Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Service Provider Builds National Network of Unmanned Data Centers (datacenterfrontier.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the nobody-home dept.

1sockchuck writes: Colocation and content delivery specialist EdgeConneX is operating unmanned "lights out" data centers in 20 markets across the United States, marking the most ambitious use to date of automation to streamline data center operations. While some companies have operated prototypes of "lights out" unmanned facilities (including AOL) or deployed unmanned containers with server gear, EdgeConneX built its broader deployment strategy around a lean operations model. The company uses software to remotely control the generators and UPS systems at each data center, and can dispatch techs when on-site maintenance is needed.

5 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing revolutionary by ickleberry · · Score: 2

    UPS is worthless unless it takes over automatically. Auto-start genny's have been around since the year dot.

    Dispatch a tech when something breaks is nothing new. I know a while back some boys were experimenting with bots to replace HDD's but with people moving to more reliable SSD implementing such a system wouldn't be worth the bother for most

    1. Re:Nothing revolutionary by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

      UPS is worthless

      FedEx FTW!

    2. Re:Nothing revolutionary by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 2

      The real challenge is achieving the equivalent of an engineer's "rounds" in an unmanned facility. It takes a lot of instrumentation to tell what could be going bad in an air handler or chiller, and beyond just the instrumentation, it is an insane amount of effort to get the system to simply report exceptions from all that data.

      Simple example: pump seal is degrading and instead of leaking 0.1 gallon/day it is leaking 0.15/day. The engineering doing rounds says "there seems to be more water on the floor" after a couple days; he mops it up and puts down pads to see where the leak is coming from, finding the source of the leak in a week or so.

      The lights-out mentality is run-to-fail. Works great in the right part of the bathtub curve, but otherwise it is a bitch. Most sites like this I have seen are on a maintenance truck route where someone swings by for an hour two or three times a day. Not the same level of commitment though.

  2. Well not completely unmanned by Sowelu · · Score: 2

    I mean, I'd hope they would have security guards at least. Otherwise it makes a pretty tasty target.

  3. You've Got Fail by sexconker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can the editors please do their jobs?
    I consider myself to be pretty tech-savvy, but we can't all be expected to know every acronym for every open source project and kickstarted company.

    Can someone please tell me what the fuck AOL is?