Mountain Data Center
In our time, the construction of data centers has become a very ordinary event. This was naturally brought about by the impressive and increasing over the past decade the number of this kind of new facilities. Typical projects of industrial buildings, completely faceless, both inside and outside, push into the background the important role that they play in the modern world. The data center which will be discussed later is rather an exception to the rules. More unusual IT infrastructure is not even worth looking for. There are a number of surprising reasons for this. Located deep underground, in the depths of the mountains of the Swiss Alps - Fort Knox (Fort Knox) ​​is a data center, which has become obliged to its creation by SIAG. The implementation of the project was a consequence of the company's understanding of the simple things that information is a value akin to gold. Even the name of the IT complex does not coincide with the well-known military base in Kentucky, USA, which in turn is one of the world's most famous gold stores. Let us consider in more detail how carefully the "spirit of the mountain" protects its treasures.
As you know, the most valuable thing in this world is time, immediately after it comes information. Unfortunately, humanity is not able to save time, which can not be said about the heaps of all sorts of data. The natural question that poses to people is the physical security of valuable information for them. Switzerland has always been famous for its loyalty to the secrets and secrets of the people who entrusted them to this “land”.
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Designed in the event of an atomic war, the former command bunker of Switzerland has become a great haven for the servers of this modern data center. Located near the ski resort of Gstaad (Gstaat), it accommodates most of the infrastructure of a very extensive IT complex. The former military facility, with an area of ​​130 thousand square meters, has become an ideal candidate for the role of the data center for a number of reasons. Being actually in the heart of Europe, in a region with a highly developed IT sector, the servers themselves are “hidden” in an isolated and hard-to-reach place. This state of affairs made it possible for SIAG employees to organize a highly effective, akin to the army, security system.
Since the server rooms are under a meter layer of reinforcement and concrete, which in turn covers tens of meters of rock, such a structure can withstand not only a direct hit by a plane hijacked by terrorists, but also a tactical nuclear strike. Accompanying the shock wave, neutron radiation also does not pass through such protection. And it is hardly worth fearing such “adventures” of a politician in a correct, neutral Switzerland, which in itself can also be called another level of security. In general, the data center is reliably insured against any peripeteia raging on the surface, both man-made and natural. Flashes in the sun, tornadoes, tsunamis, which can become an increased danger factor, will in no way harm even the most sensitive data center equipment. The high-altitude location of the object also eliminates the risk of frequent flooding, which already now suffers from quite a few “flat” data centers, due to the systematic rise in global sea level.
The need to create an extra secure repository is not overdue today, but it was not so easy to come to its implementation in a modern format, and as a result, the process of building this design took a lot of time. First there was the “word”, the creation of a concept for the implementation of the project of such an unusual data center, started back in 1992. In the same year, the founders of the SIAG company looked after the bunker they liked. After selecting the site, for a long three years, the project was waiting for the successful completion of negotiations with the military, who were supposed to legally transfer the military facility to private ownership. Only in 1995, the reconstruction of the complex mothballed by the army began, under an IT hub, thus marking the beginning of the practical implementation of the Swiss Fort Knox project. A year after the start of work, the data center began to receive its first customers. The year 2001 was truly significant for the entire IT project. It was this year when the data center capacities existing at that time were fully commissioned. As a result, even the name of the data center itself has changed. Since then, the data center, located in the mountain, became known as the Swiss Fort Knox I, respectively, the backup data center was named the Swiss Fort Knox IІ. Throughout all these years that there is an IT complex, there has been a nonstop upgrade and improvement of data protection methods and ways to securely get company clients to access them, both physically and in hardware. A certain culmination of this process was the introduction of a new specially protected, but at the same time open for free pre-order by everyone, a backup service called MOUNTH10.
Even after the first acquaintance with the structure of the Swiss Fort Knox, it becomes obvious that only a small part of it can be attributed to the classic data center, and the range of services provided by SIAG based on this engineering masterpiece is much broader than one would expect.
