The most unusual Data Centers: Data Centers as art
For a long time no one will be surprised by the most up-to-date data processing centers (DPCs), of which there are a great many in the world. Reliability, scalability, adaptability - the main parameters that engineers focused on when designing data centers. Until recently…
Nowadays, more and more Data Centers have begun to appear, which without exaggeration can be called real works of art. In my opinion, there are several reasons for this, ranging from the desire to lure a client through the unusualness of an object (get marketing advantages) and ending with a banal desire to save money, but at the same time do something useful, for example, preserve the architecture object.
Never thought about the server room in the chapel? But in Barcelona, the Spaniards not only thought, but also built. In 2005, the server area of about 120 square meters. successfully started functioning in the former Torre Girona chapel, where they placed one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, with a capacity of about 94 teraflops.
')
Thus, the "modernized" chapel helps scientists to solve various problems, such as weather forecasting, the study of the human genome, or the invention of a new medicine.
Interesting facts about the cluster:
- consists of 2560 nodes;
- total weight about 40 tons;
- each node is equipped with two dual-core processors with a frequency of 2.3 GHz and 20 GB of RAM;
- The general productivity is 94 teraflops.
Another interesting data center is located in Stockholm and is very similar to the structure from the James Bond films, his name is Bahnhof or Pionen White Mountains (the code name preserved from the object since the war).
It is located 30 meters under a cliff in a former nuclear shelter. Bahnhof still uses Cold War-style backup power — diesel generators designed for submarines. Just for fun, the sound horns of the warning system from the original German submarine were installed at the same time.
The Data Center is separated from the outside world by a 40-centimeter steel door, as well as a telecommunications company office and a traffic exchange point located on the territory of the shelter. More details on the video:
Interesting Facts:
- The area of the object is more than 1,100 square meters. m
- completely re-equipped in 2007-2008;
- can withstand the explosion of the hydrogen bomb;
- is the office of one of the largest Internet providers in Sweden;
- the Maybach MTU Cold War back-up system provides about 1.5 MW of power;
- Triple reservation of communication channels (optical links are made from three different inputs);
- the cooling system allows you to safely remove heat from several hundred cabinets fully filled with equipment (with power consumption up to 1.5 MW);
- daylight is simulated, there is a greenhouse and artificial waterfalls, which creates a comfortable working atmosphere;
- 15 employees only senior technical staff are on site constantly.
Some photos from "Pionen White Mountains":
NOC is located in a cozy jungle setting: “These fog lamps almost make us think about cloud computing. Misty calculations? :) "
On the left - the view from the conference room (the floor in the form of the lunar surface), on the right - the power supply system
Artificial waterfalls and a large number of green plants adorn the halls.
On the left - submarine engines are used for backup power, on the right - the power supply system
Data Center Plan
It looked like a bunker before refitting, a significant difference, right? :)
There are data centers that were designed to the highest environmental standards. For example, the ACT data center located in Iowa became the first LEED-Platinum Certification holder in the USA. Its design uses a wide range of renewable or recycled materials, such as aspen fibers, cork floors and cotton wall insulation. In this case, the data center is able to withstand natural disasters, including tornadoes (can withstand wind speeds of up to 250 km / h).
A data center is energy efficient because it uses geothermal energy, which is a truly unique phenomenon (geothermal energy is traditionally incompatible with data centers, due to the heat and the need to keep equipment cool). The data center is connected to a second data center located several kilometers away.
At the University of Quebec, Canada, a research consortium turned the building that once served as the Van de Graaff particle accelerator into a multi-level data center.
Server cabinets are located on 3 tiers of the outer side of the accelerator circuit, and the heat produced by the equipment is successfully used for heating the campus of the university.
In 2011, a project was launched in Norway to build a Data Center in the thick of a mountain on the bank of the Boknafjord fjord in a bunker where a NATO ammunition depot was previously located. Several underground halls with a total area of over 21,000 square meters. m. will be converted to accommodate server hardware. According to the engineers, their Data Center will become the “greenest” on the planet, since its cooling will use a network of pipes with water from the fjord, the temperature of which at any time of the year does not exceed 8 degrees. This will save a significant amount of energy that traditional chillers and chillers consume and, as a result, reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
Nowadays, more and more Data Centers have begun to appear, which without exaggeration can be called real works of art. In my opinion, there are several reasons for this, ranging from the desire to lure a client through the unusualness of an object (get marketing advantages) and ending with a banal desire to save money, but at the same time do something useful, for example, preserve the architecture object.
