Data centers and their importance

 What data centers are important and why we need them?    

Data centers may not be visible to most of the people, but they are shaping everything from electricity use to how communities grow. These facilities house the servers which process nearly all digital activity, from online shopping and streaming to banking and health care. As the backbone of AI and cloud computing, they have expanded at a pace few other industries can match. Research shows the number of hyperscale data centers worldwide doubled recently. Data centers are massive facilities filled with computers and networking equipment which power much of modern life, including streaming services, social media, banking, cloud storage, AI and online communication. Supporters view data centers as essential infrastructure for the future economy, while critics argue more transparency, regulation and sustainable practices are needed as society becomes increasingly dependent on digital technology. Most people use data centers every single day without realizing it.

While data centers have existed for decades, their rapid expansion is being driven by growing demand for AI and digital services, leading to concerns about energy use, water consumption, environmental impacts and whether communities benefit enough from hosting them. Every time someone sends a text message, streams a Netflix show, stores photos in the cloud, asks ChatGPT a question, checks Facebook, uses Google Maps or makes an online purchase, there is a good chance a data center is involved behind the scenes. As AI, cloud computing and online services continue to grow, data centers are becoming an increasingly important, and controversial, part of modern life. A simple way to describe data centers is to think of them as part of a food chain. At the bottom of the food chain, you’re sitting at your desk with a desktop PC or laptop. All the computing power is on your device. The next step up is a small office server room, which provides shared storage and applications for employees. Next up the chain, you can go two different directions (or use a mix). One option is a colocation data center, where companies lease space instead of running their own physical facilities. This model can support a multitude of customers from a single operator, such as Equinix. The other option is to move to public cloud computing. You buy access to computing resources only when you need them, and you only pay for what you use. Providers like Amazon, Microsoft and Google run massive data centers which support tens of thousands of servers. From the customer perspective, it may feel like having a private system, but in reality, these servers are shared resources supporting many organizations.

Cloud providers now operate at a scale that was “unthinkable ten years ago” and are referred to in the industry as hyperscale. These global networks of data centers support millions of customers and users. The advent of AI is pushing those data centers to the next level, way more sophisticated technology, and data centers that need to become a lot more powerful. At its simplest, a data center is a secure building filled with rows of servers that store, process and move information across the internet. Almost every digital action passes through them. A data center is like a library of server computers which both stores and processes a lot of internet and cloud data we use every day. Imagine having thousands of high-performance computers working nonstop doing heavy calculations with their fans on. They will need a lot of power. Some are small enough to serve a hospital or university. Others, known as hyperscale facilities, belong to companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta, with footprints large enough to be measured in megawatts of electricity use. Think of it as the physical "brain" behind the internet and many online services. Inside a data center are rows of powerful computer servers which work around the clock to store websites, apps, emails, videos, medical records, banking information and countless other forms of digital data. These facilities also require massive cooling systems, backup power generators, batteries and security systems to keep everything running 24 hours a day.

Data centers have existed in some form since the 1940s and 1950s, when governments and large companies began using massive early computers. One of the earliest examples was the ENIAC computer completed in 1945, which required a large dedicated facility to operate. In the early days, entire rooms were needed to house a single computer. Modern data centers began taking shape during the rise of the internet in the 1990s and expanded rapidly during the 2000s as smartphones, streaming services and cloud computing became common. Analysis shows how dominant the US has become. Fourteen of the world’s top 20 hyperscale data center markets are in the US, including Northern Virginia, Dallas and Silicon Valley. Other global hotspots include Greater Beijing, Dublin and Singapore. Average facility size is also climbing. It is being forecasts that total capacity could double again in less than four years, with 130 to 140 new hyperscale centers added annually. The world’s largest operators are American technology giants. Amazon, Microsoft and Google together account for 59% of hyperscale capacity, followed by Meta, Apple, and companies such as Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance. Now, the rapid growth of AI is fueling another major expansion of the industry.

Data centers connect to the power grid much like other large loads, like factories and even towns do. Because they need so much electric power, utilities have to upgrade substations, lines and transformers to support them. Utilities also have to upgrade their control and protection equipment to accommodate the consumption of data centers. If not planned carefully, new facilities can strain local power delivery and generation capacity. That is why every major project must undergo engineering reviews before connecting to the grid. Modern society depends heavily on digital technology, and data centers help make that possible. Without them, many everyday services would stop working or become extremely unreliable. Data centers power things like:

