A Technologist’s Take On Google, The Dalles, and the Future of It All

By Dan Richardson, 10-16-06

There’s been plenty of ink spilled about the almighty Google and its new, semi-secret plant in The Dalles. (Read previous thoughts here and here.) But Wired magazine’s article by George Gilder this issue lays out the technology, the competition between search engines and the future of the Internet — what Gilder calls the “new global ganglia of computers and cables” — as clearly as I’ve seen anywhere.

Gilder’s answer to The Question — why in the world did Google locate their server farm in The Dalles? — is the most cogent yet. The answer remains pretty close to what we’ve thought already: Cheap power and high-speed fiber. But the ramifications, and the specs, are interesting.

Consider, for example, that some analysts predict that the insatiable need for air conditioning and other power needs of the massive server farms and the rest of the Internet’s physical infrastructure could eventually consume half of the world’s electrical output. Today, Google and Microsoft and the other major ‘Net players are looking for server sites along the Columbia River and its power-producing dams. Those sites will run out fast; Gilder supposes that nuclear power plants might be built to power up the global computer network.

Who has plans for nuke plants? China. Thirty of them. [End of article]