Welcome to Geek With A Box, the economy data suite on the USSHC campus. We wanted to give people some of the advantages of the excellent physical and network security present at the
USSHC campus, but with scaled back redundancy to reduce the cost. It’s some of the advantages of being located at a data bunker, but without the costs of being IN a data bunker. At
GWAB you bring in your own rack and UPS (or if you need we can supply) we’ll get you set up with floor space, power, and network drops. You’ll get 24/7 access with your own keycode for the external door and entry in the fingerprint scanner. You’ll get web access to video monitoring for the suite as well. Basically, we were asked by lots of people – geeks- that just wanted a good place to colocate their box. Geek with a Box was born.
Check out our
Colocation page for more details on our standard plans, or contact us by one of the methods on the right to discuss something that’s not listed.
PR News – 19-January-2011 –The Geek With A Box product allows USSHC to utilize the extensive infrastructure of our ultra secure underground data center to create low cost suites available for colocation use on other parts of the campus. This allows entrepreneurs and smaller businesses a low cost option for colocation, whether they want to colocate a single server, a rack, or lease an entire turnkey suite.
"We're very excited to offer our clients and fresh startups a way to work with us outside of our usual secured site. One implementation we've already worked on is using our Geek With A Box space for less critical equipment and providing a direct fiber cross connection to another space in our underground nuclear bunker site for databases, backups, and other systems that require an even higher level of reliability," said Isaac Helgens, Project and Marketing Director of USSHC. "We are excited to be flexible enough to make these two very separate products work either together or on their own and provide a new, lower cost opportunity for our clients.
The cost of redundancy and the quest for increased uptime can be stifling to a smaller business or a startup. "The ability to have the best of both worlds without paying a premium is important to these companies just getting off the ground and we think it's a great way to help promote their growth and expansion."
USSHC is the owner of the popular underground data center campus. Its EMP shielded nuclear bunker data center is known for its relentless pursuit of the highest levels of redundancy, reliability, and security. The company employs 10 people in the greater Cedar Rapids area and has been the focus of numerous industry whitepapers and articles regarding high security data centers and disaster recovery. The company’s web site at http://www.USSHC.com contains additional information.
Underground Secure Data Center Operations
Technology based companies are building new data centers in old mines, caves, and bunkers to host computer equipment below the Earth's surface.
Underground Secure Data Center Operations have a upward trend.
Operations launched in inactive gypsum mines, caves, old abandoned coal mines, abandoned solid limestone mines, positioned deep below the bedrock mines, abandoned hydrogen bomb nuclear bunkers, bunkers deep underground and secure from disasters, both natural and man-made.
The facility have advantages over traditional data centers, such as increased security, lower cost, scalability and ideal environmental conditions. There economic model works, despite the proliferation of data center providers, thanks largely to the natural qualities inherent in the Underground Data Centers.
With 10,000, to to over a 1,000,000 square feet available, there is lots of space to be subdivided to accommodate the growth needs of clients. In addition, the Underground Data Centers has an unlimited supply of naturally cool, 50-degree air, providing the ideal temperature and humidity for computer equipment with minimal HVAC cost.
They are the most secure data centers in the world and unparalleled in terms of square footage, scalability and environmental control.
Yet, while the physical and cost benefits of being underground make them attractive, they have to also invested heavily in high-speed connectivity and redundant power and fiber systems to ensure there operations are not just secure, but also state-of-the-art.
There initially focused on providing disaster recovery solutions, and backup co-location services.
Clients lease space for their own servers, while other provides secure facilities, power and bandwidth. They offers redundant power sources and multiple high-speed Internet connections through OC connected to SONET ring linked to outside connectivity providers through redundant fiber cables.
Underground Data Centers company augments there core services to include disaster recovery solutions, call centers, NOC, wireless connectivity and more.
Strategic partnering with international, and national information technology company, enable them to offer technology solutions ranging from system design and implementation to the sale of software and equipment.
The natural qualities of the Underground Data Centers allow them to offer the best of both worlds premier services and security at highly competitive rates.
Underground Data Centers were established starting in 1990's but really came into there own after September 11 attacks in 2001 when there founders realized the former mines, and bunker offered optimal conditions for a data center. The mines, and bunkers offered superior environmental conditions for electronic equipment, almost invulnerable security and they located near power grids.
