[98codes]

> I don't think the average person actually knows anything concrete about them.

The average person around them knows quite a bit about the noise level, and how far it carries. They're starting to learn about the effect consistent noise at that level has on their mental & physical well-being as well.

[Rebelgecko]

Town by me had a huge outcry about a proposed data center and how it would ruin the area. Funnily enough there's already data centers on the same street!

[samrus]

Thats what the parent comment said. Older data centers are built more consciously of the surrounding, but these newer ones are being built with no regard for the community and are egregious. For example using on site generators that make alot more noise than the existing on grid datacenters

You gotta read the comment

[Rebelgecko]

This new data center was air-cooled and would use the same grid as existing ones, so I found it funny that the complaints people made about it were either inaccurate or applied just as well to the existing DCs in the area

[quickthrowman]

The average person is familiar with sound mitigation enclosures for generators and chillers? I kinda doubt that.

If noise regulations are in place where the data center is being built, companies that make chillers and generators will sell you an enclosure that reduces the sound level to comply with sound regulations. It’s not like these data centers are the first buildings ever to have a lot of generators and chillers installed, all non-AI data centers have plenty of each.

If you live in an unincorporated area and a data center moves in and there’s no sound regulations, then they can do whatever they want, but that’s the risk of living in an unincorporated area.

[rconti]

Right, and most people opposing datacenters don't _yet_ have one near them, so they don't have the direct experience yet.

[yellowapple]

Plenty of the people opposing datacenters are opposing them in places that already have datacenters. If there was a direct experience to be had, they would've already had it.

[AnthonyMouse]

> The average person around them knows quite a bit about the noise level, and how far it carries.

Do they? How much noise do you imagine comes from a data center that isn't operating a gas turbine?

[ThunderBee]

I believe there’s been a number of investigative journalists/ YouTubers that have looked into this and it can be quite staggering. Not just human audible noise but infrasound and ultrasound as well. IIRC Ben Jordan’s video “ Datacenters Behaving Like Acoustic Weapons” would probably be a good place to start.

They could build these data centers to eliminate the noise but it’s cheaper to ruin the livability of surrounding areas.

[lotsofpulp]

>I believe there’s been a number of investigative journalists/ YouTubers that have looked into this and it can be quite staggering.

The only thing staggering is the amount of trust placed in "YouTubers".

[AuthAuth]

That video by Ben Jordan is emotionally convincing but it makes no solid case for any of its claims.

[AnthonyMouse]

Ultrasound is extremely non-penetrating and wouldn't make it through the walls of a building. Infrasound is the opposite and would go through most anything, and in principle can be produced by anything that moves, but the thing to care about at those frequencies is the amplitude, i.e. the sound volume. It's a meaningful concern from things like wind farms that have massive slow-turning turbines, but there is nothing in a data center that moves that kind of volume. On top of that, having multiple independent small sources in the same place lessens the effect, because multiple sources that emit at the same frequency but out of phase with each other cancel each other out.

Undoubtedly if you get some measurement equipment and stand next to a data center you could register some infrasound, but the same would be true if you stand next to an ordinary office building or in an empty field, because infrasound carries for hundreds of miles and there are much larger sources than data centers.

"There is a sound but you can't hear it trust me bro" is solidly into YouTube quacks territory.

[ramdomthought]

>Ultrasound is extremely non-penetrating and wouldn't make it through the walls of a building

sometimes people like to be able to be outside. the 'quiet' part of the covenant of quiet enjoyment

[AnthonyMouse]

When you're outside you're not inside the walls of a data center.

[fwip]

And not all of the noise is generated inside the datacenter, especially those with onsite turbines.

[TitaRusell]

The Pittsburgh steel mills provided jobs and a sense of purpose to communities.

Something that tech bros fundamentally oppose.