Data Center Tour & Technical Deep Dive into the Power, Data and Cooling Infrastructure!

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Decommissioned Data Center video
• What's Inside This Dec...
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Chapters
00:00 Welcome to the Data Center: An Insider's Tour
01:27 Flywheel Centrifugal UPS
02:53 Inside The Diesel Generator Room
08:13 Climate Control: Pump Room, Cooling Systems & Evaporator Towers
11:00 Fiber Optics and Data Connectivity and Redundancies
16:48 Air Handlers and Raised Floor Cooling in the Server Room
19:18 Server Room Power Distribution Insights
21:43 How Deft Secures Colo Cabinets
22:44 Maintaining Servers in the Parts and Service Room

[@thecasualfly]

The person giving the tour is super passionate and proud of their work and you can tell by their excitement explaining their data center.. great video!

[@maxherman11]

I cannot say how much I LOVE these types of videos Tom! Please try to do more Data Center videos in the future! I love seeing all the massive industrial scale networking, cooling, etc that takes place!

[@demonmaestro]

I highly agree to this!!!!!!!!!!!

[@falcorn_00]

Yeah This facility is pretty Sick. Something i didnt see mentioned is that this Site has a 200,000 Gallon Fuel tank located underneath the parking lot. Which allows the Entire Building to run on Gas power for 55 hours with our fuel suppliers being under an 8 hour SLA for fuel delivery. Source: I work at that DC.

[@toddhall7924]

Diesel fuel can go bad, right? Do the generators run enough to keep the fuel in the tanks fresh? Or is there some other process for keeping it fresh?

[@falcorn_00]

And the generators are only ever powered on For testing or for a loss of utility power. If I am remembering correctly they test them and make sure they work every 3 months then once a year they move the whole facility to generator power. Again not my dept. So just going of what I have heard.

[@toddhall7924]

Cool, thanks for the reply.@@falcorn_00

[@matthewsmith5104]

@@toddhall7924 Diesel fuel can be stored long-term. It's gasoline that can go bad after a few months, typically.

[@toddhall7924]

@matthewsmith5104 Thanks for the info! I looked it up but I guess I what I found was misunderstood or wrong.

[@JeffGeerling]

14:00 found the Pi KVM reference!

[@eointhomas2914]

Great to see someone so passionate about their work, well done to both of you

[@Zetharion1]

I've seen a couple of other datacenter "tours," but the info in this one was WAY better than all the others combined. Very well done!

[@josephheald1887]

I currently work for SPX (Marley) building those cooling towers. It's nice to see them in action! Data centers are some of our most important customers, and this particular DC has a great deployment of the technology.

[@borg_wow]

Nice! Really cool work you do.

[@itlackie]

I love these kind of data center videos. I've only been to a datacenter twice for work. It's like the IT's version of being a kid at a candy store.

[@PupShepardRubberized]

That was cool. That PDU at the end was nuts. I didn't know such a thing existed.

[@curranhouse]

Wow this guy really knows his stuff, clearly a well run company! Excellent explaination of everything. Thanks for doing this video!!!

[@KaesOner]

not really, if you actually understand the infrastructure he made a lot of errors in what he was saying...

[@user-rz1hp9cy2g]

Like the chemist on breaking bad movie 😂😂

[@user-rz1hp9cy2g]

@@KaesOner. And here is Either Heisenberg or jessi😂😂

[@kc0eks]

Very cool and rare in depth look. Loves this thanks Tom and all who made it happen

[@Moonraker11]

As someone who has managed a very small data center, this was enormously satisfying to watch and geek out on!

[@sirgibsonable]

A fantastic tour with ??? (did you ever introduce your guide? I loved his enthusiasm and was impressed with the depth of his knowledge) from Deft. I am CTO of a startup looking at alternatives to "traditional" cloud environments. I'll be giving Deft a call about our co-lo needs thanks to this video. Thanks so much, Tom!

[@kwith]

Worked in a data center for 10 years. Seeing this brings back so many memories. Also, #TeamVelcro!

[@kellymoses8566]

Nicest data center I've ever seen. I really like when the diesel generators are inside the building. I've seen F4 tornado rated datacenters where the backup generators are outside the walls so they would be destroyed.