The exact technical characteristics of the IT complex are not specifically advertised, and there is naturally a logic to this, because the uncontrolled dissemination of such information can jeopardize the security of the data center itself. It is known that the server capacities of this data center are duplicated over a fiber-optic connection in a nearby data center, which was named the Swiss Fort Knox II, and this in turn provides an additional level of security for the information posted by customers. The area of ​​the entire data center complex is also known, it is 130 thousand square meters. In addition to server rooms and technical premises that serve them, the data center also includes a satellite communications station, a helipad, a mini hotel for visitors, and even a personal airport through which foreigners can arrive, because there is a full-fledged customs checkpoint. It is worth noting the unique cooling system of the data center, its specificity is that for thermal control in the room ice water is used, coming from a nearby glacier. Since the water temperature in mountain streams is rarely higher than +6 ° C, it is ideal for removing excess heat produced by server racks.
Separate rooms of the former bunker are specially set aside for storing information in the most amazing forms. The way of this storage is similar to the usual bank safe, because the information carriers here are, like the solid-state storage devices that are still customary for us: hard drives, compact discs and film carriers: magnetic floppy disks, tape peepers. Among the unique data carriers on which up-to-date information is posted here you can also find carefully protected archaic punch cards, but this is not the most wonderful media presented in the dungeons of the mountain data center. Biological material, living, and not only people, as well as their pets: stem cells, DNA samples, frozen reproductive cells are perhaps the most exotic data carriers that can be placed in the data center.
The very unusual structure and list of data center services hints at the fact that the clients located in it are not quite common. Data center services are relevant, above all, for wealthy people, people who appreciate the service and their data sometimes more than money, because the prices of the services provided here are orders of magnitude higher than in the usual data centers. But not only the cost, but also the very nomenclature of the services provided can arouse the consciousness of an ordinary hosting user. For example, if there is a need to physically get your data, the client can use the helicopter delivery service of a physical carrier, the charge per hour of the aircraft for the client will be $ 5950, while the range of the service is all of Europe. The departure of an employee of the company to your office, for carrying out any work, will cost no less than $ 1,512.
But renting, say, a banal backup service with 100 gigabytes of disk space included there will cost the customer $ 302 a month.
With the full-fledged introduction of the DNA Bank service to SIAG in 2010, the data center began to accept, in addition to digital data, also real genetic material. Customers who wish to keep a piece of themselves in this service receive the specified disk space in the data center, for storing their digitized personal data, and the physical storage space for the sealed flask with DNA samples. The cost of such a service is $ 299 for 1 gigabyte of server space, and $ 399 for the opportunity to place a sample of its DNA at 1 Gigabyte of space in the Swiss Fort Knox. It is only worth noting that the cost of this service is one-time, and long-term storage of data will no longer require additional costs from you.
As part of the IT Projects Planets (Preservation and Long-term Access through Networked Services), the Time Capsule program was initiated. The essence of the program is to systematize and save the disappearing digital data reading formats. It is not even worth mentioning how critical this may become in our rapidly developing world, where new ones are born every day, and the old formats are gradually receding into oblivion. And it was not surprising that for such an honorable mission a place was chosen where a metal box filled with heterogeneous data carriers would be located, ranging from flash drives, microfilms, to paper carriers, precisely in the dungeons of the Swiss Fort Knox. Each data object is stored both in its original format and in a "transformed", encrypted form. Also, in addition to the currently rare reading formats, the objects of accompanying software are stored on the carriers: operating systems, file systems, encoding methods. All these data are naturally duplicated on the server capacity of the data center, and are available to authorized users via the global Internet.
