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So you want to build your own data center

(blog.railway.com)
596 points dban | 1 comments | 17 Jan 25 20:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.215s | source
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jonatron ◴[17 Jan 25 22:24 UTC] No.42743915[source]▶
Why would you call colocation "building your own data center"? You could call it "colocation" or "renting space in a data center". What are you building? You're racking. Can you say what you mean?
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xiconfjs ◴[17 Jan 25 23:17 UTC] No.42744262[source]▶
I have to second this. While it takes mich effort and in-depth knowledge do build up from an “empty” cage it’s still far from dealing with everything from building permits, to plan and realize a data center to code including redundant power lines, AC and fibre.

Still kudos going this path in the cloud-centric time we live in.

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manquer ◴[18 Jan 25 03:14 UTC] No.42745473[source]▶
While it is more complex to actually build out the center , a lot of that is specific to the regional you are doing it.

Thy will vary by country, by state or even county , setting up a DC in the Bay Area and say one in Ohio or Utah is a very different endeavor with different design considerations.

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1. pjdesno ◴[18 Jan 25 23:49 UTC] No.42752384[source]▶
Issues in building your own physical data center (based on a 15MW location some people I know built): 1 - thermal. To get your PUE down below say 1.2 you need to do things like hot aisle containment or better yet water cooling - the hotter your heat, the cheaper it is to get rid of.[] 2 - power distribution. How much power do you waste getting it to your machines? Can you run them on 220v, so their power supplies are more efficient? 3 - power. You don't just call your utility company and as them to run 10+MW from the street to your building. 4 - networking. You'll probably need redundant dark fiber running somewhere.

1 and 2 are independent of regulatory domain. 3 involves utilities, not governments, and is probably a clusterfck anywhere; 4 isn't as bad (anywhere in the US; not sure elsewhere) because it's not a monopoly, and you can probably find someone to say "yes" for a high enough price.

There are people everywhere who are experts in site acquisition, permits, etc. Not so many who know how to build the thermals and power, and who aren't employed by hyperscalers who don't let them moonlight. And depending on your geographic location, getting those megawatts from your utility may be flat out impossible.

This assumes a new build. Retrofitting an existing building probably ranges from difficult to impossible, unless you're really lucky in your choice of building.

[*] hmm, the one geographic issue I can think of is water availability. If you can't get enough water to run evaporative coolers, that might be a problem - e.g. dumping 10MW into the air requires boiling off I think somewhere around 100K gallons of water a day.