undefined | Better HN

0 pointsbostik7mo ago0 comments

Consider the second order effects of building all those data centers.

The GPU hardware rots and becomes obsolete in a matter of years, but the national infrastructure required to support the physical sites isn't going away. Things such as...

- improved power distribution networks

- logistics arrangements to build and support the DC sites

- lots and lots of new fibre interconnects to support the massive bandwidth needs

- hopefully: better power delivery planning laws

- plumbing infrastructure, because all that hardware requires cooling

Some of the DC sites will be decommissioned from their initial use, but given the physical security requirements, might morph into handy higher-security industrial facilities with only small repurposing. Such reuse cases would especially benefit from improved logistics (see above).

0 comments

LarsDu886mo ago

That's fine, but the non-GPU infrastructure represents half of the cost of the datacenter. The physical GPUs and compute represents the other half and will rather rapidly depreciate.

This is not as hardy as fiberoptic communication lines used to build the internet, or railroad lines used to build transportation infrastructure.

izacus7mo ago

I'll be honest: this list sounds like grasping at straws to find something positive in this fiasco and doesn't come close to building something lasting and valuable for USA.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse