Breaking Down the Server, Scaling Up the Infrastructure: How Tech Giants Reshape the Data Center Industry
Dr Jean-Christophe Plantin is an Associate Professor at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.
It is now widely reported that tech giants have been expanding their computing infrastructure and creating global networks linking massive data centres with powerful subsea cables. In this talk, I retrace their efforts to take larger control over the design, operation, and maintenance of their data centres. I specifically show how Meta scaled up its infrastructure by “breaking down" i.e., disaggregating its data centre components (such as servers and server cabinets) and by promoting open source in the data centres industry and beyond. I will conclude by interrogating the new forms of power that tech giants gain from this infrastructural model.
| A Department of Communications seminar | |
|---|---|
| Speaker(s) | Dr Jean-Christophe Plantin, London School of Economics and Political Science |
| Date | 29 November 2023 |
| Time | 16:30 to 18:00 |
| Place | Alexander Building TS2 |
| Registration information | Teams link - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MWU4NjViNTAtM2VhYi00YWZmLWJiNjktMjA4ODFhM2I1NWJk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22912a5d77-fb98-4eee-af32-1334d8f04a53%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22252c4aa7-0100-4265-b744-88effa1a1ef0%22%7d |
| Organizer | Alex Taylor |
Event details
It is now widely reported that tech giants have been expanding their computing infrastructure and creating global networks linking massive data centres with powerful subsea cables. In this talk, I retrace their efforts to take larger control over the design, operation, and maintenance of their data centres. I specifically show how Meta scaled up its infrastructure by “breaking down" i.e., disaggregating its data centre components (such as servers and server cabinets) and by promoting open source in the data centres industry and beyond. I will conclude by interrogating the new forms of power that tech giants gain from this infrastructural model.
About the Speaker:
Dr Jean-Christophe Plantin is an Associate Professor at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. His research investigates the platformization of data libraries and cybersecurity, the invisible labor of data cleaning in information systems, and the increasingly infrastructural role that digital platforms play in society.
If you can't join in person please follow this Teams link -
Location:
Alexander Building TS2
