Are you for or against Data Centers?

[97K15004WD]

I can already see gangs of thieves stealing Nvidia GPUs out of these server boxes. This great idea will likely die as quickly as it was born, maybe even quicker.

I agree. IMO, It will turn out like ATMs did in the past. The thieves got into them and they got bigger. Soon, they won't be the "pretty" packaging that's going on now to get people to sign on. It will be heavy and sealed off, even from maintenance. Once it meets it COA, it can be left in place to "die".

A sealed unit would require no maintenance, and as each gpu died, it would be put offline and the node would become "slower" but still useful. Think how older components were "potted" to keep things hidden or to aid cooling with older style heatsinks.

If they put these things with "starter homes" and promised the happy new home owners a discount on their electricy bills, how many do you think will fully read the paperwork and understand what they are signing up for? And when it comes time to sell - well, reminds me of the solar panel thing

 

[4wd]

View attachment 337292

I will finally have a bigger generator than possum king !

 

[PandaBear]

Problem with keeping those GPU distributed, is that the larger the system, the more dependent their performance is on interconnect. Some of the biggest performance gain from ancient supercomputers were from their interconnect and many AI cluster design these days go back to the very old design like those to improve performance. Building them in a giant new community may not be a big problem but they still need to have a lot of fiber between them.

I read the PR pieces on this and it seems like it would work well if they also pay for the solar panel on your roof, then sell you electricity on discount compare to the grid (they likely will over build so they can use most of it). The SPAN panel is likely going to prioritize your home and any idle capacity would go into the servers on your lawn.

It "could" be a good deal if they pay for everything and promise a low electricity rate. I am not sure how efficient it would be for the data center if their power can be cut suddenly because everyone in the neighborhood is turning on their AC. Maybe that's why they are in Arizona because they can use as much solar as they want and the temperature rise typically correlate with the solar output. They still have to deal with the duck curve though, so the battery is still going to be a big expense.

I think the biggest benefit for them is to cut through the regulation red tape if they blend in with the homes.

 

[Rmay635703]

So the same as approximately 50,000 people, give or take.

And considering we plan on having ~7000 data centers to launch us off that is equivalent to the water use of 350,000,000 Americans or 3.5 billion Africans

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...on-gallons-of-water-without-initially-paying/

 

[CleanSump]

So insist on closed cooling systems with solar powered pumps and fans?

 

[rijndael]

I'd be neat to harvest some of that heat from the GPUs to provide hot water to the house.

https://www.heata.co/

 

[Arc]

I would like to know what the real reason is behind this massive push for all these new data centers. AI is already up and running without a thousand more data centers so what is really behind this push? We know they aren't profitable and never will be so it's not a long term business decision except for the ones taking all the money up front. They aren't good for the environment or the tax payers wallet plus the electric grid can't support them all. Something is missing in the big picture.

 

[rijndael]

AI is already up and running without a thousand more data centers so what is really behind this push?

This is a race, by each AI model/player, to be king of the AI hill.

 

[bdc101]

I would like to know what the real reason is behind this massive push for all these new data centers. AI is already up and running without a thousand more data centers so what is really behind this push? We know they aren't profitable and never will be so it's not a long term business decision except for the ones taking all the money up front. They aren't good for the environment or the tax payers wallet plus the electric grid can't support them all. Something is missing in the big picture.

It's a lot of speculation investment, but there's a lot of things you don't hear about too. The government and the military are investing heavily. If you think of data centers as the weaponry of the cyber-warfare era, you won't be that far off from the truth. The weapons themselves may not exist but data centers need to exist to run them in the future. Both defensive and offensive weapons. There are already very sophisticated cyber-warfare groups in militaries all over the world. If your data centers are offshore, well, you're gonna be out of luck if there is a conflict.

Have you read about the Stuxnet virus? Stuxnet was a military-industrial endeavor which probably employed hundreds of people for years, all so it could impede the Iranian nuclear program (which it did but only for maybe 5 years at the most). That cyber weapon was what the US and/or Israeli military could come up with 20 years ago (neither one ever claimed responsibility but it was probably both working together). If that was where cyber warfare was at in the George W Bush era, think of where they are at today!

 

[Arc]

This is a race, by each AI model/player, to be king of the AI hill.

It's a lot of speculation investment, but there's a lot of things you don't hear about too. The government and the military are investing heavily. If you think of data centers as the weaponry of the cyber-warfare era, you won't be that far off from the truth. The weapons themselves may not exist but data centers need to exist to run them in the future. Both defensive and offensive weapons. There are already very sophisticated cyber-warfare groups in militaries all over the world. If your data centers are offshore, well, you're gonna be out of luck if there is a conflict.