[@theekidd2053]

WOW that was awesome!!! Thank you Tom and thank you to Deft for not only allowing you to film inside but to provide a super tour guide who knows his equipment!!

[@842qwery]

I'm in an entirely different industry but I couldn't stop watching. Fascinating. Thank you for letting us take a glimpse into your world. ❤

[@miketarbox1190]

That was awesome. Thanks Tom, and also a HUGE thank you to Deft.

[@Appl_Jax]

I've only ever seen a the inside of a data center twice in my life, one when in school we toured the local super computer facility and at my office, they had a small server room that was run like a data center. Barely remembered much about what I saw in school and never saw a large scale data center. Thanks for sharing!

[@7_of_9]

I did a project on a similar building and we use geothermal as the main source and chillers as secondary. The geothermal lines were about 1.6 km deep. Air handlers and tons of actuators. The entire system control via BMS because it's impossible to controlled it manually with so much variables. It also had a solar farm nearby so big that I couldn't see where it ended.

[@frankmomma]

Your guide was an absolute Data Center expert! You could see his knowledge & passion for what he does. It was great to see someone so happy to provide the tour & let the world see how complex & magnificent these type of facilities are. As well as the people working at them!

[@moelassus]

It's always fun to explore datacenters. Thanks for sharing, Tom!

[@jesusc4384]

cool tour! I worked at an OVH datacenter for many years and it's really crazy how different certain solutions are

[@runner2000tj]

This video is fantastic. Thank you for opening your doors and providing this much needed resource!

[@liewchengyeh]

Thanks for the CRAZY DETAILED tour.... i especially like the Network rack tour.... nice that the guide take the time to explain GOOD WIRING ORGANIZATION PRACTICE.....

[@mikefinnerty1852]

WOW. Great video. Loved the energy, of the people, and the equipment!

[@hvfd5956]

Boy, have data centers become more complex since the last time I worked inside one. I love the neat toys you have these days.

[@brosnan]

I work in DCs and still love watching how others do it, good clear explanations from the host.

[@AD-rl4jv]

This is a great video I have always wanted to see how a data center works. Thank you!

[@chuckh.2227]

Absolutely incredible Fascinating VIP tour Thank you

[@hatless-cluncky-capsize]

This was an awesome video. Thanks both of you and all the hard work behind the scenes to get this video.

[@matthewfitzgerald6247]

This is an AWESOME facility! Great to see!! Nice Collab Tom!

[@kylegarrett8135]

Amazing video!!! An excellent example of how we should all strive to design systems.

[@jsrizo01]

A true professional... I love it!

[@ryzlot]

THANKS to you and DEFT JR

[@stargasm1000]

Now THAT is a DC!! They've got everything you need.

[@daflibble3202]

A big thanks to you and Deft for this great video.

[@mrweb]

The Eaton UPDUs just released last summer and we're starting to deploy them in our DC. More interesting than the flexible input is the C39 plugs that can take C13 or C19 power cords. Great for GPU racks that each server has dual 2kW C19 PSUs. So many PDUs from APC, Vertiv, and Eaton are limited in the number of C19 outlets!

[@billygilbert7911]

Wow Tom this was such a fascinating deep dive into data centers for me. I work in water treatment and love seeing this side of it. Thanks for sharing.

[@chromerims]

Out of this world 🌎👍❤ ! So good. Thank you 100x !

[@bikerchrisukk]

Really enjoyed that Tom, nice one! The level of planning and design that goes into those places is staggering.

[@walterdavisii8936]

This is extremely useful. I have an interview for a MEP PM position for a company's office with a data center. I never knew all of this was involved. The one data center I designed was back in 2009.

[@mikerandom1]

I really enjoyed the tour. Thank you deft for the tour.

[@JamesMCrutchley]

Ty. That was amazing. Learned a lot and got to geek out on loads of different hardware.

[@Fuckit96]

Wow, absolutely excellent tour. I wish I could be a customer of that data center, but I'm just a lowly janitor in a hospital who happens to enjoy home computing.

[@geerliglecluse5297]

Great video, tons of fun watching this. Reminds me of the giant Microsoft data centre just North of Amsterdam, which I pass by on the A7 motorway to my parents' place. You can see some of the cooling equipment from the outside, and I've always wondered what's inside and how it's organized and functions.

