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A Data Center That Looks Like a Mansion
1sockchuck writes "A luxury homebuilder in Minnesota wants to build a data center that looks like a mansion, allowing the commercial building to fit into a residential neighborhood. The 'community-based data center' designed for FiberPop features a stone facade and sloped roof with dormers, along with an underground data hall."
But for crystal meth.
Has many of the most expensive homes in the state. Part of the city borders on Lake Minnetonka, which is a popular place for wealthy famous people to build their mansions. Now as more people are looking to live in that second-ring suburb, a lot of neighborhoods are popping up featuring McMansions like the one you see there. Should fit in well, though I'm not sure it would be that advantageous to the company to place themselves that far outside the city of Minneapolis, unless they expect the majority of their customers to be from the suburbs.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Easier for the techs to get pizza delivery.
This data center with 60 parking spaces better be close to a highway or else traffic getting there will bother the neighbors.
In particular, will the neighbors enjoy the continuous howling of the AC fans?
A commercial building is still a commercial building whether it looks like an office block, a play ground, a mansion or a church. As far as I know zoning laws restrict usage based on usage and not looks. And I'd imagine that the local residents (in their high priced gated community) wouldn't like strangers running in and out to service this business.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
What's the advantage of putting a data center in a residential neighbourhood?
The increased traffic, the exhaust fan noise (which could be mitigated), and when the power goes out the sound and smell of those diesel gennies will add ambiance to the surrounding environs. Hell, even a weekly generator would be bad enough.
Silence is a state of mime.
looks like someone wants to build a mansion and write it off as a business expense.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
In particular, will the neighbors enjoy the continuous howling of the AC fans?
I'd love it!
It sure and hell beats the sound of:
Leaf blowers and other landscaping equipment with 2 cycle engines, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, kids with those "BOOM-BOOM-BOOM" speakers in their roller skate cars with the sheep farting mufflers, and the wana-be rock star garage band.
I remember seeing pictures on some forum years ago showing how one telephone company made a central office with the appearance of a residential house. I want to say it was on dslreports.com but I can't find the forum that it was in anymore.
I'm building a mansion that looks like a data center.
Have gnu, will travel.
So all you religious technology zealots can have somewhere to be a true believer of the cult of Apple/Linux/Microsoft/BSD/Goatse?
they plan to build a mansion with underground facility in Raccoon City Minnesota.
this will not end well.
Hidden cell phone towers and data centers are weird enough, but how many of you have heard of the working oil fields underneath Los Angeles?
This video at the Huffington Post is the best explanation I can find offhand, but there are pictures and documentaries all over if you look for them.
Mansion available: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/01/21/megaupload-founder-kim-dotcom-by-the-numbers/
(possible to get cars with "nerd" license-plates included)
You should see the firehalls they're building in new communities here. They look just like a house, except firetrucks roll out of the garage periodically.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ...
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Let me guess, the garage will have a turntable and the cars will come out of a gate of street signs. Will they call this thing the Batcave or Wayne Manor?
"So they have no access in or out of the building during a snow storm. Whoops."
Global warming will take care of that. We have hardly had more than a couple of inches so far this winter. (I live a couple hundred miles up I94 from the cities.)
also big trucks may be a issues as well + local residential roads are not really build for heavy use and they don't get snow plowed as fast as the main roads.
they need a cable head end or what even fios uses for there TV part.
How many of you have heard of the working oil fields underneath Los Angeles?
LA used to be famous for that. (Look at 03:00) There were oil rigs all over town. Beverly Hills High School still has a rig. It brings in about $1 million a year. There used to be hundreds of pumps between LAX and Venice Beach.
The LA basin is mostly pumped out now, and most pumps have been removed. Most of the remaining ones are concealed.
residential power grid is not setup for big draws. Even all the house on one block can blow a transformer by all of them doing a over the top Christmas Lights display.
and dual grid is not likely in most residential areas.
with an underground data hall
Yep, lock up those geeks in the basement again, they're used to it.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
There's some precedent for this in telephony. I've photographed a couple of old Cincinnati Bell central offices in residential neighborhoods in Cincinnati. They were built to match the architecture and landscaping of the houses around them. If you're not looking for them it's easy to mistake them for plain old houses.
The Attitude Adjuster, I hate me, you can too.
