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| The centres provide 24/7/365 access to the massive data, processing power and storage that digital services around Europe require (AFP Photo/PAUL FAITH) |
Dublin (AFP) - A new industrial revolution is under way on the outskirts of Dublin.
Fortunes
are being made in clusters of anonymous warehouses housing vast data centres.
"Data
is the new oil, definitely," said Brian Roe, commercial director of
Servecentric, a data centre company.
Roe is a
new breed of prospector, presiding over one node in a network of 48 data
centres in Ireland.
Put simply,
these powerhouse developments provide 24/7/365 access to the massive data,
processing power and storage that digital services around Europe require.
"People
are saying, 'Well everything is going to come from the cloud'," Roe said.
"Well
where's the cloud? The cloud is data centres."
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| "People are saying, 'Well everything is going to come from the cloud'," Roe said. "Well where's the cloud? The cloud is data centres" (AFP Photo/PAUL FAITH) |
A fortune
in the making
According
to industry lobby group Host in Ireland, the country has become the unlikely
engine room for everything from video streaming to phone apps and social media.
Government
incentives, a skilled workforce and high connectivity to Europe and America are
helping attract data centre construction investment which is expected to reach
nine billion euros ($10 billion) by 2021.
The sector
employs 5,700 people in full-time equivalent roles including 1,800 as data
centre operators, according to a report produced for Ireland's investment
agency.
Nestled in
an industrial estate next to a motorway, Servecentric is a
"co-location" site shared by multiple businesses, dwarfed by the
exclusive "hyperscale" establishments of Google, Amazon and Facebook.
In the
lobby, visitors are asked to present ID to a security guard. Fingerprint
scanners abound and 160 CCTV cameras record footage stored for three months.
One client
requires six levels of security, including airport-style checks and private
guards in their portion of the centre.
Roe, touring the facility in a crisp suit, declines to say who, but says they are a "household name".
 |
| Nestled in an industrial estate next to a motorway outside Dublin, Servecentric is a "co-location" site shared by multiple businesses, dwarfed by the exclusive "hyperscale" establishments of Google, Amazon and Facebook (AFP Photo/PAUL FAITH) |
Roe, touring the facility in a crisp suit, declines to say who, but says they are a "household name".
The secrecy
is in service of the library-like rows of cabinets decked with blinking servers
plugged with neatly bundled wires. All are locked away like safe deposit boxes.
The space
whirrs with the constant air conditioning required to prevent overheating --
evidence of voracious power consumption which, for some, is causing concern.
State-owned
power provider Eirgrid says data centres "can require the same amount of
energy as a large town" and could account for 31 percent of Ireland's
total energy demand by 2027.
In May,
Apple pulled out of a 875 million euro ($1 billion) data centre development on
Ireland's west coast after objectors claimed it could eventually increase the
demand on the grid by up to eight percent.
With
Ireland set to miss its 2020 and 2030 climate change targets, according to the
country's environmental watchdog, industry is keen to play down energy
concerns.
Facebook
has made a PR push at its new 200 million euro ($230 million) centre in Clonee
near Dublin, assuring locals it is 100 percent powered by renewables.
Secrecy
and security
There are
also concerns that the opacity and transnational nature of the data business
could end up with Ireland harbouring or supporting unethical or illegal
practices of the type seen in last year's Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Amazon Web
Services (AWS) -- which provides cloud services for hire -- is a particular
concern for Paul O' Neill, a researcher at Dublin City University.
 |
Library-like
rows of cabinets are decked with blinking
servers plugged with neatly bundled
wires. All are l ocked
away like safe deposit boxes (AFP Photo/PAUL FAITH)
|
"The
ethical implications of hosting AWS data centres in Ireland are potentially
vast," he said.
AWS, which
plans to expand its Dublin operations, sells controversial facial recognition
technology to US police.
"These
corporations are or have been involved in many of the dominant controversies
and debates of our contemporary networked era including privacy, data breaches
and surveillance," O'Neill said.
Data
centres do have at least some local support.
When Apple
pulled out of plans for the west coast Athenry development -- predicted to
bring 150 jobs to the remote area -- campaign group "Athenry for
Apple" mourned it as "an absolute hammer blow to the locality".
But plans
for a million square foot (93,000 square metre) data centre, currently at the
early stages in the nearby west coast town of Ennis, have sparked local
concerns.
"Data
centres use massive amounts of energy, which is all well and good if the energy
is sustainable and secure," said Theresa O'Donohoe, who represents the
community in planning matters.
"Surely
if a data centre is the technology of the future we should be powering it
sustainably, as is required to address climate change?"
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