I loved this video. It was an amazing crash course in data center infrastructure. Thanks Tom! The content is great and the guide was excellent. Please add info that introduces our brilliant guide.

[@ninetailscosmicfox5585]

I recently got into an abandoned printing building with a data center/server room sectio. The floor alone was incredible, as it was raised of the original floor by a very heavy duty metal/ceramic tile floor with each tile having it's own little legs and a massive steel framework. There was an entire network of cables, coolant piping, and fire suppression custom made for that 2 ft. subfloor alone.

[@vaughnbay]

Fascinating...very little compute, relative to a HUGE amount of heat generating and heat removal equipment. Great vid!

[@Alex.AL_26]

This video was truly amazing! Probably one of the coolest and most interesting videos I have ever watched on KZbin!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Wow, thanks!

[@vlippi88]

That is quality. I can feel trough the video that the tour guy loves his work, and its very proud of it. Also, the Panduit network equipment is next level.

[@jeffdieringer1]

Such a great presentation!

[@ewenchan1239]

I always marvel at the mechanical engineering that actually goes into a data center. People usually like to geek out over the computers and networking and stuff, and that's cool and all. But without the physical (building) infrastructure, how to bring the power in and distribute it, the cooling, etc. -- the racks of computer and networking equipment in and of themselves, won't really do much if you can't power it nor cool it. THAT, to me, is the really neat thing about data centers.

[@atroxiv]

I just enjoy all of it. The sheer density of technology present.

[@ewenchan1239]

@@atroxiv If you want to see density -- look at HPC installation/data centers, where they use blade servers. There's some CRAZY density there.

[@marco114]

Been in dozens of data centers (including this one) and this one is not like most of them, it's very over-engineered and has guaranteed 100% SLAs on power and network. It doesn't go down.

[@KaesOner]

Actually it does go down... all that has to happen is a massive fire, hurricane, earthquake, bombs, someone cuts/disconnects the main fibres etc and you lose your data. In data centers such as AWS and Azure.... all of that can happen and no one would blink an eye as they have interconnected data centers where one or two whole data centers can go down and everything is still running/automatically transferred in another one of their data centers. This place doesn't have that capability.

[@eric-seastrand]

Soooo freakin cool! As a software guy, this isn’t something I normally get to see. But I sure appreciate the care that goes into it.

[@joehax]

This video was a blast, thanks man!

[@keithsauer3574]

Great content! I have stuff in two other datacenters but its still cool to see how other datacenter companies do things.

[@MR-vj8dn]

The data center I have my servers at have actual submarine diesel motors as electric generators. Thank you for sharing.

[@danielfisher1515]

Very cool! Thanks for filming and sharing!

[@nellermann]

deft is awesome, we have space with them in the hall they were walking in this tour. they have several data halls at this site.

[@BillyDickson]

That was awesome, thank you Tom. 👍

[@gmtahoe]

Tom, one of your best videos ever

[@Thomas_Dye]

Looks so good, really interesting to watch the hole thing

[@kevinheneghan9259]

Love working here.

[@galen__]

This was super cool and fascinating to watch 👍

[@whothefoxcares]

RGB subfloor lighting 🙂the nicest data center award

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Yes, and they know their audience.

[@MrBanzoid]

Well that was fascinating. Thank you.

[@YeOldeTraveller]

That was impressive, and I regularly work in a large data center.

[@SolaAesir]

That was super interesting. Seeing geeks geek out about cool tech is always fun to watch.

[@hopsta]

Brilliant! Do you have anymore content on this tour? Would love to see it!

[@itchitrigger8185]

This was awesome!! Thank you

[@jdbarney]

Wow - those Eaton EPDUs are slick! Never seen that before, but I can instantly see the value.

[@dagamore]

The cost savings on labor of not having to restring and repower the rack, both on A and B power, plus the labor on under the floor, could very quickly pay for it self. I agree with you on how nice of an upgrade and quality of life improvement it is.

[@nohay4549]

Thank you!

