Visit 4 data centers per day and not regret the time spent

    This is the third time that a Data Center Expedition PRO tour has been held in St. Petersburg under the auspices of the Comfortel provider . The essence of the event is to get the widest possible picture of the market of data centers in St. Petersburg within one day. This time, we, the Linkmeup fighters, were able to seep on the tour .

    But just spending the whole day contemplating server fields is a boring task, so this time the trip was more thematic. Four data centers, each designed to solve specific problems, is aimed at a specific audience of customers and is endowed with its own specific engineering solutions.



    Previous races were organized in the format “Shine and Poverty of St. Petersburg Data Centers” and showed everything: from the most trash data centers to the “luxury” segment. But so far they have decided to abandon this format, because too quickly and superficially.
    Data Center Expedition PRO sets itself the task of showing the market of city data centers in one day, as not many know it. Therefore, it was decided that less is better, but better.
    And during the excursions of the excursionists, the honored and legendary signalman of St. Petersburg Dmitry Petrov, concurrently director of Comfortel, entertains with fascinating stories.

    A few common words


    Let's start at the beginning to agree on what a data center is in order to speak the same language. So, the data center is not a room where the racks stand, but an engineering facility in which conditions are created for the uninterrupted supply of electricity of a given quality, at least two power inputs, a set of UPSs and a diesel generator with auto start. A strict temperature regime is also provided and there is a fire extinguishing system, the operation of which does not stop the operation of the placed equipment. And it’s very good when a vigilant guard of server peace is sitting at the entrance, and at least two engineers and a power engineer are in the monitoring room around the clock.
    The choice of implementation option for these requirements lies solely with the owner and depends on the goals that they set for themselves at the design stage.

    All data centers in the review are declared as Tier 3, but there is a nuance - in St. Petersburg there are no certified Tier 3 DCs. Not at all. As soon as you ask to show a certificate, everyone goes into the unconscious, muttering something about the high cost of certification, empty formalities, but full compliance with the requirements. That is, they are somehow ready, but no.

    And the last: squares, capacities and other fascinating figures, it is very important and interesting, but they can be viewed at any time on the site, so this article will simply have personal impressions of each object, with a certain claim to objectivity.
    So it's not all the data center that they called the data center and not all the data center where they wrote Tier 3.

    Linxdatacenter


    So, the first on our journey was the Linxdatacenter data center. Representation of the distinguished Dutch company Linxtelecom with data centers and communication channels around the world. The Prime Minister of Holland himself came to the opening of the data center. They claim that they work without failures from the moment of opening, i.e. already 5 years. They are known for having come to the data center market when no one else in the country knew what it was.
    From interesting technical solutions: its own gas piston substation and, as a result, independence from urban electricity. Naturally there is a backup input from the city, pickup batteries and diesel in case of gas interruptions. Cool with freecooling. Ready to place 1000 racks.


    The prize for the most beautiful building, definitely, at Linxdatacenter

    The data center was built inside the Sky Trade technology park, i.e. There are offices on the right, left, bottom, and generally everywhere. But linx fenced off all with thick walls. By the way, the entrance to the technopark for an unknown reason is located exactly on the opposite side of the entrance, i.e. as if behind the building.
    The main impression: expensive, rich and very corporate. He is really big, beautiful, works only with legal entities and evaluates his services in euros. Although the crisis does not spare anyone and prices have been reduced, they still remain above the market average.

    Another feature is remoteness. Purely technically this is a city, although its very outskirts. Moreover, the industrial zone, surrounded by residential areas, and these are traffic jams every morning and evening. But there are only two large data centers that can accept a really big customer in the city. These are Linx and SDN, and both are in the north, only the SDN is located directly on the Ring Road. In a word, you don’t have to choose especially.
    The status of the establishment here is supported from the doorway: you will be greeted by beautiful girls, referred to here as sales representatives, taken to an excellent meeting room, drink delicious coffee and fed excellent cookies. While we were busy eating, the girls organized a review presentation on the topic of where and how many data centers have already been built, what are the communication channels between them, where there are connection points and other marketing pieces with inflated numbers. The network is really big, and there are a lot of points of presence. If you have a business in several countries - here you are.
    Do not forget the list of the most famous customers. The list is very substantial. I think that 90% of companies are familiar to any layman in one form or another.


