Nowadays, we receive so much different information. Whether we are watching a TV show or uploading pictures, or visiting websites, we mostly never think about the data. Even the data from gambling at the PlayAmo app is also kept in data centers. Most often such data centers are hidden from the normal world, from us. Apparently, they have decided to be right next to us, our digital warehouse.
What is a data center and where is it located? Most of us think that the data center is a giant company and has tremendous territory with a nuclear station nearby to support its energy demands. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are hosting millions of square feet of data centers in places like Northern Virginia or Oregon.
Today we see that large companies that possess a huge amount of data are moving into the cities. So yesterday the house was filled with different offices, today one corporation owns it and there is nothing else as data inside.
Just An Office Building
People really try to make buildings fit with the environment. So as in Tokyo, they are mostly placed on different floors of city skyscrapers, so that nobody would see them or think that they are inside. In Sydney, Australia, Equinix has built a new expressionist data center so that it could suit the famous city opera house.
The demand for such constructions only grows. The largest cloud companies are not far behind. So Amazon Web Services places abbreviated data centers. It is called the local zones and they are located closer to major population centers. They are mainly located in different cities across the US.
Such a trend provoked interest among the huge retail companies. There are some rumors that are considering leasing sections of some supermarkets to third-party data centers.
Demand Moves the Progress
One explanation for the surge in demand is that consumers themselves have changed. The main drivers are those applications where millisecond latency can be critical: you might not notice a quarter-second delay on Netflix, but it will be critical for those who trade stocks or participate in a multiplayer game like Fortnite.
For example, companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are betting on cloud gaming, which involves streaming games over the Internet without using a console or phone to provide computing power.
In the case of the metaverse, a loved topic among many tech giants, if it becomes massive every smooth movement and audio response with everything should be buffered to the millisecond and saved somewhere.
The Larger They Are the More They Need
Every such computer building requires energy. According to green energy, it is almost impossible to integrate. Also, you can build a nuclear station inside the town. There are some ways to save the energy from the heat, which is coming from the processors, but in the case of such technologies, all buildings should be reconstructed. It takes money, and time so the final product will be more expensive.
In order to plan and construct a data center that might be bigger than before, still the best option outside of the city. Moreover, according to the security part, it is safer to keep it outside.
In conclusion, the metaverse that might be really interesting will require lots of places to keep the data. If our world was absolutely globalized, it would create such a problem as you can place such centers anywhere, even in the deserts. Unfortunately, our world is different. The lack of energy, resources, and new trends in food might cause a collapse.
The best choice is to enjoy your real life!