9 Data Centers: Unexpected Beauty And Creativity
, October 04, 2012 Most data centers are boring boxes--but not all. Take a look at a data center that houses a supercomputer in a chapel, or an underground data center with James Bond-styling, or a solar-powered data center, and much, much more.
From Particle Accelerator To Data Center
On the University Lavel campus in Quebec City, Canada, the Calcul Quebec (Compute Quebec) research consortium has converted a building that once housed a Van de Graaf particle accelerator into a multi-level data center. There are three floors of computing hardware, with server cabinets set in outward-facing circles sitting on grated floors that allow cool air to flow through into a hot core at the center for venting. The building was built in 1965 and served as a research center for nuclear physics and, developers say, required only minor modifications to turn into a data center. Some of the heat generated by the data center is used to warm buildings on the campus. Image courtesy of Calcul Quebec.
