The Myth of 'Always On': Confronting Data Center SPOFs
DataCenter Knowledge, Tuesday, February 17th, 2026
True resilience depends as much on disciplined operations - training, staffing, procedures, and realistic scenario planning - as on engineering.
Texas winters can swing from mild days to freezing nights. In February 2021, that volatility turned into days of subfreezing weather and snowfall across Northern Texas, exposing fragile assumptions about grid stability, on-time fuel resupply, site access, and cross-vendor collaboration. Most data centers stayed online, but several were pushed to the brink as blackouts spread and refueling and access plans unraveled.