Server farms in Eastern Washington.
How our data stays “permanent” (#Day60).
In Eastern Washington state, because the electricity is so cheap, many large technology companies choose to set up their server farms there.
These rolling hills and orographic effect produced desert are harvested for their hydroelectric power potential, producing an isolated, safe, and power-abundant location to build server farms.
Because we rely on Facebook and Google so much, companies like SnapChat have to store their online data on servers (computers without a screen). This function is costly, energy intensive, and environmentally damaging due to the heat that large server farms can generate!
Thankfully, decentralized protocols are being developed which will enable for less centralization in the amount of trust bestowed upon individual companies. Instead, the trust will be spread across the network, and the community-run storage through miners will reflect this.
Server farms could be a thing of the past, if a centralization resistant mining algorithm can be developed. Projects like Ethereum are pushing these initiatives forward. Proof-of-stake is one attempt at this.
Server farms of Eastern Washington… visit them before they’re gone!
#Day60 , #100DaysOfBlogging
