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A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

politico.com

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Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#51

Post by zardo »

squibonpig wrote: post #48
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean, "allowed" to vote on it? The county officials are the decisionmakers, who should have allowed or not allowed them? It also seems worth noting that these gas turbine generators are meant to be the solution to another big complaint people have about datacenters, that they might drive up local power prices if they plug into the grid. Like you and the people in the article, I'm personally very sensitive…

There's an assumption underlying what you said that datacenters are gonna get built one way or another. But these aren't sewage plants or power plants or desalination plants or whatever, they aren't particularly important for the quality of life of most people. We could just kinda... not build them? How about we don't let them get built most places so it becomes fairly expensive. Make it so expensive that only say 1/…

Especially when we're talking about datacenters with onsite fossil fuel power generation.

Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#52

Post by squibonpig »

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #36

Genuine question but is the problem datacenters or more specifically AI specific datacenters? Because all these talks of data-center disrupting everyday's life from all the videos I have watched somehow now involve the AI/GPU aspect which have definitely made things more energy intensive and more water intensive But more specifically compute focused datacenters actually feel somewhat good/neutral to the region and yo…

Vast majority of the new ones are for AI

Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#53

Post by catlikesshrimp »

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #36

Genuine question but is the problem datacenters or more specifically AI specific datacenters? Because all these talks of data-center disrupting everyday's life from all the videos I have watched somehow now involve the AI/GPU aspect which have definitely made things more energy intensive and more water intensive But more specifically compute focused datacenters actually feel somewhat good/neutral to the region and yo…

In this case it is mostly the gas plants. They could have installed them far away, keeping the datacenter in place, or even better, use solar power. Or they could have built infrastructure in the middle of nowhere for datacenters to reside. In the end the problem is that maximum profit doesn't care about humans.

Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#56

Post by toofso »

jeffbee wrote: post #25

The article very very carefully avoids contextualizing this site, so as a service, here you go: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sully+Rd,+Centreville,+VA/...

interesting that the data center noise is competing with a lot of airplanes and freeways

Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#58

Post by reaperducer »

taeric wrote: post #16
tren_hard wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

For extra amusement, try living near a farm or a school. Public parks can also be a surprise if you don't like the sound of people playing. Add a court, and things get fun.

Public parks can also be a surprise if you don't like the sound of people playing. Add a court, and things get fun.

I once lived across the street from a public park with a court. One day the judge burned her thighs on the hot metal slide, and now it's a parking lot.

Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#59

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

squibonpig wrote: post #48
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean, "allowed" to vote on it? The county officials are the decisionmakers, who should have allowed or not allowed them? It also seems worth noting that these gas turbine generators are meant to be the solution to another big complaint people have about datacenters, that they might drive up local power prices if they plug into the grid. Like you and the people in the article, I'm personally very sensitive…

There's an assumption underlying what you said that datacenters are gonna get built one way or another. But these aren't sewage plants or power plants or desalination plants or whatever, they aren't particularly important for the quality of life of most people. We could just kinda... not build them? How about we don't let them get built most places so it becomes fairly expensive. Make it so expensive that only say 1/…

I don't assume that! There's nothing wrong with a local government deciding that they just don't like big projects and won't approve any that aren't strictly necessary for the needs of local residents.

The flip side is that residents of a place where people want to do more business and make big investments will have a lot more economic opportunity, which is important to quality of life. So unless you're in an area where people feel they already have all the opportunity they need, figuring out how to get businesses investing in your community in some way is important. And datacenters are often more pleasant to have nearby than warehouses or manufacturing.

Re: A data center opened next door. Then came the high-pitched whine

#60

Post by thepryz »

scottLobster wrote: post #33
bilekas wrote: post #3

> Stephenson said the data center’s operations team had not seen any “abnormalities” on the day in question. > “However, we take any reports of issues at the site seriously,” Stephenson wrote Absolutely no abnormalities because this is by design, but nobody wanted to pay attention when approving the building and zoning. Amazing what some money to politicians will get you. I can't even imaging living within ear shot o…

Or they don't see the problem. Someone's paying 600-900k to live in a townhouse 1000 ft from the runways at Dulles Airport https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/?category=SEMANTIC&sea...

Reminds me of former Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s suggestion that deaf people buy homes near the airport.

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19941105/1939991/oh...

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