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.cityutilities.net/business/springnet.htm

After more than a decade of operation, City Utilities is looking to sell off the climate-controlled data center it operates out of the Springfield Underground.
It's not because the facility, known as SpringNet Underground, hasn't been successful - the cavernous space in the former limestone quarry has proved popular with businesses that need a secure place to store computer servers and other equipment.
So popular, in fact, that "we're coming to the point where we're out of space," CU General Manager Scott Miller said.

2006 SpringNet® is a division of CU, which offers telecommunication services. SpringNet® has

 SpringNet Continues Driving Jobs and Revenue for Local Community

Wed, December 04, 2013 | Posted by dcollado

A year has passed since we covered SpringNet in Springfield, Missouri, and its remarkable impact on local businesses and economic development. We recently spoke with SpringNet Director, Todd Murren, and Network Architecture Manager, Todd Christell, to get an update on how the network is progressing.
Demand for SpringNet’s high-speed data services continues to grow steadily. Financial statements for City Utilities of Springfield show the network generated $16.4-million in operating revenue last year against costs of $13.2-million. Better yet, revenues have increased around 3% per year while cost increases are closer to 0.5%. The end result is close to $3 million in annual net income for SpringNet. And all of this comes from a network that only serves commercial and public sector clients because Missouri state law restricts municipal network provision to only “Internet service,” meaning SpringNet cannot offer triple-play packages to compete with incumbent providers.
One of the highlights of SpringNet’s economic development success has been the attraction and retention of travel giant Expedia. After a large national provider failed to deliver on negotiations with the company, SpringNet stepped in to make sure Expedia brought its call center to Springfield. That effort has paid off handsomely for SpringNet and the local community. Expedia now employs close to 900 in the area after announcing in July that it was hiring another 100 employees in Springfield.
Up next for SpringNet is an effort to leverage its fiber infrastructure to create even more jobs. Believing that future job growth will revolve around the advancements enabled by gigabit networks, SpringNet is working with the Mid-America Technology Alliance (MATA) to host a hackathon with partners in Kansas City to explore what is possible between gigabit cities.
As Murren and Christell tell it, someone in Springfield can now send data to Kansas City with a 5-millisecond delay. It’s like they are in same building despite being hundreds of miles apart. This capability spells opportunity for new ways of doing business and delivering services. SpringNet wants to help the gigabit community develop these opportunities.

Disaster-Proof Data Centers

Disaster-Proof Data Centers
Companies Look To Bunker-Style Hosting Sites For Protection

CIOs who worry about what a bad storm, flood, or fire could do to their corporate data center might consider the ultimate in disaster recovery sites—the bomb shelter. There are a handful of underground data center hosting sites, built in old bomb shelters or mines, and their popularity with private businesses is on the rise. “We will see a lot more [bunker-style data centers] coming up,”

As the data center industry grows, it gets trickier to find ample space to house new facilities or provide companies with room to expand. Interestingly enough, underground locations are a viable option, since a lot of abandoned mines and military bunkers meet necessary criteria. Some underground locations were even built so that reuse would be easy. Directors of these facilities note that people tend to imagine the underground data centers to be dark, drippy holes in the ground, but this is definitely not accurate.

Although anyone with data storage needs might enjoy having such an interesting, high-security facility, so far, underground data centers are especially appealing to high-security organizations like the government. They are extremely well-protected in the event of disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires, as well as potential terrorist attacks.

Although there are a few issues with some of the underground data centers, like that some of them are in very rural areas, other problems one would imagine to exist, in reality, are not serious obstacles. Water is kept out easily enough, and can even be used for cooling. Limestone mines tend to be dry anyway. The main benefits are the amazing security, and the high amount of readily available space.

It all sounds like a lot of fun to move into, and data center migrations are what we're all about.

Key Points

• Underground data centers offer ultimate protection against natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
• Hosting companies are taking over old military bunkers or abandoned mines to create data centers.
• Bunkers offer lower cooling costs plus extra security services such as biometric readers and armed guards.
• A subterranean data center will be easier to secure against unauthorized entry and terrorist attacks.

The NBC Nightly News team travelled to one of Iron Mountain’s underground data centers to discover some of the treasures that are protected in this super-secure location. This is the same location where they protect thousands of our customers’ server and PC data.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy