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BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGY
Text by STEPHEN EVANS
Photography by LALA LA PHOTO
INSIDE THE CLOUD Internet content is said to reside on the “cloud”. The reality is a series of data centres: hundreds of computers in highly secure, well-connected, concrete and steel refrigerators. Delano took a tour of one of the most modern of these facilities.
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ocial media, gaming, video and music streaming, online banking, and the rest rely on apparently nondescript data centres. LuxConnect is this country’s leading supplier of these facilities, with three in Bettembourg in the south (put into service in 2009, 2011 and 2015), and one in northerly Bissen (2012). “These are five-star hotels for high power computers,” explained Christine De Ridder, a manager for data centre projects. “We rent secure empty rooms supplied with cold air, connectivity and electricity.” Delano visited the most recently built of these facilities, DC1.3 in Bettembourg, in April. Guests at this “hotel” are very demanding. DC1.3 has 5,500m2 space for servers, and for this to work to the highest standards, equipment occupying a further 17,500m2 is required. This is room for the electricity transformer, the backup transformer, a diesel powered back-up electricity supply, extensive cooling infrastructure (with backups), fire extinguishing equipment, control rooms and offices.
COOL SPACE Large clients (such as eBay and Skype/ Microsoft) rent whole IT rooms (from 216m2 to 324m2), while service providers (such as IBM, Telindus, and CIG) sublet some or all of the 36m2 “cages” they operate. As well, a room is set aside for telecommunications providers to bring their cables into the heart of the centre, with around May 2017
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30 local and international firms supplying the centre. Each room is 3.8m high, with a one-metre-deep false floor. This underfloor space provides unobtrusive access for connectivity cables, the power supply, air conditioning pipes and the fire extinguishing system.
SMOOTH SUPPLY A room full of high-power computers gives off a lot of heat, and servers must be kept cool if they are to work well. The air conditioning system is mainly water-based, but can also use air when outside temperatures permit. Water is chilled on the roof and then is carried through the building via a network of under-floor pipes. This keeps the rooms below the optimal maximum of 25°C in all weathers. There is also a 70,000 cold water litre reserve, just in case of a major power failure.
A constant supply of electricity is vital. DC1.3 has two transformers (in case one fails) to convert power from the grid into an ideal smooth supply. It is also sometimes necessary to fill small outages of a fraction of a second. A separate room equipped with hundreds of batteries is used to this end. A final power back-up provided by a diesel generator, with enough fuel to keep the centre running independently of the electricity grid for 48 hours.
A SECURE INVESTMENT Hundreds of smoke and fire detectors dot the ceilings and walls. At the first whiff of danger, nitrogen is released from about 100 1.5m storage bottles, thus starving the flames of oxygen. This gas is used because it is not harmful to humans. The site also has specially deep foundations to counter even small changes in geology.
DC1.3 IN BETTEMBOURG A. Christine De Ridder of LuxConnect with an aerial photo of the firm’s three Bettembourg data centres. She is pictured giving a tour to Delano on 3 April.