According to current estimates, the Internet is responsible for the emission of over one billion tons of CO2 every year. That is more than all air travel together. Julian Oliver shows that there is another way. For the international protest movement Extinction Rebellion, for example, he has developed a completely sustainable digital infrastructure. Open-source software runs on servers operated by Alpine melt water, through which the movement is communicated internally (chats, video conferences) and externally (websites).
The website of the Second Nature Lab was also developed with the goal of keeping CO2 emissions as low as possible. In Julian Oliver's Lab module, participants learn tools, concepts and techniques that enable them to read, analyze and uncover the energy footprint of their computer networks, and the machines that use them.
Taking a whole-system approach, every component of a network topology will be studied, from storage and processing at the datacenter, to the traversal of network packets as they move across the public Internet - dancing over land and sea. The processing and caching of data at end point devices (phones and laptops) will also be covered, with strategies employed to engage, and extract information from hardware sensors on consumer-grade devices. A special class will be given on the anatomy of a datacenter, from air-conditioning, to server racks, staff, and their local environmental impacts.
As a function of study, the UNIX command line will be taught, introducing 'under the hood' tools known to network engineers and hackers alike. In the course of the workshop, participants will each develop a published project that draws from what is learned, with a focus on artistic and/or scientific appropriations of metrics extracted from realtime network analysis.
Harvest (2018), (c) Julian Oliver
Requirements:
- How does this work? The Second Nature Lab runs online in a combination of an online communication and a video conferencing tool.
- What do I bring? Interest in the topic, initiative, interest in artistic-creative work, time for active work in the team and with the artist
- Technical Prerequisits? All participants will need a reliable connection to the Internet, a laptop, a Raspberry Pi 4 (Model B is fine), and a 16+ GB MicroSD card.
Process:
08.07. – 9–11:30 am CEST
Meet and greet. Introductory talk on Network Energetics, core concepts and the anatomy of a datacenter. Overview of tooling, group inventory check.
13.07. – 9–11 am CEST
Setting up our hardware for the learning ahead. Intensive introduction to the UNIX command line and network tooling.
15.07. – 9–11 am CEST
In this session we will implement a virtual private network layer between our devices for study. Routes between them will be traced and a network geography built, revealing the service providers and internet exchanges implicated in our network.
20.07. – 9–11 am CEST
This session looks at hardware, system load and power, using sensors to analyse and extract metrics. We will simulate network stressors by 'attacking' each others devices, placing them under network load. Power consumption comparisons and calculations will be made.
22.07. – 9–11 am CEST
In the first part of this session, we will look at the environmental costs of the material hardware we are using, from rare minerals to plotting a geography of the extractivism and economies involved. In the second section we will analyse the network and power footprints of some of the most heavy sites in wide use today, before building the very opposite and deploying it on our hardware. Homework will be to further develop this site as an expression of the theme, ready for launch on the public Internet.
29.07. – 9–11 am CEST
Project presentations, followed by publishing all the sites on the public Internet, with our hardware used as the server. Wrap up.
Registration
The number of participants is limited. Please register here and share a few words about your motivation with us!