I was browsing through some industry headlines the other day, and one in particularly caught my eye. Titled, “The Era of the 100MW Data Center Is Coming,” the article went on to describe how internet application providers like Google and Facebook were approaching the time when some of their facilities will eclipse the 100 megawatt (MW) mark. My reaction: Who cares?
Apart from the hyperbolic — not to mention misleading — headline, is there really anything to see here? We all know that these guys are building facilities that are tuned to their very specific and unique requirements, but other than giving a PR flack an opportunity to put out another press release, does anyone really care about these guys’ media infatuation and grappling to prove “whose is bigger than whose?” While I respect what these companies have done to date, I don’t think that the real value of their efforts is to serve as some data-center-on-steroids freak show. Maybe it’s only me, but I fail to see the fascination with these artificial constructs.