The premiere source of truth powering network automation. Open and extensible, trusted by thousands.
NetBox is now available as a managed cloud solution! Stop worrying about your tooling and get back to building networks.
Video Tour of an Equinix Data Center
By stretch | Monday, September 10, 2012 at 2:19 a.m. UTC
Many of us visit one or more data centers on a routine basis, but for those of us who have yet to navigate the halls of a behemoth data warehouse, fellow bald head David Love at Equinix pointed me to a great video showcasing one of their Chicago facilities. The video provides a concise and informative overview of the technologies in use by Equinix and other data center providers around the world.
Thanks to SearchDataCenter.com for producing the video!
Posted in Data Center
Comments
September 10, 2012 at 3:16 a.m. UTC
I wonder if they're still using the upside model after 4 years.
September 10, 2012 at 5:25 a.m. UTC
video focusses lot on cooling and BMS
wondering if u have any videos that show actual DC Racks and connectivity
kindly share links if possible
new to networking so wanna see data centers as much as possible
September 11, 2012 at 7:15 p.m. UTC
The upside-down model is heavily used in the larger co-lo hotel spaces like Equinix; the cabling and cooling requirements just don't make it effective to do raised floor space. That said, I've been in the Equinix facility in downtown Chicago and it's much larger than this facility. I believe it's also 2nd on the power grid in terms of draw right behind O'Hare.
Also, give that Equinix is a co-lo facility they tend to house a lot of other carriers in their space. As such, it's doubtful you'll see any video footage of the networking and rack space. Those are considered sensitive areas. That said, what I remember seeing in the downtown facility, the carrier hotel space took up an entire floor. Just for carrier internconnects. Was insane to see. :)
Forgot to add - nice video. Even though I've been in facilities like this it's still fun to see. :)
September 17, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. UTC
We have a customer at one of the Equinix facilities in Sterling, VA. It's incredibly impressive and I've never seen a data center quite like it. It makes every other data center I've ever seen look like amateur hour. The video really doesn't do it justice.
From a security perspective, it makes the government look like a bunch of rent-a-cops. For starters, the facility is compartmentalized. Moving through each area requires two factor authentication: pin & full hand-print. To actually get to the cage I work on, requires moving through 5 different doors. (lots of hand scanning) Now that I think about it, the first door to the lobby requires 2-factor, then you show ID, which is the third factor. THEN you can move on to the rest of the facility. Oh yeah... and every cage has two-factor authentication. And yes, there are cameras EVERYWHERE.
The customer care center is more than the snacks and drinks and arcade machines shown in the video. They have showers, meeting rooms with video projectors, tables with cage nuts, alcohol wipes, zip ties... everything but a label maker. (unless I didn't see it.)
They offer free WiFi access throughout the entire facility. Every cage has it's own demarc. So your ISP's terminate their connections right at the outside of your cage.
The whole facility is probably about the size of a football field and it's dark. Cobalt blue LED's illuminate the facility. When you get to your cage, and step inside, motion sensors will light it up for you.
Pretty bad ass.
October 16, 2012 at 6:27 p.m. UTC
Pretty accurate, looks a *little * dated (2008). We're located in CH1, NY4 and LA3. Kind of crazy to see the biggest names in the world a few feet from you. Their on-site techs are always awesome. I would argue that Elk Grove is larger than CH1. CH1 is tiny, IMO, although that's comparing it to NY4 or the new NY5. You're able to lease cabinets or an entire cage. Treated ala carte with respect to rack layout, power. Just recently added in Chicago, vending machines with networking parts. Swipe your credit card, get a Cisco SFP, pretty snazzy.