EXCLUSIVE: As massive data centers rise across the country to power America's artificial intelligence boom, one of the industry's biggest builders is making the case that the benefits extend far beyond the technology inside. During an exclusive tour of Compass Datacenters' sprawling campus in Red Oak, Texas, Fox News Digital got a rare look inside the infrastructure behind the nation's growing appetite for computing. Getting inside took roughly three months' of approvals.
Once on site, Fox News Digital passed through six layers of security and suited up in personal protective equipment before entering the facility, where photos and recording devices were prohibited. Beyond the checkpoints, the interior was remarkably clean and surprisingly quiet, with little of the industrial noise one might expect from an operation running around the clock. Inside, rows of towering server racks stretched across the spotless floor, surrounded by the electrical and cooling systems needed to keep the equipment operating.
At Red Oak, Compass uses a closed-loop cooling system that recirculates coolant rather than continuously drawing water to cool the equipment. DATA CENTER CEO SHARES THE POWERFUL WAY AMERICAN COMMUNITIES CAN BENEFIT FROM THE NEW TECH BOOM Compass CEO Chris Crosby, a North Texas native, said the Red Oak campus has not used water for cooling since it began operating. "We haven't used water since inception," Crosby said, noting the importance of conserving the region's resources.
"Water is precious in North Texas." Beyond cooling, security is another major consideration for facilities housing vast amounts of computing infrastructure. Crosby the extensive security is not about keeping the facilities secret, but rather protecting the sensitive information and critical infrastructure housed inside. "Hacking is real, attacks on infrastructure are real," Crosby said.
"If people knew that a bank or a government was operating at a particular facility, they could infiltrate that facility. So that's why the levels of security are so high at our campuses." The campus, roughly 20 miles south of Dallas, will eventually include 10 data center buildings spanning roughly 2.6 million square feet. A Schneider Electric manufacturing facility and a workforce training center operated in partnership with Texas State Technical College are also located on the campus.
AMERICA’S NEW BLUE-COLLAR JOB BOOM IS ONE NOBODY SAW COMING — AND IT’S JUST GETTING STARTED Crosby says the development offers a glimpse at an often-overlooked side of America's data center boom: blue-collar jobs. "Data centers are where the economic engine is going to be going forward," Crosby told Fox News Digital, pointing to the jobs, economic activity and tax revenue generated by the industry. Roughly 600 people work for Compass at the campus, while Schneider Electric employs about 300 more, according to Crosby.
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