Adam Couture, a Mass.-based analyst for Gartner Inc. said Underground Data Centers could find a niche serving businesses that want to reduce vulnerability to any future attacks. Some Underground Data Centers fact sheet said that the Underground Data Center would protect the data center from a cruise missile explosion or plane crash.
Every company after September 11 attacks in 2001 are all going back and re-evaluating their business-continuity plans, This doesn't say everybody's changing them, but everybody's going back and revisiting them in the wake of what happened and the Underground Data Center may be just that.
Comparison chart: Underground data centers
Five facilities compared
| Name | InfoBunker, LLC | The Bunker | Montgomery Westland | Cavern Technologies | Iron Mountain The Underground |
| Location | Des Moines, Iowa* | Dover, UK | Montgomery, Tex. | Lenexa, Kan. | Butler County, Penn.* |
| In business since | 2006 | 1999 | 2007 | 2007 | Opened by National Storage in 1954. Acquired by Iron Mountain 1998. |
| Security /access control | Biometric; keypad; pan, tilt and zoom cameras; door event and camera logging | CCTV, dogs, guards, fence | Gated, with access control card, biometrics and a 24x7 security guard | Security guard, biometric scan, smart card access and motion detection alarms | 24-hour armed guards, visitor escorts, magnetometer, x-ray scanner, closed-circuit television, badge access and other physical and electronic measures for securing the mine's perimeter and vaults |
| Distance underground (feet) | 50 | 100 | 60 | 125 | 220 |
| Ceiling height in data center space (feet) | 16 | 12 to 50 | 10 | 16 to 18 | 15 (10 feet from raised floor to dropped ceiling) |
| Original use | Military communications bunker | Royal Air Force military bunker | Private bunker designed to survive a nuclear attack. Complex built in 1982 by Louis Kung (Nephew of Madam Chang Kai Shek) as a residence and headquarters for his oil company, including a secret, 40,000 square foot nuclear fallout shelter. The office building uses bulletproof glass on the first floor and reception area and 3-inch concrete walls with fold-down steel gun ports to protect the bunker 60 feet below. | Limestone mine originally developed by an asphalt company that used the materials in road pavement | Limestone mine |
| Total data center space (square feet) | 34,000 | 50,000 | 28,000 plus 90,000 of office space in a hardened, above-ground building. | 40,000 | 60,000 |
| Total space in facility | 65,000 | 60,000 | 28,000 | 3 million | 145 acres developed; 1,000 acres total |
| Data center clients include | Insurance company, telephone company, teaching hospital, financial services, e-commerce, security
monitoring/surveillance, veterinary, county government | Banking, mission critical Web applications, online trading | NASA/T-Systems, Aker Solutions, Continental Airlines, Houston Chronicle, Express Jet | Healthcare, insurance, universities, technology, manufacturing, professional services | Marriott International Inc., Iron Mountain, three U.S. government agencies |
| Number of hosted primary or backup data centers | 2 | 50+ | 13 | 26 | 5 |
| Services offered | Leased data center space, disaster recovery space, wholesale bandwidth | Fully managed platforms, partly managed platforms, co-location | Disaster recovery/business continuity, co-location and managed services | Data center space leasing, design, construction and management | Data center leasing, design, construction and maintenance services |
| Distance from nearest large city | Des Moines, about 45 miles* | Canterbury, 10 miles; London, 60 miles | Houston, 40 miles | Kansas City, 15 miles | Pittsburgh, 55 miles |
| Location of cooling system, includng cooling towers | Underground | Underground | Above and below ground. All cooling towers above ground in secure facility. | Air cooled systems located underground. Cooling towers located outside
| Chillers located above ground to take advantage of "free cooling." Pumps located underground. |
| Location of generators and fuel tanks | Underground | Above ground and below ground | Two below ground, four above ground. All fuel tanks buried topside. | Underground | Underground |
*Declined to cite exact location/disatance for security reasons.
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ReplyDeleteReading this and some more articles I fail to see how providers avoid blushing when they mention "high security datacenter" and "24x7 customer access" among the same context.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but if you allow N customers access to your datacenter, thats not even remotely high security.