Data Center News Roundup: Ethics, Regulations, and the Cloud

With data center news moving faster than ever, we want to make it easy for data center professionals to cut through the noise and find the most important stories of the week.

The Data Center Knowledge News Roundup brings you the latest news and developments across the data center industry — from investments and mergers to security threats and industry trends.

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To Cloud or Not to Cloud – That Is the Question

A recent study from the Uptime Institute suggests that companies are becoming more cautious when deciding if and when they should move operations to the cloud. After years of steep growth, for example, AWS reported a “historic slowdown” in the second half of 2022.

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Nevertheless, we’re still seeing big corporations make the jump. This week, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced a partnership with Amazon as Sinclair’s preferred cloud provider. Over the next several years, the media company will migrate its media and playout workloads to AWS’s cloud.

Data Center Regulations

A lawsuit filed against a Texas data center operator for negligence, deception, and fraud highlights the growing need for clear regulations in the data center industry. However, as DCK contributor Steven Hill notes in his coverage of the recent Arkansas Data Center Act of 2023, not all regulations are made the same — and often have unintended or negligible consequences.

Related:Data Center News Roundup: ChatGPT, Amazon, and the FAA

As US lawmakers vow to take steps to address AI concerns over security and privacy, the EU is reviewing an Energy Efficiency Directive that will set metrics and reporting requirements for cloud and hyperscale data centers.

Musk-y News

If you’re getting tired of Elon’s continued presence in the headlines (I know I am!) we have bad news for you: the Musk news-train continues. For our collective sanity, we’ll keep this one brief.

After announcing his dog as the new Twitter CEO, Musk has moved forward with the purchase of 10,000 GPUs to support an “anti-woke” generative AI project. According to Data Center Dynamics, the GPUs will likely be housed in one of Twitter’s two remaining data centers. Now, let’s move on.

Data Centers in Saudi Arabia: A Human Rights Risk?

As companies look to evade restrictions and invest in new regions, human rights activists are sharing concerns over the implications of these moves.

An op-ed on the Human Rights Watch blog has called for Microsoft to suspend its investment in a new cloud data center in Saudi Arabia until the company can demonstrate how it will protect user data from Saudi Arabia's anti-cybercrime and data protection laws, which “severely undermine the right to privacy [and] enable unchecked state surveillance.”

Related:Data Center News Roundup: DCW Keynotes, Vodafone Layoffs

Data Center World 2023: What to Expect

After last week’s announcement of the keynote speakers for DCW 2023 in Austin, we now have more details on what attendees can expect. In addition to the keynotes from Dell, Equinix, Oracle, Cloudflare and Compass execs, the three-day conference will include 80 other speakers across 55 sessions.

According to DCW Program Chair Bill Kleyman, the conference will focus on “the most critical and core aspects of the data center industry” in an effort to overcome some of its biggest challenges.

Data Center Tips and Tricks on DCK This Week

5 Tips for Increasing Your Data Center Technician Salary. While the average data center technician earns a $61,000 salary, the highest-paid technicians make six-figure sums. Chris Tozzi discusses proven strategies for techs to move up the pay scale land the highest-paying data center jobs.

Computational Storage? Don’t Worry – It Hasn’t Gone Away. While it may not have the industry hype it once did, computational storage (CS) is still kicking. Tim Stammers examines the benefits of CS, the tech’s potential future, and what's keeping it from taking off.

Best Practices for Making Cloud Repatriation Feel Like Victory, Not Retreat. If you’re weighing whether to repatriate your cloud workload back on-prem, this guide — filled with expert advice and best practices — is for you.

That’s all for this week. Which of these stories is most important to you? Let us know in the comments below!