Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run their data centers

Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by tobinfekkes on Saturday June 18, 2022 @03:55PM (#31793224)

Opening line: "Data centers.....can be hazardous places for the workers...."

In the list of "possible jobs to have", data centers are comparatively sterile.

Loud? Yes. Lonely? Yes. Vast? Yes. Hazardous? That's a stretch.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hn_version_0023 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:28PM (#31793530)

Having worked in MS's DCs, they are, in fact, hazardous. They absolutely push the limits on heat exposure for humans -- those hot aisles are HOT, and we all carried heat index alarms as a result.

Further, I think its weird you don't think of the sound as a hazard. When its so loud you must wear 30+NRR hearing protection, it sure seems like a hazard to me.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by userbinator on Saturday June 18, 2022 @06:02PM (#31794201)

They absolutely push the limits on heat exposure for humans

That sounds very different from my experience (not with MS DCs) --- where it was loud (though not quite as loud as e.g. an automotive shop) and windy, but the temperature was kept at a controlled 68F (20C) and alerts were raised if it got even slightly hotter than that.

Yes, I suppose there is more risk than sitting at a desk all day, but I think the parent is comparing it to many other jobs like those in the heavy equipment industry, mining, farming, petro, etc.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hn_version_0023 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @07:04PM (#31794607)

I'd agree its very different even from my own experience at other data centers. MS really were pushing it in the locations I worked. In early May, the hot aisles were already topping 112F! Given that, the policy in place was, IIRC, 15 minutes of work w/ a mandatory 45m break & fluid consumption.

Certainly there are riskier jobs. Certainly, by and large, data centers are safe places to work. But they are not without hazards and I (obviously) find it irksome when those hazards are dismissed so easily.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by dekhn on Sunday June 19, 2022 @11:25AM (#31800258)

Keeping data centers at 68F is a huge waste of power. It makes perfect sense to run them at the limit of what humans can tolerate (but no further).

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by nsheridan on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:51PM (#31793719)

Not to mention fire suppression systems and electrical risks.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by Group_B on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:46PM (#31793684)

Sounds like as long as you follow basic protocol it isn’t really hazardous.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hn_version_0023 on Saturday June 18, 2022 @05:20PM (#31793931)

As long as you follow basic protocol your outcome won't involve injury. The hazard remains, and is the reason the protocol exists.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by hllooo on Saturday June 18, 2022 @04:50PM (#31793710)

requiring special safety equipment seems like a pretty good place to draw the line...

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by _greim_ on Saturday June 18, 2022 @07:58PM (#31794888)

I've toured power plants, both hydro and coal, which are dangerous places. On a scale of 1-10 with a corporate office being 1 and a power plant being 10, I'd have rated a data center at 1. But now having seen the inside of one, I'd rate it more like 3 or 4. The biggest danger is the high voltage, but there are more mundane dangers like hearing loss, heavy equipment, heat, room-pressure, holes in the floor, etc. It's an industrial facility for sure, and PPE and safety procedures are a BIG DEAL for the workers.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by jeffbee on Saturday June 18, 2022 @06:30PM (#31794394)

Electricians are expected to work on and around live loads in datacenters regularly. It's probably a lot more dangerous than whatever you do.

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Re:Microsoft and Meta join Google in using AI to help run th... by eCa on Saturday June 18, 2022 @06:03PM (#31794211)

I had a lonely server at another datacenter of former webhost ThePlanet when things exploded[1] back in 2008. So, while rare, there are risks.

[1] https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/06/01/expl...

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