Server in the chapel
Never thought about the server room in the chapel? But in Barcelona, the Spaniards not only thought, but also built. In 2005, the server area of about 120 square meters. successfully started functioning in the former Torre Girona chapel, where they placed one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, with a capacity of about 94 teraflops.
')
Thus, the "modernized" chapel helps scientists to solve various problems, such as weather forecasting, the study of the human genome, or the invention of a new medicine.
Interesting facts about the cluster:
- consists of 2560 nodes;
- total weight about 40 tons;
- each node is equipped with two dual-core processors with a frequency of 2.3 GHz and 20 GB of RAM;
- The general productivity is 94 teraflops.
Data Center "James Bond"
Another interesting data center is located in Stockholm and is very similar to the structure from the James Bond films, his name is Bahnhof or Pionen White Mountains (the code name preserved from the object since the war).
It is located 30 meters under a cliff in a former nuclear shelter. Bahnhof still uses Cold War-style backup power — diesel generators designed for submarines. Just for fun, the sound horns of the warning system from the original German submarine were installed at the same time.
The Data Center is separated from the outside world by a 40-centimeter steel door, as well as a telecommunications company office and a traffic exchange point located on the territory of the shelter. More details on the video:
Interesting Facts:
- The area of the object is more than 1,100 square meters. m
- completely re-equipped in 2007-2008;
- can withstand the explosion of the hydrogen bomb;
- is the office of one of the largest Internet providers in Sweden;
- the Maybach MTU Cold War back-up system provides about 1.5 MW of power;
- Triple reservation of communication channels (optical links are made from three different inputs);
- the cooling system allows you to safely remove heat from several hundred cabinets fully filled with equipment (with power consumption up to 1.5 MW);
- daylight is simulated, there is a greenhouse and artificial waterfalls, which creates a comfortable working atmosphere;
- 15 employees only senior technical staff are on site constantly.
Some photos from "Pionen White Mountains":
NOC is located in a cozy jungle setting: “These fog lamps almost make us think about cloud computing. Misty calculations? :) "
On the left - the view from the conference room (the floor in the form of the lunar surface), on the right - the power supply system
Artificial waterfalls and a large number of green plants adorn the halls.
On the left - submarine engines are used for backup power, on the right - the power supply system
Data Center Plan
It looked like a bunker before refitting, a significant difference, right? :)
Data Center ACT
There are data centers that were designed to the highest environmental standards. For example, the ACT data center located in Iowa became the first LEED-Platinum Certification holder in the USA. Its design uses a wide range of renewable or recycled materials, such as aspen fibers, cork floors and cotton wall insulation. In this case, the data center is able to withstand natural disasters, including tornadoes (can withstand wind speeds of up to 250 km / h).
A data center is energy efficient because it uses geothermal energy, which is a truly unique phenomenon (geothermal energy is traditionally incompatible with data centers, due to the heat and the need to keep equipment cool). The data center is connected to a second data center located several kilometers away.
From particle accelerator to Data Center ...
At the University of Quebec, Canada, a research consortium turned the building that once served as the Van de Graaff particle accelerator into a multi-level data center.
Server cabinets are located on 3 tiers of the outer side of the accelerator circuit, and the heat produced by the equipment is successfully used for heating the campus of the university.
Data Center Green Mountain - the first data center with cooling from the fjord
In 2011, a project was launched in Norway to build a Data Center in the thick of a mountain on the bank of the Boknafjord fjord in a bunker where a NATO ammunition depot was previously located. Several underground halls with a total area of over 21,000 square meters. m. will be converted to accommodate server hardware. According to the engineers, their Data Center will become the “greenest” on the planet, since its cooling will use a network of pipes with water from the fjord, the temperature of which at any time of the year does not exceed 8 degrees. This will save a significant amount of energy that traditional chillers and chillers consume and, as a result, reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/153901/
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