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This. Is. Awesome. If you follow a rainbow all the way to the end, you're supposed to discover a pot of gold, only no one ever seems to get that lucky. By that same token, if you were to trace the Internet's many roads and highways, you'd find that many of them end up at one of Google's data centers, and like that elusive pot of gold, you never get to actually see it. Until now.
Google, for the first, decided to crack open the doors to its data centers and provide the Internet community at large a rare and awesome tour of the Internet's underbelly, and it's every bit as magnificent as you might imagine. You can even take a tour of Google's Lenoir, NC facility in Street View, where you can head inside the front door and zig-zag your way to the data center floor.
"Very few people have stepped inside Google’s data centers, and for good reason: our first priority is the privacy and security of your data, and we go to great lengths to protect it, keeping our sites under close guard," Google explains. "While we’ve shared many of our designs and best practices, and we’ve been publishing our efficiency data since 2008, only a small set of employees have access to the server floor itself."
Now you can, too, at least in virtual form. A gallery filled with high-resolution pictures takes you through the inner workings of Google's data centers, and it's a sight to behold. You'll see lots of wires and colorful pipes, servers and engineers, and more. It's truly amazing and well worth spending a coffee break to click through it all. Enjoy!
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ShyLinuxGuy
October 18, 2012 at 11:30am
Browsed through the pics yesterday and thought it was interesting. Their datacenter is definitely vibrant versus the boring, dull gray-and-black-themed one I work in and that everyone's accustomed to (it's not really a datacenter, it's just a few "server rooms" across a few buildings). I'd say Google is definitely the Wonka factory of the tech industry.
I noticed 3 TB hard drives in a bin, destroyed, in one of the pics. I'm thinking they're Fibre Channel or SAS, but still... I only hope those disks were destroyed because they failed and couldn't be wiped, not because they were surplus...
sta789
October 18, 2012 at 7:13am
I just got paid $6784 working off my laptop this month. And if you think that's cool, my divorced friend has twin toddlers and made over $9k her first month. It feels so good making so much money when other people have to work for so much less. This is what I do, Red97.com
PulsePCTeck
October 17, 2012 at 8:54pm
Alerton Building Technologies is the DDC System that appears to be controlling that mechanical equipment!!
D00dlavy
October 17, 2012 at 2:14pm
Random comments from the Internet... Here they be, as I want to beat these people to the punch:
1) It looks boring. Where's the chocolate waterfall? Grunka-lunkas? Fat children stuck in plumbing? Colored wires ain't no Willy Wonka.
2) 3/4 of that stores porn. It's what the Internet is for.
3) What the hell is this: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=35.898185,-81.548188&spn=0.003146,0.009645&sll=35.900197,-81.547024&layer=c&cid=7373938251588581469&panoid=qlcZPzXMS12y_CrDh64Qvw&cbp=11,307.89,,1,2.47&gl=US&t=m&cbll=35.898186,-81.548184&z=17
Caboose
October 17, 2012 at 2:36pm
You'd think that they'd use better security than a Stormtrooper. They can't shoot for shit!
tony2tonez
October 17, 2012 at 7:26pm
"Have we ever hit anybody?" - Stormtrooper - Family Guy Parody
Neufeldt2002
October 19, 2012 at 2:52pm
I really like the setup in pic 34 though, too bad I can't afford that.
vrmlbasic
October 17, 2012 at 12:10pm
This looks too bland and "industrial" for Google. I expected to see aesthetically pleasing design but this data center looks like just any old industrial building. Shoot, some pictures of the exterior of the Google SC data center showcase dirt and rust. I thought that center was fairly new. Come on Google, these plants look like something that an Atlas Shrugged-style capitalist from yesteryear would have in his dominion, and unless I've been misinformed that is not what Google's image is.
After seeing the GooglePlex I am disappointed. These bland, industrial, and somewhat dilapidated complexes don't jibe with their corporate HQ.
