sell All Its Power to Data Centers

Some 49,000 residents of Lake Tahoe have less than a year to secure a new electrical supplier as their old one leaves them in the dark.
futurism.com futurism.com
 
#18
#18
Volnanza said:
There is all this uproar about data centers. Uses up all the water. Uses up all the power. Etc. Do people not realize that the data centers are a result of consumers wanting all the bells a whistles in their new cell phones. It seems to me that if you don't want data centers, then give up Tic Tok, Youtube and a whole host of other apps (especially AI). Where are all the environmentalists? This is the absolute perfect chance to use the old slogan "Think Globally , act locally". Remember that one? If you really want to make a difference, then put your phones DOWN. It's kind of hypocritical to complain about the data centers and to be on your phone all day. This is just my opinion.

Me? I carry a phone so that I can receive 20 or 30 spam calls a day. Map directions are nice when traveling. Other than that, it's in my pocket.
Click to expand...
This is all for AI and not really for the public benefit. Nothing to do with cell phones

Based on the size/speed of tech they're going to be obselete within a few years. Maybe they'll be able to transform them into housing if they get the power figured out
 
#19
#19
utvolpj said:
This is all for AI and not really for the public benefit. Nothing to do with cell phones

Based on the size/speed of tech they're going to be obselete within a few years. Maybe they'll be able to transform them into housing if they get the power figured out
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Yeah, I'm told by them who should know that "quantum computing" will obsolete a lot of current technology by being so much faster. I have no idea the electrical nor water needs of "quantum server farms" but I am told the social aspects may make the "AI is going to take over the world" crowd go nuts.

Quantum computing is weird like all quantum stuff. I hope to be dead before it makes us commonly need passwords that are longer than William Faulkner sentences.
 
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#20
#20
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
Yeah, I'm told by them who should know that "quantum computing" will obsolete a lot of current technology by being so much faster. I have no idea the electrical nor water needs of "quantum server farms" but I am told the social aspects may make the "AI is going to take over the world" crowd go nuts.

Quantum computing is weird like all quantum stuff. I hope to be dead before it makes us commonly need passwords that are longer than William Faulkner sentences.
Click to expand...

Just great, now I gotta change all MyMotherisafish passwords.
 
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