Surely Google is one of the several things most of us could hardly go a day without. But have you ever wondered, what does one of the most powerful search engines in the world look like from the inside? Well, turns out that even the color-coordination of the Google servers is pretty much the same as on the interface!
For the first time, Google has published some photos of what their data centers look like. The scrupulous attention for details, vast and well-organized spaces and seemingly flawless organization makes it clear how Google has achieved it's success.
However, if you think their data centers are cool, wait till you see the inside of Google Office in Zurich.
Website: google.com
"These colorful pipes are responsible for carrying water in and out of our Oregon data center. The blue pipes supply cold water and the red pipes return the warm water back to be cooled. "
"Hovering above the floor in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the scale of our data center there begins to take shape. Huge steel beams both support the structure and help distribute power."
"Blue LEDs on this row of servers tell us everything is running smoothly. We use LEDs because they are energy efficient, long lasting and bright."
"A rare look behind the server aisle. Here hundreds of fans funnel hot air from the server racks into a cooling unit to be recirculated. The green lights are the server status LEDs reflecting from the front of our servers. "
"Thousands of feet of pipe line the inside of our data centers. We paint them bright colors not only because it's fun, but also to designate which one is which. The bright pink pipe in this photo transfers water from the row of chillers (the green units on the left) to a outside cooling tower."
"Server floors like these require massive space and efficient power to run the full family of Google products for the world. Here in Hamina, Finland, we chose to renovate an old paper mill to take advantage of the building's infrastructure as well as its proximity to the Gulf of Finland's cooling waters."
"An overhead view of one of our cooling plants, where seawater from the Gulf of Finland entirely cools the data center there."
"This is a closer view of the backup tapes in our tape library. Each tape has a unique barcode so our robotic system can locate the right one. "
"We keep pipes like these ready with highly-pressurized water in case of a fire. This water, in particular, is cleaned and filtered so if we use it, we don't contaminate the facility."
"Our Council Bluffs data center provides over 115,000 square feet of space. We make the best out of every inch, so you can use services like Search and YouTube in the most efficient way possible. "