Supall
October 17, 2012 at 1:19pm
Why should they? They don't want anyone in them, and they certainly don't want to draw attention to where they physically host a large portion of their info. That's just stupid on so many fronts.
vrmlbasic
October 17, 2012 at 3:32pm
Then why'd they post pictures and information about these sites on a search engine so popular that its name is a verb in the vernacular?
They want us to know; only logical conclusion.
anc51699
October 17, 2012 at 5:18pm
It's a data center, not Pee-Wee's Playhouse. It's supposed to have a practical design. It looks amazing compared to some of the data centers out there.
razorpetti37
October 17, 2012 at 10:59am
Does anyone recognize what kind of laptop the female tech is using in photo #30? Just curious.
j_j_montez
October 17, 2012 at 2:40pm
It's a Macbook Pro. Double-clicking on the image lets you zoom in, and you can see the firewire 800 port, and the Magsafe power port. Since I don't see speakers, I think it's a 13". They probably edited out the apple logo.
Neufeldt2002
October 17, 2012 at 1:21pm
Couldn't make out if there was an Apple logo on the cover, but it didn't look like there was.
Neufeldt2002
October 17, 2012 at 1:20pm
Some of the pics reminded me of Resident Evil as they are about to enter the Red Queen's chamber.
Andrew.Hodge
October 17, 2012 at 10:26am
Amazing that all of this started with two college students in california. I look at this and I really do fear for my country. I fear great things like this won't come from America for much longer. The people I meet and talk to seem to have degraded by riding on the shoulders of the people who put them there and don't know what it's like to make their own way. Perhaps it's just the political climate right now, or maybe I just had a little too little sleep last night, but I just felt like I needed to say that.
Andrew.Hodge
October 17, 2012 at 3:18pm
Crap. I should have known I would start a flame war by posting that.
limitbreaker
October 17, 2012 at 12:13pm
That's republican hogwash... The future of your country lies in the education and ability of the next generation. Just broaden your mind and look at other countries that are succeeding in this world without stealing resources of other countries and ask your self what they are doing right. The ignorance of you USA people is outstanding for a country that claims to be a first world nation.
vrmlbasic
October 17, 2012 at 3:38pm
Sigh, the old "America sux because I'm not an American" internet blather. Though you seem to pay an inordinate amount of attention to American politics for an irrational hater of America. I couldn't name the notable political parties of modern Germany, for example, yet you can name the Republican party. Sounds like you wish you were an American (assuming that you aren't American in reality, as you seem to claim).
If the US of A is "stealing" resources, it sure as Hell isn't stealing the right ones as crude oil is prohibitively expensive.
Additionally, I was unaware that dictionaries outside of the United States of America defined "stealing" as "paying market price to producers in exchange for their products".
limitbreaker
October 18, 2012 at 4:37am
While there is no need to closely watch the political movement of other countries to know what's going on, it is hard to ignore those of USA because they have an effect on the rest of the world. Most of the damage done to other countries that were in turn very bad for USA in the long term was usually done with a republican in the white house. I'm not an anti American, i just wished they weren't as bad as they are.
Andrew.Hodge
October 17, 2012 at 3:58pm
Anti-Americanism is rampant on the internet. It's funny how the internet was supposed to bring us all together. Instead it allowed those who hate to be heard even more than before.
vrmlbasic
October 17, 2012 at 12:02pm
Yet those 2 college students now back a man who insists that "you didn't build that". I find that interesting.
BadCommand
October 17, 2012 at 1:18pm
I don't find it interesting at all, they rode on the backs of a people, institutions, opportunities and a country that allowed them to succeed. I think in their case they have a capacity of common sense to realize that.
warptek2010
October 17, 2012 at 10:02am
Holy crap. I think we found J.J.Abrams next engineering set for the U.S.S. Enterprise instead of that beer distillery he used in the last movie.
jgottberg
October 17, 2012 at 9:52am
Wow, that just craps all over our datacenter here at work. Can't imagine just the day to day administration of such a facility. AWESOME!