Do what the Internet Archive does. Run your storage clusters in your office building (used to be a church). Heat your homes too! i am sure if the neighborhood got cheap heat, they'd do it! http://starburst.hackerfriendly.com/?p=1581
There are other things around that are "disguised" as buildings, e.g. subway vents: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/brooklyn-vent.html
I still don't see the point of this - while I'm sure land is cheaper there than in a city, unless it's located unusually close to some major telecommunications lines, they're going to have to pay for trenching in connectivity over multiple physical paths.
The only reason I can think of for locating a datacenter in a luxury neighborhood is to house the security camera DVRs and other security equipment for those homes, but that hardly seems like it will support a datacenter.
Instead of trying to build a data center that is equipped to be placed in the suburbs where each family occupies huge plots of land, what about thinking about the future? How about integrating data centers with public utility infrastructure? What about data Centers co-located with dense residential areas? Or warehouses? Or perhaps even integrating data centers with natural locations where they would benefit the environment around them. Or making them as containers that could be shipped to a warehouse where they would be needed, just like we do with the other resources in our economy?
This would be a great cover for a grow house.
Power company / police: "Why is your power consumption so high?"
Owner: "I'm running a data center."
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=15545+Ranchview+Court+minnetonka+mn&ll=44.973056,-93.474383&spn=0.02365,0.039353&hnear=15545+Ranchview+Ct,+Minnetonka,+Hennepin,+Minnesota+55391&gl=us&t=h&z=15&vpsrc=6
After a bit of googleing seems to be where they plan to put it. This is not the prime area of Minnetonka, just north of a highway, no lake, behind some car dealerships, and on a swamp. It is also only about 1/2 mile from a middle school. You need to go about two mile southwest from there for the major homes or the west side of lake Minnetonka.
As for the fan and generator noise, probably quieter than the 2 major highways (I394 & I494) right near there same for the generators(especially if steps are taken to minimize the sound of both). I'd bet ambient daytime sound levels are rather high there.
Fun facts, I drive within 0.25 miles of this site everyday on my way to work, I work in the same building as the architect in question, and work for a company that makes HVAC units for datacenters among other uses.
His name doesn't happen to be Bruce by any chance...
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
it would be cheaper since they are plentiful and empty
Does 'Community-Based' mean I can have free colo if I live in the neighborhood?
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
Will fit right in except for the driveway with 13 Smart cars, 11 Prius, and 17 BMWs.
"Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
DC's are supposed to have redundant power lines in or at the least a highly reliable power source. It's unlikely that the residential customers would be on the same primary power lines. Which is both bad and good. Good because the homeowners wouldn't get browned out by the DC, bad because in the case of a bad storm there's no incentive for the power company to reestablish power to the homes as quickly as the DC. So in the case of a bad mid winter storm the blacked out homes in the cold can look out their windows at the DC purring happily away.
I was thinking about building a mansion that looks like a data center. Maybe they could put them next to each other?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
If you go to Plano (suburb of Dallas, Texas), there are tens, if not a hundred buildings scattered all over the city that look like houses, with roofs, centrally located doors (like houses), manicured "lawns" and even a tree in the "front yard". They typically occupy less than a quarter acre and only have parking for one or two cars (particularly Verizon trucks).
They have no windows.
Typically 1,000 sq feet or so they look like a small house, or a detached garage (rare in the area) and have brick exteriors (matches the houses in the area) with roof overhangs. No two are exactly alike, but they're generally near the entrance.
So yes, it's not uncommon to see telecommunications buildings (I guess mansions would be the next logical step) in neighborhoods disguised as "houses". They're easy to pick out if you know to look for them. I'm sure other cities have them too (particularly in the DFW area).
moox. for a new generation.
Woo! You mean the DC can lose power when the wind blows, too? What awesome planning on a company's part.
If you build luxury houses and own tracks of (now nearly worthless) residential land on the outskirts of large cities, why not see if you can market to a new segment? I think they're getting in over their heads, as they're not used to dealing with the cooling and power supplies such a facilities often require, but it's still a cute idea from a marketing perspective.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Not interested. I want a mansion that looks like a proper data center.
If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
..."underground data hall."
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. ~~ Hunter S. Thompson
I want to see them put a datacenter in one of the endless expanse of factories downtown with all the busted out windows. Seriously though, It does look like an interesting idea. I wonder how they will hide the backup generators, and what will they have to rip up to run all that cable? At least they will have to employee more engineers to figure it all out...
I art more snarky, and terse than thou. I art Slashdot!
I knew someone would eventually try to build Matthew Sobol's house. The question is, will this datacenter mansion be guarded by an AutoM8 and sprinkler system that sprays accelerant?
Residential power grids are notoriously less stable then commercial grids.