Having opened the veil of such an extraordinary data center, it becomes clear that finance is just a tool that is in the service of higher human concepts. People are willing to pay for the safety of their history, ready to invest huge resources in the security of personal data. Swiss Fort Knox, more than just a high-tech IT hub on the map of Europe, he gave many customers a restful sleep, a sense of security for the most precious thing they have. For whom, then, he became another step on the way to the eternal landmark of humanity - immortality. Although genetic material does not allow for the recovery of personality, science does not stand still. Until that moment, as soon as scientists can make a full-fledged personality transplant, all your data for body regeneration will be carefully guarded, in a safe place, and all you need for eternal life is just access to your account at Swiss Fort Knox.
Location
As you know, the most valuable thing in this world is time, immediately after it comes information. Unfortunately, humanity is not able to save time, which can not be said about the heaps of all sorts of data. The natural question that poses to people is the physical security of valuable information for them. Switzerland has always been famous for its loyalty to the secrets and secrets of the people who entrusted them to this “land”.
')
Designed in the event of an atomic war, the former command bunker of Switzerland has become a great haven for the servers of this modern data center. Located near the ski resort of Gstaad (Gstaat), it accommodates most of the infrastructure of a very extensive IT complex. The former military facility, with an area of ​​130 thousand square meters, has become an ideal candidate for the role of the data center for a number of reasons. Being actually in the heart of Europe, in a region with a highly developed IT sector, the servers themselves are “hidden” in an isolated and hard-to-reach place. This state of affairs made it possible for SIAG employees to organize a highly effective, akin to the army, security system.
Since the server rooms are under a meter layer of reinforcement and concrete, which in turn covers tens of meters of rock, such a structure can withstand not only a direct hit by a plane hijacked by terrorists, but also a tactical nuclear strike. Accompanying the shock wave, neutron radiation also does not pass through such protection. And it is hardly worth fearing such “adventures” of a politician in a correct, neutral Switzerland, which in itself can also be called another level of security. In general, the data center is reliably insured against any peripeteia raging on the surface, both man-made and natural. Flashes in the sun, tornadoes, tsunamis, which can become an increased danger factor, will in no way harm even the most sensitive data center equipment. The high-altitude location of the object also eliminates the risk of frequent flooding, which already now suffers from quite a few “flat” data centers, due to the systematic rise in global sea level.
Way of becoming
The need to create an extra secure repository is not overdue today, but it was not so easy to come to its implementation in a modern format, and as a result, the process of building this design took a lot of time. First there was the “word”, the creation of a concept for the implementation of the project of such an unusual data center, started back in 1992. In the same year, the founders of the SIAG company looked after the bunker they liked. After selecting the site, for a long three years, the project was waiting for the successful completion of negotiations with the military, who were supposed to legally transfer the military facility to private ownership. Only in 1995, the reconstruction of the complex mothballed by the army began, under an IT hub, thus marking the beginning of the practical implementation of the Swiss Fort Knox project. A year after the start of work, the data center began to receive its first customers. The year 2001 was truly significant for the entire IT project. It was this year when the data center capacities existing at that time were fully commissioned. As a result, even the name of the data center itself has changed. Since then, the data center, located in the mountain, became known as the Swiss Fort Knox I, respectively, the backup data center was named the Swiss Fort Knox IІ. Throughout all these years that there is an IT complex, there has been a nonstop upgrade and improvement of data protection methods and ways to securely get company clients to access them, both physically and in hardware. A certain culmination of this process was the introduction of a new specially protected, but at the same time open for free pre-order by everyone, a backup service called MOUNTH10.
Technical Compound
Even after the first acquaintance with the structure of the Swiss Fort Knox, it becomes obvious that only a small part of it can be attributed to the classic data center, and the range of services provided by SIAG based on this engineering masterpiece is much broader than one would expect.
