How data centres produce topologies of territory and labour

When people hear the term data centre architectures, they are likely to conjure images of large non-descript box buildings or perhaps of converted manufacturing warehouses. Far less likely will they consider the more opaque and hidden interior network architectures that connect machines inside data centres, even though these topologies are, operationally, much more influential. The great allure of data centres is that their network architectures allow actors that operate within them to extend their activities territorially by establishing links with distant client machines. In doing so, data centres change the relationship these actors have with labour forces. To understand the client footprint produced by data centres as a form of territory is to treat these facilities not only as digital infrastructures but also as political institutions that influence the wielding of power across wide geographical vistas. By paying analytical attention to the forms of power produced and sustained by data centre operations, we seek to extend the debate concerning the rising importance of these facilities in order to consider their implications for labour forces, workers and political struggle.