Going underground: Will data centers become data bunkers?

Hong Kong is one of the most vertical cities in the world. Like many cities, when it ran out of space, it simply built up instead of out.
But Hong Kong has almost reached its upper-limit for going skyward. And as a financial capital of the world with an incredibly dense population, space is at a premium. That means that large dedicated computing areas, like data centers, have to compete for space with everything else, even though they are in great demand.




The solution for Hong Kong might be to stop building skyward and to start looking under its feet. Data Center Knowledge recently reported that Hong Kong may  dig out rock caves under the city and build new data centers down there. Apparently putting a data center in a deep cave isn't such a bad idea because the naturally cooler below-ground air could help maintain temperatures as long as the cave is properly ventilated.
The biggest problem with the underground concept is likely to be price. It was estimated in the Hong Kong scenario that digging out a tunnel for a data center would cost up to $600,000 per meter. That makes for an expensive project that all but the most profitable data centers would be hard pressed to ever overcome.
But there may be other advantages to building underground. Apparently other underground data center projects are in the works, or even  have been completed in other places, using decommissioned military bunkers as their base of operations. Swedish IPS Bahnhof converted a bunker below central Stockholm into a state-of-the-art data center back in 2008.
The main advantage to using a military bunker, besides the fact that it's already been dug out, is that they were built to survive a nuclear war. Governments looking for the ultimate level of security may want to consider it.
Even with the structure already in place, it will still be expensive to store data in a nuclear-proof  bunkers. Probably credit card companies will take advantage of it. So you can rest easy knowing that in the event of a nuclear war, both cockroaches and your MasterCard bill will survive.

http://www.amazon.com/Society-After-Doomsday-Bruce-Beach/dp/0919553206

http://www.radmeters4u.com/beach.htm

 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/04/doomsday-preppers-bruce-beach-interview_n_2237404.html

 AMERICAN BLACKOUT, Nuclear EMP Attack, Nuclear EMP--The Ultimate Cyber Threat, The Sun--The Inevitable Cyber Threat, A Real Life Nightmare Nearer Than You Think.

National Geographic is to be applauded for American Blackout which is essentially a training film to educate the American people about the very real threat posed to their lives by a cyber attack on the electric grid.  If there is any fault or unrealism in the docudrama, it is that the blackout lasts only 10 days, and recovery is achieved so quickly.
In real life, terrorists or rogue states would probably not limit their attack on the nation's electric grid to computer viruses or hacking, as implied in the docudrama.  They would also use other more destructive means--that could cause a protracted national blackout lasting months or years.          
Moreover, Mother Nature can inflict a potentially protracted national blackout.  Regardless of how one weighs the threat to the national grid from terrorists or rogue states--the Sun will, sooner or later, hurl toward the Earth a geomagnetic super-storm, with catastrophic consequences for the national electric grid.  

The only one of its kind out there,

John Galt

May 22, 2013

As a collector of survivalist books and scenarios thru out the years I know the outlines of most are basically along the same lines of thinking which is prepping, how to's and other topics. This book has a different theme which is a Noahs Ark type of book and manual on reconstructing afterwards. If you had to rebuild society from scratch in a scenario like the hero in H.G. Wells 'The Time Machine', in which he had only 2 books to choose from to take with him, which ones would you choose? That question remained but now here is one of the books.

I would recommend getting the CD as well and I have subscribed to the free online newsletter sent as well which I find very informative for news that is related and unreported elsewhere to keep me informed. The dedication this author provides in detailed analysis and his time involved is evident. Not motivated by receiving reward, but promoting his idea of survival for humanity as a whole selflessly at cost to himself in doing so and hassle's from the system, result in an unbiased and serious exercise in discussion in this area that is a first of its kind.

http://www.amazon.com/Society-After-Doomsday-Bruce-Beach/dp/0919553206

 Elizabeth Joyce "Writer - Spiritual teacher"  This book is tragically necessary as a guide for what to do after a major catastrophe, including World War III. Society seems to be in a great age of denial, and not many want to discuss much less think about this subject. Unfortunately we must face the possibility of a situation such as this, and be prepared. If not, we'll be dead, period! How many of us have suffered minor losses, such as electricity, or damages after Katrina and Sandy, hurricanes, flooding, tidal waves, or tornadoes? What and who do we rely on in those times? "The guys" right? You know - the ones who fix the lines, rebuild our homes, or repair our damages. Them - out there - the ones we pay for. Well, in a true Doomsday there may be be no one, it will be up to you and the other survivors.

The dedication this author, and the other researchers involved, provide in a detailed analysis of preparation for what may come, is invaluable. Not motivated by receiving rewards, but the author is similarly promoting his idea of survival for humanity as a whole brings a result in an unbiased and serious exercise in discussion in this area of restarting the world from scratch. That is a first of its kind, for who would truly know how? Your politicians? This book should be a requirement for everyone's book shelf! 

Juan Felipe The author tackles a subject that many people refuse to consider or think about -- the destruction of modern society, most likely precipated by nuclear war, EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse), pandemic, or widespread environmental catastrophe.

Unlike many other "gloom and doom" prognosticators, however, he believes not only that it will be possible to reconstruct society, but that eventually the result may actually be preferable to the one we live in today. He emphasizes that the focus is on "reconstruction" and not "restoration", since "restoration" would eventually result in the same sort of problems that society faces today.

From Chapter 10: "It is my fervent hope that humankind may learn from its mistakes and develop an attitude of universal charity and concern towards all of humanity, regardless of race, religion, culture or other coincidental distinguishing feature."

And a little later: "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

"The purpose for this book is to be a _How To_ manual for use in a post-cataclysmic recovery period by those who wish to reconstruct society in a just manner to _Build a Better World_ (the slogan of Ark Two)."

The heart of the book is the detailed explanation of LERNs (Local Economy Recovery Networks); how they are formed, what are their functions, and how they interact with other LERNs.

A couple of minor quibbles -- the e-book would be more readable with a consistent font size. Most of the boxes with definitions and supplemental information have a miniscule, almost unreadable font compared to the main body of text. That's probably because they are graphics which do not scale up when the main text size is set to a more readable size. And even within the main text, the font size often changes mid-sentence, although only by a point or two.

By 

Gary E. Weller
Imagine if, one minute from now, a lot of person on Earth disappeared. All maybe 6 billion of us. Doomsday. What would happen to the world without a lot humans? How long would it be before our nuclear power plants erupted, skyscrapers crumbled, and satellites dropped from the sky? What would become of the household pets and farm animals? And could an ecosystem plagued with years of pollution ever recover?

In this book, Bruce explore a world you will never want to see--a world without a lot of people. You are in control. Experience the Aftermath. Rebuild, start over, reboot society, farming, food, life with Bruce Beach on survival after disaster scenarios.

Some people are gonna die and there isn't a whole lot we can do about it.