Cartoons

Server Farm – A New Cartoon

It’s Wednesday, time for me to share one of my own, fully completed cartoons with you. This one is a straightforward pun, but I think its funny – plus it’s a very nice drawing – if I must say so myself. (Cartoon after jump.)

The exploding number of servers that are being built to store the massive buildup of mainly useless piles of data humans collect – mainly about other humans – inspired this cartoon. Clusters of servers are now referred to as “server farms”; they require a ton of energy to operate, and contribute quite a bit of pollution to our already overstressed planet.

Please don’t mistake me for a mindless, tree-hugging, chai tea-sipping weenie. I am not advocating the eradication of server farms. But I do find it quite hilarious that some of the most rabid environmentalists are also the biggest users of the information system and technological gadgets of all stripes and colors. These devices – and the massive infrastructure that supports them – are great for organizing mass protests against evil oil companies, but they also contribute to global warming and are starting to disfigure rural landscapes.

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo – to name just a few – spend tons of dough to build massive structures that house thousands of computers to run websites (like this one) and store reams of compromising data for the likes of Dick Cheney.

I found an interesting article regarding this phenomenon on TechRepublic. Here’s what they had to say about “server farm” energy usage back in May of last year:

“Here’s one of the interesting things about all of these new data centers that are going up in rural areas — their energy consumption. For example, Microsoft’s new data center will consume 48 megawatts of power, or enough to power about 40,000 homes. According the US Census Bureau, for 2005 all of Grant County, Washington (which includes Quincy) contained only 30,605 housing units. That means that Microsoft’s new data center will consume about 30% more energy than all of the people in the entire county combined.”

I think this cartoon shows – in a blunt way – how we slap innocuous sounding names on the things we use and then just simply move on, never thinking of what we are actually doing. Hey, as long as it sounds harmless, who cares? Many server farms are being built where traditional farms once stood. I wonder if Microsoft erects the same yellow signs that farmers once did, warning people to drive carefully because they’re entering a stretch of tranquil farm country.

I must state that I firmly believe that server farms are not nearly the biggest threat to the environment – that title goes to the Jonas Brothers. But I believe they are another symbol of our lack of understanding as to how our daily routines impact the world around us. Ok, I’m done.

I will be posting brand new cartoons, with my very own captions (just like this one) every Wednesday at noon, and I’ll have a new piece of super fantastic commentary for you to read every Friday at noon.

BY THE WAY, THIS IS NOT THE CAPTION CONTEST, BUT FEEL FREE TO POST A THOUGHT OR TWO.

Please, click here for the Splendid Marbles Cartoon Caption Contest.

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