Twitter’s data center in California was knocked offline because of extreme heat. CNN received information which says Twitter service could stop if another data center is knocked offline.
Major social media platforms like Twitter need data centers. The data centers are giant buildings full of computers, servers and storage systems. It’s important to control the temperature in these giant buildings so the computers do not become too hot.
To help keep the data centers cool, some tech companies have built them in cold areas. For example, Google has had a data center in Finland since 2011, and Meta (formally Facebook), opened one in Sweden in 2013.
Carrie Fernandez, Twitter’s vice president of engineering, said that Twitter lost its data center in Sacramento, California on September 5th because of extreme weather. Due to the high temperature, Twitter shutdown all equipment in the Sacramento data center.
Most big tech companies have multiple data centers. With multiple data centers, the companies can stay online and continue to provide service if one data center has problems.
According to Fernandez, Twitter also has data centers in Atlanta, Georgia and Portland, Oregon. If Twitter loses one of these data centers, its service might not work for all Twitter users.
Peiter Zatko, the former head of security at Twitter, is a whistleblower who says that Twitter data centers are not safe. According to him, the company does not have enough backup data centers, so it’s possible that Twitter is knocked offline for “weeks, months, or permanently.”
Twitter does not agree with Zatko’s claims.
VOCABULARY
- Data center – a large building that has many computers for storage
- Knock offline – to cause something to stop working; to damage something and it stops working; to make something not function correctly; to break
- Extreme – serious or dangerous; “high”; most; greatest
- Social media – services like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
- Platform – an online business that provides a service or connects people and businesses
- Giant – very large; huge; massive
- Server – a large computer that controls other computers or shares information with many computers in a network
- Storage – space available for keeping or storing something
- Tech company (technology) – a company that makes new technology or software; a company with digital services or products
- Vice president – a person who is under the president; the second most important person
- Shutdown – turn off; to close (down)
- Equipment – machines; tools; gear; hardware
- Multiple – more than one; several; numerous; many; some
- Former – previous; past; ex-; before; in the past
- Head – leader, top person, boss
- Whistleblower – a person who shares/tells secret or classified information without permission (usually because the information is dangerous or illegal)
- Backup – reserve; extra; substitute
- Permanently – forever; for good; indefinitely
- Claim – a statement; to say something, usually without proof or evidence; allegation; suggestion
Original story from CNN below:
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