From Netflix to GPS: 10 ways this hidden tech infrastructure quietly powers modern life
Data centers are the hidden infrastructure behind much of modern life, powering everything from the apps on your phone and the shows you stream to online shopping, banking and artificial intelligence.Inside these warehouse-sized facilities, thousands of servers store data, process digital requests and keep online services running around the clock.Most Americans may never see one, but they use them constantly—often without realizing it.A SOUTHERN STATE JUST TOOK THE TOP SPOT IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST-GROWING INDUSTRIES"Anytime you’re touching technology and using everything from social media to your email, all of that information, all of the data is being processed in a data center," Brittany Kaiser, CEO of Alpha Compute, told Fox News Digital.The recent race to build more facilities is being driven in large part by AI, which Kaiser said processes "way more data" than routine activities such as email and social media.
But data centers are necessary for so much more than creating a speedy reply to your ChatGPT questions.Here are 10 ways data centers quietly power the services Americans rely on every day.From social media and email to banking apps, data centers process and store the information that keeps the services on your phone running.(iStock)From Instagram and TikTok to Gmail and banking apps, data centers process and store the information behind the services people use every day.
When you open an app, upload a photo, refresh your feed or send a message, your phone is connecting to servers that retrieve and deliver that information in seconds.The apps may live on a screen in your hand, but much of the work happens far away inside a physical facility filled with computers running continuously.Data centers keep streaming and online gaming running by delivering content quickly and reducing the lag that can disrupt a show, song or match.(Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and other streaming platforms rely o...