I conferred with Jen Snow <jensnow47@gmail.com> of SOFWERX on this question.  She confirmed this number, and even said that it is growing.  She pointed me to this site:
  https://biz.loudoun.gov/key-business-sectors/data-centers/ 
for a little perspective on this:

Loudoun County’s “Data Center Alley” is the world’s largest concentration of data centers, with nearly 13.5 million square feet currently in operation and another 4.5 million square feet being planned or developed.

More than 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic passes through Loudoun’s digital infrastructure, making us a key player in the world’s technology economy. Read more about data centers’ impact in the Data Center Study.

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Berg Software Design
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On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 10:19 AM James Cortada <jcortada@umn.edu> wrote:
I don't believe the number; I have seen too many really big data centers to assure you Loudon County doesn't have enough lang mass unless they are hiding servers under the streets.  Jim

On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 9:38 AM Ceruzzi, Paul <CeruzziP@si.edu> wrote:

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

 

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James W. Cortada
Senior Research Fellow
Charles Babbage Institute
University of Minnesota
jcortada@umn.edu
608-274-6382
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This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org