The exact technical characteristics of the IT complex are not specifically advertised, and there is naturally a logic to this, because the uncontrolled dissemination of such information can jeopardize the security of the data center itself. It is known that the server capacities of this data center are duplicated over a fiber-optic connection in a nearby data center, which was named the Swiss Fort Knox II, and this in turn provides an additional level of security for the information posted by customers. The area of ​​the entire data center complex is also known, it is 130 thousand square meters. In addition to server rooms and technical premises that serve them, the data center also includes a satellite communications station, a helipad, a mini hotel for visitors, and even a personal airport through which foreigners can arrive, because there is a full-fledged customs checkpoint. It is worth noting the unique cooling system of the data center, its specificity is that for thermal control in the room ice water is used, coming from a nearby glacier. Since the water temperature in mountain streams is rarely higher than +6 ° C, it is ideal for removing excess heat produced by server racks.
Separate rooms of the former bunker are specially set aside for storing information in the most amazing forms. The way of this storage is similar to the usual bank safe, because the information carriers here are, like the solid-state storage devices that are still customary for us: hard drives, compact discs and film carriers: magnetic floppy disks, tape peepers. Among the unique data carriers on which up-to-date information is posted here you can also find carefully protected archaic punch cards, but this is not the most wonderful media presented in the dungeons of the mountain data center. Biological material, living, and not only people, as well as their pets: stem cells, DNA samples, frozen reproductive cells are perhaps the most exotic data carriers that can be placed in the data center.
Services and customer base
The very unusual structure and list of data center services hints at the fact that the clients located in it are not quite common. Data center services are relevant, above all, for wealthy people, people who appreciate the service and their data sometimes more than money, because the prices of the services provided here are orders of magnitude higher than in the usual data centers. But not only the cost, but also the very nomenclature of the services provided can arouse the consciousness of an ordinary hosting user. For example, if there is a need to physically get your data, the client can use the helicopter delivery service of a physical carrier, the charge per hour of the aircraft for the client will be $ 5950, while the range of the service is all of Europe. The departure of an employee of the company to your office, for carrying out any work, will cost no less than $ 1,512.
But renting, say, a banal backup service with 100 gigabytes of disk space included there will cost the customer $ 302 a month.
With the full-fledged introduction of the DNA Bank service to SIAG in 2010, the data center began to accept, in addition to digital data, also real genetic material. Customers who wish to keep a piece of themselves in this service receive the specified disk space in the data center, for storing their digitized personal data, and the physical storage space for the sealed flask with DNA samples. The cost of such a service is $ 299 for 1 gigabyte of server space, and $ 399 for the opportunity to place a sample of its DNA at 1 Gigabyte of space in the Swiss Fort Knox. It is only worth noting that the cost of this service is one-time, and long-term storage of data will no longer require additional costs from you.
Planets project
As part of the IT Projects Planets (Preservation and Long-term Access through Networked Services), the Time Capsule program was initiated. The essence of the program is to systematize and save the disappearing digital data reading formats. It is not even worth mentioning how critical this may become in our rapidly developing world, where new ones are born every day, and the old formats are gradually receding into oblivion. And it was not surprising that for such an honorable mission a place was chosen where a metal box filled with heterogeneous data carriers would be located, ranging from flash drives, microfilms, to paper carriers, precisely in the dungeons of the Swiss Fort Knox. Each data object is stored both in its original format and in a "transformed", encrypted form. Also, in addition to the currently rare reading formats, the objects of accompanying software are stored on the carriers: operating systems, file systems, encoding methods. All these data are naturally duplicated on the server capacity of the data center, and are available to authorized users via the global Internet.
Having opened the veil of such an extraordinary data center, it becomes clear that finance is just a tool that is in the service of higher human concepts. People are willing to pay for the safety of their history, ready to invest huge resources in the security of personal data. Swiss Fort Knox, more than just a high-tech IT hub on the map of Europe, he gave many customers a restful sleep, a sense of security for the most precious thing they have. For whom, then, he became another step on the way to the eternal landmark of humanity - immortality. Although genetic material does not allow for the recovery of personality, science does not stand still. Until that moment, as soon as scientists can make a full-fledged personality transplant, all your data for body regeneration will be carefully guarded, in a safe place, and all you need for eternal life is just access to your account at Swiss Fort Knox.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/248703/
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