So, we tell a nice story about the digital world floating in the air above us. We upload our photos to the cloud, stream the latest movies online, and securely store our entire lives online. This makes sense to us, because we want to believe that the complicated behind-the-scenes work of getting this stuff online is effortless, light, and clean. And it is, as long as we don't think about where "the cloud" actually lives.
But the digital realm isn't weightless. Not at all.
Honestly, I think this is the most comfortable way to think of the digital realm. There is so much physicality underlying all the technology that it can be hard to think of it at times. All the data, all the late emails, all the video we stream online – every last byte of it has a physical footprint. It all rests on a massive foundation of steel, concrete, silicon, and copper.
So where does the cloud actually live? Have you ever paused to think about its physical address?
In reality, the cloud is situated in large buildings all over the world and is composed of huge halls, with rows upon rows of server racks, with lots of cables lying about on the floor and in the walls, and with industrial cooling systems working 24/7.
The Physical Reality of Digital Space
So, the next time you are storing online all your school work, your email, your photos and even your films, remember that all these are on servers somewhere in the world. Servers that need to be kept cool by fans and air conditioners and that are powered by massive amounts of electricity.
Inside data centers, thousands of high-performance servers run 24/7/365, generating excessive amounts of heat and requiring precise environmental controls and a stable and continuous supply of electricity to maintain optimal performance. In addition to the primary power supply, data centers require backup generators to power infrastructure in the event of a power outage.
Of course, the actual construction of a data center is far more complicated and difficult. Data center construction requires careful planning to make sure that the building itself can support the load of the various systems in the data center and that the installation of all of the cabling and other connectorized cables, as well as the various HVAC systems, are completed with absolute precision. This means that the best people to manage this type of construction are trade workers, who can handle the sorts of physical details involved in building out a large data center. Data center construction staffing, therefore, is a critical component of getting a new facility up and running.
Note to self: the next time you open up your internet browser in a flash, remember the back-breaking, sweltering, worn-out physical labor that went into the construction and implementation of those massive facilities in order to keep the lights on, the air cool, and computer systems humming along 24/7.
Why Location Matters More Than Ever
For all the internet does to connect the world, where the actual hardware and facilities for digital services are located seems an important factor in their design and function.
For many of the new digital markets and services being created, location is key. Markets such as financial services, online gaming, manufacturing via robots and other automated equipment, and real-time video and voice communication services all need to operate at the speed of the service being offered, and even very small delays in communication can cause significant problems.
Servers, then, are found in locations with the biggest power grids, highest concentrations of undersea fiber, and the greatest population bases. Within these areas, regions are chosen based on a number of factors, including an abundance of power, low natural disaster risk, and favorable local economics.
This arrangement of infrastructure can be seen on a map of cloud providers around the world. Major cloud providers build their primary regions close to large fiber transit hubs, long haul undersea cables, and near all core power grids around the globe. In general, they choose markets with favorable regulatory and local economic terms and a good talent base to staff these gigascale data center campuses. As a result, the physical geography of regional data center markets plays a huge and ongoing role in shaping how the global digital economy functions in practice.
The Massive Energy Behind Every Click
There is so much power needed to run the Internet today: to run the computers, to cool them, and to manage them every day of the year. The massive silos of servers that form the foundation of the web depend entirely on that same constant supply of power and attention.
In many places, one large data center utilizes as much power as a small town.
This trend in energy consumption has the technology industry and our power grid scratching their heads on how to service our increasing appetite for these services.
But there is progress being made in energy-efficient design: facilities that use rainwater for cooling, hot and cold aisle containment strategies, and renewable power in their supply mix.
And there are facilities under construction today in colder climates that will utilize the outside air to naturally cool the space rather than rely on expensive chillers to cool the space.
These efforts are taking time to scale, but the shift toward more sustainable digital infrastructure is going to be necessary for technology's future growth.
The Human Hands Behind the Infrastructure
It's easy to concentrate on the high-tech and massive scale of modern technology, but right behind every server rack and every cooling tower are a lot of very skilled people.
Architects, electricians, pipefitters, network technicians, and security personnel all have roles to play in the physical construction and maintenance of digital servers and the infrastructure that supports them. People often assume that using computers and cloud services takes little technical effort, but they underestimate the sheer volume and complexity of the physical trade work required to build and run these data centers.
It is important to remember that data centers run 24/7/365. Technicians and engineers are working around the clock to maintain the proper temperatures, to replace old hardware, to manage power distribution, and to work on security issues. Site engineers keep watch on power quality and oversee the automated transfer switches that bring backup generators online within seconds of a fluctuation. And there are people who can physically repair failed components of the hardware.
The digital revolution relies entirely on physical trades and skilled hands and the work that is done to build, maintain, and repair physical infrastructure. It all falls apart without the physical workers needed to build and run these huge physical structures.
Grounding Our Digital Future
When you next upload a photo, stream a song, or even hold a video conversation late at night, don't fail to notice the physical reality behind your very own techy screens and apps.
To help you better visualize the journey data takes, imagine a long, physical route. There's the actual facility and its massive structure that can encompass much of an industrial park. The long bundles of undersea fiber optics lying along the bottom of the ocean. The large power center that houses the physical and complex systems to support the various pieces of hardware to keep them up and running 24/7/365.
What would happen to our view of technology if we focused on the physical structure and impact of the technology rather than the technology itself?
In summary, there's more to the Internet than appears on the surface of your screen. Our perspective of the technology and its impact can change if we consider where digital services are located, how much energy they consume, and, most importantly, the enormous efforts put forth by physical trades and the hands-on skills of humans.
