Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

isabellla321 t1_ir5om48 wrote

Reply to comment by Macrophage87 in Train to Ashburn! by albinotuba

Really?! I live right next to the Internet?

17

Macrophage87 t1_ir5osjs wrote

Most of it anyway. Yep, the mythical 'cloud' is mostly just a collection of computers in Ashburn, VA. Sadly, most places don't offer tours, nor is there actually a cloud to look at, as far as I know. If somewhere needs some mythical-looking cloud sculpture, its Ashburn.

16

isabellla321 t1_ir5pyk8 wrote

I am sure there is absolutely nothing interesting to tour inside anyway, just a big gray box. Windows aren’t even necessary. A big cloud sculpture would definitely help! Make data look cool!

7

darockerj t1_ir6lpcy wrote

a friend got me in once for a secret tour. really not much to look at - no branding, not even a lot of people, just somewhat large rooms with stacks of servers all whirring away. it’s probably interesting if you’re a dork in the industry who likes to hear stats about how much traffic they process and to see that in person. otherwise, it’s no different from any other server room.

2

SchuminWeb t1_ir6xmea wrote

This is what two of them look like from outside:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/schuminweb/51676075599/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/schuminweb/51676075174/

I can't imagine that they're all that exciting looking on the inside. After all, they're not designed for humans as much as they are designed for computer hardware. I had to go to the Atlantech data center in Silver Spring a long time ago, and it was pretty much gray and white corridors with cages for computer equipment in it.

1

angelaswiener t1_ir6aimo wrote

I used to have to go to one of the big datacenters out there when my company moved our servers off site to a shared facility. Security is really tight and allowing tours would be a huge liability. But unless you're into server hardware and cables, it's pretty boring anyway.

2

Macrophage87 t1_ir6axoq wrote

I am into server hardware and cables! Guess I have to be satisfied with youtube!

2