Artificial intelligence

Banking systems

Online shopping

Medical and government databases

GPS navigation

Social media

Emergency communication systems

Internet searches

Remote work tools

Streaming services

Cloud storage

Even businesses that appear "physical" often rely heavily on digital systems hosted in data centers. Life without data centers would look dramatically different. Large parts of the internet would stop functioning. Streaming services would disappear. Many apps would stop working. Online banking, cloud storage and social media would become difficult or impossible to use. Simple tasks people now take for granted, like backing up photos, ordering food online or joining a Zoom meeting, would become far more complicated. Many businesses, hospitals, schools and government agencies would struggle to operate because so many systems now depend on digital infrastructure. In many ways, data centers are becoming as important to modern life as roads, airports and power plants. Large data centers run by the top firms typically require 30 to 100 megawatts of power. To put that into perspective, one megawatt can power about 750 homes. This means a 50-70 megawatt facility consumes as much electricity as a small city. Building one data center is like adding an entirely new town to the grid. In fact, in Virginia, data centers already consume about 25% of the electricity in the state. In US, that number is about 3 to 4%. Such demand requires extensive coordination with utilities.

Different states and regions offer different advantages. According to a report, Virginia became the leading hub because of relatively low electricity costs when the industry was expanding, availability of land in the early years and proximity to federal agencies and contractors. Texas and California are also major markets, for reasons ranging from abundant energy to the presence of technology companies. Internationally, analysis shows that China and Europe each account for about a third of the remaining capacity. Analysts expect growth to spread to other US regions, including the South and Midwest, while markets in Australia, Spain and Saudi Arabia increase their share globally. Despite their importance, data centers have sparked growing concern in different communities. One major concern is power consumption. Data centers use enormous amounts of electricity, especially facilities supporting artificial intelligence systems. Water use is another issue. Many data centers rely on cooling systems which consume large amounts of water, especially during hot weather. Neighbors also sometimes complain about:-

Concerns about environmental impacts

Noise from cooling equipment and backup generators

Loss of green space

Increased traffic during construction

Tax incentives given to large corporations

Large industrial-looking buildings

In some communities, residents feel data centers do not create enough permanent jobs compared to the amount of land, power and resources they consume.

Several misconceptions about data centers continue to circulate online and in public debates, which include following:-

Many industries rely on data centers, including healthcare, banking, education, transportation, retail and government agencies.

While cyber security and privacy concerns are real, most data centers are simply storage and computing facilities for businesses, apps and websites. Employees are not sitting around reading people’s emails or social media messages.

Some facilities consume enormous resources, but many companies are also investing heavily in renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced cooling systems designed to reduce environmental impacts.

Modern data centers actually require teams of technicians, engineers, electricians, security workers and maintenance staff to keep them operating.

As the industry grows rapidly, there are still major unanswered questions. Experts are still debating how much electricity future AI systems will require and whether existing power grids can handle that demand long term. There are also ongoing questions about:-

Environmental impacts

Cyber security risks

Future water consumption

Whether enough renewable energy will be available

How communities should regulate growth

The long-term economic benefits for local communities

How AI could reshape internet infrastructure

Some researchers also worry society is becoming increasingly dependent on digital infrastructure which most people do not fully understand.

The rapid rise of AI has supercharged an already fast-growing sector. Training models and running cloud services requires enormous computing power, which means facilities are being built faster and larger. AI and cloud drive the need to data centers. Training AI models and running cloud services require massive computing power, which means new data centers have to be built faster and larger than before. The big difference now is the increased scale of growth. Historically the average size of new data centers was increasing gradually, but this trend has become supercharged recently as companies build out AI-oriented infrastructure. Data centers are largely invisible to the average person, but they now help power much of modern life. Supporters see them as critical infrastructure for the future economy, especially as AI continues expanding. Critics worry about energy use, environmental impacts and whether communities are giving up too much for facilities many residents never directly see or interact with. Like highways, airports and electrical grids, data centers are becoming part of the backbone of modern society, even if most people rarely think about them. For most of the people, data centers are invisible but indispensable. Almost everything digital depends on them. Streaming movies, online banking, virtual meetings and classes, weather forecasts, navigation apps, social media like Instagram, online storage and even some healthcare services” all run through data centers. The trend is unlikely to slow around the world. 

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New turbo-electric passenger aircraft concept

 Advanced turbo-electric passenger airliner concept might deliver 17% more range efficiency

A new turboelectric airliner concept, capable of delivering 17% better efficiency over 2050 projections for standard airliners, was unveiled at the AIAA AVIATION Forum, and a University of Michigan Engineering team played a central role in its development. A technical talk on the project, including work from the U-M team, was delivered at the Forum. The wide body provides additional lift while electric fans at the rear reduce drag. University of Michigan Engineering researchers enabled the industry-academic team to explore a larger range of possible designs. The concept is designed to fit within existing airport gates and airline operations. The configuration also supports a twin-aisle cabin layout.

