An article in yesterday’s Washington Post (by Antonio Olivo, Metro Section, Oct. 13, 2019), is about the changing racial and ethnic demographics of Loudoun County, Virginia, once a sleepy southern farming area, little changed for a century. It is now a diverse, IT- and Defense-oriented exurb of DC. The article mentions in passing that “70% of the world’s Internet Traffic passes through” Loudoun County data centers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/in-fast-growing-va-suburb-state-and-national-issues-echo-in-local-election/2019/10/11/54b6f3e0-e9d2-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html

Is this possible? On what sources did the reporter base that information? I’ve driven by the “cloud servers” in Ashburn, Virginia, and they are impressive. But still?

Paul Ceruzzi

Curator Emeritus, Department of Space History

National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian Institution

Washington, DC 20013-7012

202-633-2414