    When you are not allowed to shoot equipment, you have to shoot cookies

    Before handing us over to the courageous hands of our colleagues for a further tour, we were handed a standard bag of flyers and a cute little flash drive. And then I wondered: was it reasonable in 2016 in a data center that actively promotes cloud services to spend a marketing budget on flash drives? If pieces of paper can even play theoretically, will I use this flash drive at least once, and, in general, where is it now?
    But this is all the lyrics. And we say goodbye to the girls and head deep into the data center. But then trouble happens - we were forbidden to shoot inside, even general plans. They carefully protect the secrets of their customers. It’s a pity, because inside there was equipment that not every engineer near saw, even if he regularly visits specialized exhibitions.


    Behind this turntable is all the most interesting, but you can’t go there with the camera.

    In general, the secrets of their customers here are very scrupulous! If necessary, it is possible to fence off not just standard grilles with a lock, but a blank fence to the ceiling, a fence under the raised floor, biometric sensors at the entrance, a ban on access for everyone except their engineers who are seated here in a separate room and observe everything in an isolated video surveillance network. All that is missing is mine fields and machine-gun towers. But seriously, this approach inspires genuine respect. I think that for the financial sector and just a large enterprise, the possibility of such a circular defense can be a decisive factor.
    A surprise awaited in the cross room: a robot vacuum cleaner is engaged in cleaning here. We decided that a cleaning mop carries an unreasonably high risk compared to a Karcher robot. Although the crossover itself looks dull: there are unforgivably few operators.

    As a conclusion:
    I associate the Linxdatacenter with an expensive restaurant. Everything is formalized and regulated, from start to finish, without the right to make a mistake. You come here when you know exactly what you want, you are always sure of the result, you will never be afraid to come here with business partners, and therefore you are ready to pay for all of the above. But if you suddenly feel the urge to eat simple pasta with butter, then no matter how much you lie at the feet of the waitress, nobody will cook them for you, because they have standards, rules, regulatory authorities, a hellish bureaucracy, and God forbid anyone who sees how their chef Frenchman cooks Shchebekinsky pasta instead of fusilli or at least zitti. But a crisis is a crisis, and simple macaroni is getting closer and more accessible.

    Miran


    Another honored player in the market of data centers in St. Petersburg, launched a little earlier than Linxdatacenter. Located near the city center, consists of two parts. The first part is a classic data center, and we will not dwell on it for long.
    The second part is a modular data center, it is being actively built, and the first module was put into operation relatively recently.



    The data center actively plays both in its location and in its history. By the way, the number of telecom operators here is 4 times more than in Linxdatacenter, and even purely visually the premises of the telecom site look extremely solid. Operators are happy with this state of affairs, therefore they are not shy about putting powerful hardware at the core and aggregation level. There is even a trunk node, and many cables are wound up by different routes, i.e. we can safely say that from the very beginning Miran focused on friendship with operators, and clearly did not lose. For many current customers, it was the ability to connect to a diverse operator that became the most important argument in choosing a placement.


    Classic split into hot / cold corridor. Everywhere is light and clean.

    I would also like to say about security. Miran residents themselves joke that the main pillar of their security is the difficulty of finding a data center. Their building is so cunningly hidden in the back streets of the industrial zone of the times of Tsarist Russia that until you know where to go, it’s better not to go. Judge for yourself:
    - We go into an inconspicuous arch,


    - We pass through a hangar built in the near war time,


    - We pass by the building of the first furniture factory in Russia (namely, a factory, and not a simple manufactory),


    - We continue to walk past the workshops of Ludwig Nobel (brother of the founder of the same award , the famous engineer and actually the founder of the oil industry in Russia)


    - Around the corner we stumble on a hefty diesel engine.


    Guess whose? By the way, why is he standing on wheels - if he is removed from the frame and put on the ground, then it will be necessary to carry out additional registration and coordination work, which no one needs. Therefore, as they brought, so in that position and recorded.

    And while we rub the bruised knee, we accidentally notice a modest plate somewhere at the level of the roof.


