We often talk about "the cloud" as an abstract concept, but it lives in massive, physical structures. This session strips away the jargon to show how modern data centers—the engines of the AI revolution—are actually built. We will track the journey from a vacant lot to a modern high-density compute facility.

This talk will go deep into the fundamentals of creating a modern data center including how they are sized from small to hyperscale, where they are sited, their energy needs, equipment like servers and coolers that are installed, the professional engineers and builders who build them, and how a data center goes from an idea to an operating facility. We will also review different data center types like edge and AI solutions, trade offs between size and type of data center, and how much time and money it takes to create a modern data center. We will also learn about the effects on wider society like grid power costs, material resources, and social impacts of data centers.

If you want to learn more about the physical infrastructure of the backbone for the modern computing industry then join this session and learn all about the cloud is grounded in physical reality.

Key Take Aways:

Understand that software is bound by physical hardware and power of data centers

Recognize the massive energy footprint and the innovation required to keep the lights on

Gain a clear picture of the physical foundation that makes every modern app and AI model function