33 votes

Why do cloud providers keep building datacenters in America's hottest city?

Posted by boxer_dogs_dance
Tags: usa.az.phoenix, computing.cloud, data centers, business, climate change, disasters.natural, heatwaves, temperatures, deserts, author.tobias mann, source.theregister
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/15/cloud_datacenters_desert_arizona/

Link information

This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.

Title
Why would you build a cloud DC in America's hottest city?
Published
Jul 15 2023
Word count
819 words

11 comments

  1. [4]
    ourari
    Link
    Reminds me of how much CO2 all of our photos stored in the cloud emit. Most of those photos are barely looked at, if ever. Number of Photos (2023): Statistics and Trends ‘Dark data’ is killing the...

    Reminds me of how much CO2 all of our photos stored in the cloud emit. Most of those photos are barely looked at, if ever.

    We should practice data-degrowth before building more of these high emitters.

    19 votes
    1. [3]
      Light_of_Aether
      Link Parent
      Thanks for the links! I work in the HPC field as a researcher and the power consumption of HPC has been bothering me lately. I’ve been trying to speed up my simulations and decrease the amount of...

      Thanks for the links! I work in the HPC field as a researcher and the power consumption of HPC has been bothering me lately. I’ve been trying to speed up my simulations and decrease the amount of time taken to reduce energy consumption.

      5 votes
      1. ourari
        Link Parent
        My pleasure. Thanks for your efforts toward positive change!

        My pleasure. Thanks for your efforts toward positive change!

        1 vote
      2. arghdos
        Link Parent
        We’ve had lots of discussions with (European, in particular) customers about how performance varies with clock rates and power caps over the last year. Leads me to believe there’s at least some...

        We’ve had lots of discussions with (European, in particular) customers about how performance varies with clock rates and power caps over the last year. Leads me to believe there’s at least some will to optimize to performance / watt.

  2. [7]
    bakers_dozen
    Link
    Dry air, cheap land, no snow, and no risk of earthquakes, tornadoes, etc

    Dry air, cheap land, no snow, and no risk of earthquakes, tornadoes, etc

    12 votes
    1. [6]
      boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      Yes, but also high water use and cooling needs in the desert. The choice to allow the Saudis to grow alfalfa there is worse imho but I'm not convinced that this is a good idea.

      Yes, but also high water use and cooling needs in the desert. The choice to allow the Saudis to grow alfalfa there is worse imho but I'm not convinced that this is a good idea.

      7 votes
      1. [5]
        bakers_dozen
        Link Parent
        I'm not advocating anything, just tossing out some possible reasons why tech companies would do this. They probably get tax breaks and cheap water too.

        I'm not advocating anything, just tossing out some possible reasons why tech companies would do this. They probably get tax breaks and cheap water too.

        11 votes
        1. [4]
          ackables
          Link Parent
          Solar is also productive year-round out there, so they can even generate clean energy to run the air conditioning.

          Solar is also productive year-round out there, so they can even generate clean energy to run the air conditioning.

          11 votes
          1. [3]
            boxer_dogs_dance
            Link Parent
            Unfortunately, the water is scarce though. When one claimant takes the water, others lose out....

            Unfortunately, the water is scarce though. When one claimant takes the water, others lose out. https://narf.org/scotus-az-v-navajo-amicus/#:~:text=About%20Us-,Supreme%20Court%3A%20US%20Not%20Responsible%20for%20Water%20Rights%3B%20Navajo,Nation%20Still%20Battling%20for%20Water&text=On%20June%2022%2C%202023%2C%20the,Court's%20decision%20in%20Arizona%20v.

            1. [2]
              superphly
              Link Parent
              I don't understand. The datacenters aren't "USING" the water, they are simply renting it for heat exchange then dumping it back into the system. They aren't destroying the molecules or vaporizing...

              I don't understand. The datacenters aren't "USING" the water, they are simply renting it for heat exchange then dumping it back into the system. They aren't destroying the molecules or vaporizing it. It always bugs me when people say you're "wasting water" - no the water goes down into the sewer or return system and then recycled. If anything you're just needing to run the water through the heat exchangers and then return it. Zero loss.

              17 votes
              1. arrza
                Link Parent
                The article mentions that datacenters use evaporative cooling because it uses less power, so the water can't be reused.

                The article mentions that datacenters use evaporative cooling because it uses less power, so the water can't be reused.

                5 votes