The new millennium had barely dawned when I got my first job as a busboy in the dining room of the DuPont Lodge at Cumberland Falls State Park. We’d survived Y2K, though looking back, I’m not so sure a digital rollback to 1900 would have been such a horrible thing.
Instead, computing power surged onward and upward, not only in terms of access and capabilities, but in terms of cost and consumption. It has become an inescapable force in our everyday lives, even — and especially — in ways that we don’t see or understand.
Back then, I’d receive my paycheck in an envelope, drive it to the bank, deposit most of it, and withhold a little walkin’ around money — cash for gas, snacks, and movies or video game rentals. I had no debit card, and I don’t even remember the bank having an ATM. In those days, the bank’s computing needs were minuscule compared to today, likely manageable through some servers and terminals that fit on a rack in a closet.
Within three years of receiving that first paper paycheck, I’d find myself stationed at an Air Force base 1,800 miles away on the phone with an exhaustively patient bank clerk, trying to understand the debit card limits imposed on the pay that had been deposited directly into my account. Within two years of that, I’d be managing my pay, banking, and all sorts of other things entirely online.
Knowledge is Power
Welcome conveniences have accompanied the transition to managing our lives online but so have increased challenges. What banking needs could have been met by a small room of equipment now require massive data centers that consume resources at a worrying rate. What’s more is that despite how vital a role these data centers play in our daily lives, they’re complete mysteries to many of us — myself included. In fact, just about everything that happens behind the screen or beyond the keyboard is a mystery. We type in an address or tap on an app and things happen — photos are passed along to family, money changes hands, flights are booked, contracts are signed, I bust another March Madness bracket.
If knowledge is power, the corollary must be that a lack of knowledge is a lack of power, which seems to be exactly the case as rural areas become more and more attractive to data center developers, and rural Americans are getting blindsided because they don’t know enough about data centers and the opportunities and challenges associated with them to engage with their local representatives — or worse: local representatives are quietly considering projects under citizens’ noses as they are incentivized by the indirect benefits of data center projects.
My intent here is to shed some light on the data center boom. This is Part 1 of a series intended to examine data centers: what they are, the challenges and opportunities associated with them, and ways we can get involved to ensure data center projects are planned, built, and managed so that the communities around them benefit.
1. What is a Data Center?
Simply put, a data center refers to the physical infrastructure that powers modern digital life. It is, for all intents and purposes, “the cloud.”
Everything we do online — send a text, check our email, scroll our Facebook or TikTok feed, stream a song or a show or a movie, check our bank balance, write a newsletter, read a blog — requires the transfer of data. That data needs somewhere to go and something to store it, process it, and send it on down the line.
Imagine a giant library with a librarian all hopped up on Mountain Dew who zips back and forth retrieving everything you ask for on your laptop, phone, or tablet in a moment’s notice. The size and scope of the library may vary from the single story of an office building to the 285 acres in Northeastern Kentucky where a new project has just been approved, all the way up to the 40,000 acres in Northern Utah where a hyperscale data center project is currently underway.
2. Why are Data Centers Necessary?
Data centers are necessary to manage the continuously increasing digital demand of daily life.
Yesterday, I spent an hour trying to configure the sound settings on my LG TV/Soundbar combination so the dialogue on Ted Lasso didn’t sound like it was coming from the bottom of a well. The process required a combination of Google Searches, AI queries, and software updates for both the TV and the soundbar, all conducted through “the cloud.”
This afternoon when I climb into our Mini Countryman, it’ll know who I am, where I want my seat, what I want to listen to, and how I want the temperature adjusted…using “the cloud.”
Tomorrow when I climb back into our Mini Countryman, it won’t know who the hell I am, where I’m going, or what I expect of it…but it’ll still access “the cloud.”
I write my novel on a web browser.
I track my reading, nutrition, and fitness habits on multiple apps.
I practice, play, and record guitar using a digital amp.
I sleep with a ring that collects and analyzes biometric data.
In fact — and this is just now dawning on me — every single moment of my life is generating, processing and/or storing data.
But even if you haven’t fully integrated the cloud into your daily lives, you’re still at its mercy.
You may not use it for your banking, but your bank is using it.
You may not use it for shopping, but your store is using it.
You may not use it for healthcare, but the healthcare system is using it.
Data centers are an absolute necessity to the functioning of the modern world, and that demand will continue to grow.
3. Why are they so controversial?
The controversy surrounding data centers revolves partly around the impact on resources the projects have on local communities.
That librarian zipping up and down the information superhighway to fetch whatever it is we need at a moment’s notice may be fast, but they’re also limited. The librarian is powered by resources – water, air, electricity. They require room to store all those files, all that knowledge, and all that costs money. Most of that money comes from the data center itself, but a lot of it is getting passed on to the consumer.
As consumers, we’ve come to not only expect but accept increased costs for services as circumstances change. The real controversy lies, in my opinion, in the lack of knowledge and transparency surrounding data centers. We don’t really know what they are, why we need them, and what the associated costs and benefits are. More importantly, we’re being kept in the dark about when and where they’re being built, and we’re not getting a proper say in the terms and conditions of their approval.
Which leads to what I believe is the most relevant controversy surrounding data centers: the failure of local governments to put their constituents’ needs first in considering data center proposals.
In future posts, I will go into far more depth about the potential pros and cons of data centers and how we can speak on the matter, whether it be in support of or opposition to. Part 2 of this series will explore some of the benefits data centers bring to their local communities, and Part 3 will detail some potential hazards to allowing a data center to become part of the community. Finally, Part 4 will explain how to get involved if a developer starts courting your local government and you want your voice to be heard one way or the other.
If you have personally experienced the impact — positive or negative — of data centers, please share your story in the comments. If you have questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll be sure to address them there and use them to inform upcoming parts of this series.