[@TianarTruegard]

Cool datacenter tour. I would love to work in a datacenter eventually. I just graduated with a 2 year degree in computer network administration. Working on a CompTIA A+ certification.

[@johnmerryman1825]

This is great, brings back memories of when I was racking servers at 60 Hudson in NYC. I miss physical servers, AWS isn’t nearly as fun!

[@zacharytaylor8523]

Similar to a Google datacenter I work at as a tech, although at Google, everything is alot more custom, not as cramped, but things are similar like the cooling, backup generators. No flywheel UPS tho, the machine racks have just enough battery to last 60 secs for the gennies to kick in.

[@hydrocardiac]

This is awesome Tom

[@rlocone]

Thanks for sharing.

[@Derbauer]

This was more delicious than apple pie! Thank you!! Totally nerding out on this incredible content!! Wow 🌟✨

[@georgeperez4231]

Wonderful video..Thanks 👍

[@user-qq7yb9mq4b]

Many thanks from Kurdistan ❤ Wonderful Video!

[@jfkastner]

Very Interesting, Thank You!

[@diraziz396]

Respect to Deft. Thank you

[@Shadoweee]

Great video and the guide was awesome!

[@SubStationSparky]

This building owner is ON POINT!!!!!!!!! He understands the power distribution system, as well as the BMS and how the system controls the HVAC system to maintain peak efficiency of the data centers hardware. This is the guy who you want to call if the system has an issue and he will know who to call to get the problem fixed. HE IS ON IT!!!!

[@KaesOner]

Anyone who works at a data center in the operations space is expected to know this stuff... If yours dont know all this fundamental stuff, then you need new staff

[@nexovec]

This is so insane I love this. I want this at home, nevermind the noise :D

[@patricknelson]

Woah, this was so nerdy! I love it because as a developer of many years, I’m always interested in the infrastructure that runs my applications. But damn, this was mostly over my head. 😅

[@dominick253]

This really gave me motivation to continue studying. Working at a place like this would be insane. Heck I'd be willing to be the guy putting the racks together 😂😂😂.

[@ralmslb]

26:10 funny to see this reality in the US lol. As an European, most US plugs for me look flimsy and weak due to the way they latch and require all the physical strain of the cable on the pins, which is a bad thing and can induce a bad contact and overheating. The blue Industrial CE socket, is what we use in Europe for pretty much anything 3 phase, from 16Amp 3 phase and up. And yet, in the US, only when things are already too sketchy at 60A+ lol The domestic style socket is only used for single phase up to 16Amps (due to using 230v, this is still a lot of power).

[@tallinvegas]

Great Video!

[@Jorge2222]

Good info shopping datacenters and this provides lots of info.

[@buzzsp0t]

A lot of great ideas on how to offer colo customers value. Sourcing redundant dark fiber, providing spares, streamlining power upgrades. This is above and beyond the typical smart hands services offered at some of the largest colo operators.

[@kssandhu4693]

Wow..great education..cheers..

[@stevengill1736]

Thanks Deft, pretty cool! Sounds like if you guys grow much more, you'll need a fair to middlin' nuclear power plant. 😊 But the elegance of that universal power distribution cabling is sheer awesomeness!

[@billygilbert7911]

Thanks!

[@dagamore]

With an onsite chilling plant I am kind of surprised they did not have chill doors on the racks, either on the cold side or on the hot side. I know the DC's I worked in with chill doors were so much nicer as they were not kept at 65F but at 73F for room temp because they had both cold and hot side chill doors to keep the racks colder than the room.

[@JamesHalfHorse]

I have an old 80kw 3 phase generac that was retired from a datacenter with 500 hours on it. 350 V8 chevy that runs off propane. It runs my whole farm and probably a few others. Too good a deal to pass up and long as the water heater is running it will start and spin up within 30 seconds but I give it 90 before 2 400 amp transfer switches kick in. Bout to find one for my office.

[@eduardojr8143]

Amazing!

[@ciekawska563]

Awesome 🥲

[@Orchardman53]

The question you could have asked them is whether the Datacenter inspects the interior of servers installed/delivered by their customers. It would be only too easy for criminals to install explosives, EMP devices within a server cabinet and to operate them remotely for ransom or other purposes. There are defences against this, but I won't go into it here.