Have you read about the Stuxnet virus? Stuxnet was a military-industrial endeavor which probably employed hundreds of people for years, all so it could impede the Iranian nuclear program (which it did but only for maybe 5 years at the most). That cyber weapon was what the US and/or Israeli military could come up with 20 years ago (neither one ever claimed responsibility but it was probably both working together). If that was where cyber warfare was at in the George W Bush era, think of where they are at today!

If it was for military purposes I would think they would be a little more secure. It doesn't get reported anymore because of the copycat fear but a small group could take them offline like they did transformers. Maybe it is just forward thinking and future planning but I still have a feeling it's more.

 

[Pew]

This is a race, by each AI model/player, to be king of the AI hill.

I'm thinking once the 3 leaders are established, it's going to be the dot com bust all over again as overvalued companies fail/bought out and the DCs hosting said companies lose their clients.

 

[Wylie6G72]

I don't enjoy having yet one more reason for owners to surrender productive farm land. Everywhere I turn, another farmer or rancher has sold to someone who wants to build something on it, and that resource is gone forever. Can't these things be built on undesirable, unproductive land?

 

[bdc101]

If it was for military purposes I would think they would be a little more secure. It doesn't get reported anymore because of the copycat fear but a small group could take them offline like they did transformers. Maybe it is just forward thinking and future planning but I still have a feeling it's more.

This is true ... but there are a lot of data centers, and many of them are building their own on-site power generation and electrical distribution... I'm not trying to be an apologist for them, just pointing out the facts. Also, many of the data centers are just being built by investment companies who are going to farm out server time. The facilities themselves aren't being built to serve only one client, but they want to contract with many different companies (or government entities) at the same time.

I don't enjoy having yet one more reason for owners to surrender productive farm land. Everywhere I turn, another farmer or rancher has sold to someone who wants to build something on it, and that resource is gone forever. Can't these things be built on undesirable, unproductive land?

Generally this is what's happening. Cheap or free land that's hard to use, or nobody wants to live on. Look at the Hyperion campus in Louisiana -- the biggest construction project in North America right now. How many folks are lining up to get land in that forgotten corner of the world?

 

[BHopkins]

Is it just me, or does it seem that each of us, as we sit at our desks or on our sofa, and we participate in online discussions, visit social media sites, make online purchases on sites like Amazon, Ebay, Walmart and other similar sites, are quite hypocritical if we then take a firm and unwavering position against new data centers? All while using data centers to tell everyone how opposed we are.

If we were really genuine is our desire to stop data centers from growing across the country, wouldn't we make significant changes to our online activity? Eliminate online purchases? Stop downloading music and videos? Eliminate social media from our life?

I don't enjoy having yet one more reason for owners to surrender productive farm land. Everywhere I turn, another farmer or rancher has sold to someone who wants to build something on it, and that resource is gone forever. Can't these things be built on undesirable, unproductive land?

I tend to agree with you, but I do see another side to the coin on this.

If a farmer or rancher is agreeable to sell his property to someone, whether it is another farmer or a real estate developer or an AI center developer, and there are no codes or restrictions that would stop that future property use, who is to tell that farmer that he can't sell? However, I am absolutely against a government entity using public domain to take property for commercial/industrial development.

I absolutely agree that there is plenty of undesirable or unproductive land that would be ideal for data centers.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Up here in Tonganoxie Kansas, they are proud with signage to say no to many things including Tyson Chicken , Wind Turbines and Data Centres.

https://www.wibw.com/content/news/N...-cry-of-plant-opposition-rally-444785453.html

https://www.kctv5.com/2026/05/16/tonganoxie-group-wants-pull-plug-ai-data-center/

 

[Owen Lucas]

Tyson Chicken , Wind Turbines

I understand the chichken processor, it might bring in transient workers but wind turbines?

What's the big deal with a bunch of wind mills on ones property. Can't the farmer do what he pleases? It's like free $$$ isn't it?

DO they have issues with cell towers going up as well?

 

[Rmay635703]

So insist on closed cooling systems with solar powered pumps and fans?

Closed systems still consume water and materials.

You are right though, swamp coolers should stay illegal in most of the country

 

[bdc101]

Closed systems still consume water and materials.

You are right though, swamp coolers should stay illegal in most of the country

Zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) water plants = big time $$$$$

 

[Rmay635703]

Zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) water plants = big time $$$$$

Good reason to limit these geographically, other countries already are limited to ocean water for big data.

They are trialing the data centers underwater already.

Once you scope out ocean cooling costs we can then talk ZLD $$$

 

[Marrk]

Who here knows what a "catch-all" phrase like data centers means.

If they suck power, make 'em include a power plant, perhaps even one which includes renewable/solar power, in the plan.

If they use too much water. make 'em include a complete, sealed water system.

Also, don't fear building them WAY out of town. I hear they're ugly.

I'm curious about the word "make." How do you "make" someone with hundreds of billions of dollars in one pocket and the federal government in the other?