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pdw @ zoomshare
blog pdw
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Mon, 14 Jan 2008
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Impressive, Very Impressive.
This afternoon I was checking out zoomshare’s new
digs, helping prepare for an up-and-coming move of
our servers from one colocation (colo) facility to
another. I have to say that while this is by far
not my first trip to a colo they still impresses me
to no end.
What exactly is a colo facility? Well it is a data
center where multiple customers (companies usually)
locate network, server and storage equipment and
interconnect to a telecommunication service
provider to the virtual world at large. In other
words it’s the high tech center in the physical
world where the virtual world of zoomshare resides
and is accessed.
How high tech? Well that can vary from colo
facility to colo facility, but to give you an idea
of our new space (and why I’m always impressed)
here’s a quick run down:
- 10.4 Megawatts (MW) provided by two different
electrical sources. For reference household
incandescent light bulbs rate between 40 and 100
watts, a modern diesel-train engine can top out a 3
to 5 MW. If fact, as a backup power source, this
new facility will have 12 (it currently has 8) –
2.5 MW diesel engines that will be able to provide
30 MW if needed in pinch.
- A cooling plant that not only cools 135,000
square feet overall but can provide 13,652 British
Thermal Units per Hour to a space about the size of
7’ x 1’ x 2’. That relates to the ability to deliver
the cooling power of a window mounted AC unit to
cool the space of a utility closet.
- Multilayered physical security setup that
includes security guards, “man trap” entry, closed
circuit TV, infrared motion detection and “hand
geometry” scanners.
- The ability to deal with fire, wind, flooding
or earthquake.
Ok, but I bet that laundry list doesn’t quite
impress (or maybe it does I don’t know). They say a
picture is worth a thousand words, so what does
this facility actually look like? Well I’m pretty
sure photos are a no-no for privacy reasons. As I
mentioned colos provide space, power and bandwidth
to multiple companies, companies that can be
competitors in any given market space. Hence my
assumption that pulling out the camera phone is
probably a bad idea. In fact, in this facility we
are moving into most of the actual colo floor space is
lights-out - of course the whole building isn’t
lights-out, just the more sensitive spaces. So with
the exception of a few well placed guiding lights
such that one can find one’s assigned space and not
trip over one’s own two feet there is not much one
can see, let alone picture.
Having said that here’s a little marketing vid,
take of it what you will, I'm still impressed.
Posted 15:59
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