A hybrid-electric aviation company has unveiled a new conceptual aircraft design for next-generation airliners. Electra’s conceptual aircraft uses a wide “double-bubble” fuselage which allows the body of the aircraft to contribute more lift, while two underwing turbofan engines produce thrust as well as electricity to power electric tail fans that ingest and re-energize slower-moving air over the fuselage. The aircraft design project, led by the hybrid-electric aviation company Electra, is part of NASA's Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES 2050) program. Ph.D. student Sinan Abdulhak received the Neil Y. Chen Memorial Best Student Paper Award for his market-modeling research. The collaboration also included partners from across academia and industry, including American Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Hinetics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Irvine.

 

The chief contribution by the U-M Aerospace Engineering team, led by Gökçin Çınar, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was expanding the design space that the team could explore. Both she and Joaquim Martins, the Pauline M. Sherman Collegiate Professor of aerospace engineering, focus on multidisciplinary design and optimization, considering multiple aspects of the aircraft at once. The technique is known as boundary layer ingestion. Electra’s analysis found that the configuration could deliver up to a 17% efficiency improvement beyond gains expected by 2050 from advanced structures, engine technologies and aerodynamic improvements. “The value of electrification in this concept is that it lets us put the propulsion where it couldn’t go before but does the most good,” said Dr. Parker Vascik, Director of Product Strategy. “We can radically improve how the airframe and propulsion system work together while keeping the aircraft grounded in real airline and airport operations. The goal is not just efficiency on paper, but concepts that we can actually build, certify, and use.”

The aerodynamics and structure of the aircraft, as well as its propulsion and heat management systems, are deeply dependent on one another. For instance, changing the shape of the aircraft, or its weight distribution, affects where the engines should be placed and how much thrust they need to generate. Çınar and Martins coded extensions to NASA's open-source Aviary aircraft design framework, supporting the simultaneous optimization of all three of these aspects of airplanes. Using this approach, the team evaluated 20 different aircraft architectures and optimized these designs for over 100,000 scenarios. They found low-fidelity simulations preferred highly distributed propulsion, basically, many electric propellers along the wings and in the tail. However, their more advanced high-fidelity simulations demonstrated that the weight, drag and challenges dissipating heat tipped the scales to favor a different design. "This was one of the findings we scrutinized most carefully, because it challenges some of the assumptions that have shaped parts of the electrified aircraft design literature," Çınar said. 

The company also revealed that the concept is designed to use standard jet fuel or sustainable aviation fuel, and avoid reliance on airport charging infrastructure or untested fuel types. The configuration also supports a twin-aisle cabin layout within a narrow body aircraft class, unlocking improved passenger comfort and more efficient boarding and deplaning. The concept is developed as part of NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 program. “This concept builds on years of research into how airframe shape and propulsion placement can work together to improve aircraft efficiency,” said Dr. Alejandra Uranga. “What is different now is the ability to use electrification and distributed propulsion to more deeply integrate those systems. Designing the aircraft as a whole system is essential to realizing the full potential of future commercial aircraft.”

"Low-fidelity models and first-principles analysis remain essential for exploring large design spaces and down-selecting promising concepts early. But once the expected benefits are narrow and the modeling uncertainty is high, you need multi-fidelity analysis with greater subsystem granularity. That is what we were able to achieve together with Electra: we could move from broad concept exploration to a much more detailed understanding of when electrification actually buys its way onto the aircraft." In addition to the concept, Electra developed 11 technical papers documenting the models, methods and findings behind the study. The company also adopted NASA’s open-source Aviary multidisciplinary design and optimization tool and developed an electrified aircraft design suite intended for public use. Together, these contributions are intended to help advance the broader aviation research community, not just push forward a single aircraft concept. Electra’s AACES 2050 team brought together leaders across industry and academia, including American Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Hinetics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the University of Michigan Department of Aerospace Engineering, and the University of California, Irvine’s Aircraft Systems Laboratory. 

“Through AACES, NASA is pushing the industry to think boldly, to use our novel propulsion technologies to unconstrain design thinking for the next generation of commercial aviation,” said Marc Allen. “The third era of aviation will bring radical change to how people and places connect, whether applied to aircraft entering service this decade, future regional platforms, or commercial transport by mid-century. Electra’s focus as the hybrid electric leader is to keep American aviation, and NASA, leading the way.” Max Li, U-M assistant professor of aerospace engineering, modeled likely future markets for aircraft, answering questions like, "When and for what routes will airline operators be looking to buy next-generation aircraft?" and "What are their requirements likely to be?" Optimization pointed the team toward a partially electrified design, with a conventional turbofan engine on each wing and electric fans near the rear of the fuselage. The concept proposed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-led team, so the aircraft body itself contributes lift rather than simply carrying passengers. The electric fans accelerate the slower-moving air over the top of the aircraft, providing thrust while reducing the energy lost in the aircraft's wake. Known as fuselage boundary-layer ingestion, this advanced design reduces the thrust that the under wing engines must generate.

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