Thermotemporalities, thermomasculinities: Uptime, downtime, and server heat in the digital Anthropocene

Amid a warming planet and a surge in digital activity precipitated by COVID-19 lockdowns, the ecological impacts of cloud infrastructures are of increasing interest to scholars and publics. Deemed essential workers, data center operators maintain server uptime by keeping equipment cool (via air conditioning). Failure results in overheating and a state of service interruption called downtime. Drawing on ethnographic research in data centers, this article introduces the concept of thermotemporalities to illustrate how time, temperature, and expertise converge in novel formations. By attending to the embodied practices and discursive pronouncements of data center operators, I reveal how uptime (cold) and downtime (hot), a binary opposition, are performative genres rather than discrete referents. Emerging out of this dyadic interplay, I locate a species of aspirational identity I call thermomasculinities.

Automated summary

Based on ethnographic research in data centers, this article introduces the concept of thermotemporalities to illustrate how time, temperature, and expertise converge in novel formations. By examining the practices and pronouncements of data center operators, the study reveals that uptime (cold) and downtime (hot) are performative genres rather than discrete referents.