    But back to the structure of this data center. In fact, these are two different data centers located in one place and in the same hands. The first is a data center of classical fate and design: we take a building, structurally strengthen it and rebuild it in a data center with a freon cooling system. Although the tour was declared the use of freecooling with all that it implies.
    The second part is much more interesting: it is created using advanced modular technology. In place, this means that in a huge factory hangar they put specially designed container modules, each of which is engaged in its own business. In some, there are racks, in others, cooling, etc. At the moment, only one module is fully launched, the second is actively mounted, and there should be four in total. All development from and to custom.


    Lawlessness of operator racks. But they are obviously fighting with him - it used to be much worse

    The modules are specially welded two-story containers, similar to standard sea containers. On the ground floor there are racks, air conditioning units and a fire extinguishing system, on the second floor there is a power unit, UPS, etc. Everything is controlled by cunning automation, which, for example, can supply cold air to specific heating points, and not just by amplifying the air flow in the entire module.
    The hangar in which they are naturally underwent special training. General repairs were carried out, powerful exhaust fans and passive coarse filters were installed under the ceiling, which regularly change. Thus, the air enters the room is relatively clean and only fine cleaning takes place at the entrance to the freecooling system. It is argued that such a modular solution is unique to St. Petersburg.


    Here they have already put things in order and actively support it.

    By the way, the tour here is not led by efficient sellers, but by engineers themselves. Perhaps that is why Miran leaves the impression of a warm, lamp and some kind of home establishment.
    Miran is also known for the fact that once, after a five-year uptime, he completely lay down, from the word completely, for infinite 30 minutes. But, as you know, there is no bad PR, and the way the leadership of the data center behaved in this sad situation brought them the reputation of partners who were ready to bear full responsibility for their schools, and not trying to somehow escape from it.


    Modular data center. The far module is already working, the neighbor in commissioning.

    Predicting the question: what exactly happened, I can’t say, because I didn’t hold a candle, but the story goes like this:
    A new UPS was commissioned. He was already connected to the inputs, everything was checked and prepared to add to the control software. Due to the presence of a physical connection to the control system and the lack of it at a logical level, monitoring periodically poured with various boring alerts, and the chief engineer, having issued the command to the duty shift, left home with a light heart, full of ideas to put the UPS into battle tomorrow. The essence of the issued control units was as follows: if a certain alert arrives, then you need to go there, find the UPS so-and-so, go to a specific menu and press reset error. Well, then, by itself, the human factor happens - the engineer who came to reset the error misses the button and presses Load off, i.e. relieve the load. And all would be nothing, because the load is not connected to the UPS and you can reap anything, but His Majesty the case entered into the matter. When the UPS is physically connected, but it is not logically connected, a terrible, but simple as three penny bug, surfaced in the system - Load off came to all the UPSs. At this moment, the engineer actually turned off the entire data center with his own hands.


    Exhaust fans, the size of a person, under the roof of the hangar and power cables the thickness of a hand

    But further more! With trembling hands, he picks up the chief engineer, describes the situation, and he seems to make the right decision on the basis of the available information: there is no voltage, the diesel did not start, which means the UPS did not work and you need to turn off the inputs and start the diesel with your hands. The engineer runs to the main switchboard, cuts off the entries and pronounces the main phrase of the evening: “Oh, and now the light has disappeared”, to which he receives the reasonable question “What was he? You said there is nothing at all! ”And a bunch of words after that about the ability to describe the situation. The unfortunate engineer in a pre-infarction state was sent to calm down and only then continued to figure out what is, what is not, and how to turn everything back on. So the combination of the factor of chance and human error cost half an hour of downtime.


    Inside the module, everything is very Spartan and functional.

    As a conclusion:
    In my opinion, engineering and functionally, Miran is a very worthy place. Adding here the economic component, we get a good option in terms of price-quality ratio. But if appearance is also important to you and there is no desire to scour the old workshops and existing facilities, then, alas, you definitely are not here. On the other hand, if you are ready to believe a lot of positive reviews about perhaps the most famous data center of the city, then you are definitely here.

    IMAQLIQ


    After a delicious dinner, we went to the IMAQLIQ data center. This data center has the strangest history of appearance and development despite the fact that it is not inferior in age to the previous two.
    Throughout its existence, it was known as Arroba, KubioRus, IQdata, General Datacomm, and only relatively recently settled on the current version of IMAQLIQ.


    Modestly, very modestly ...

    It all started with General Datacomm, which develops network equipment. Especially relied on radio relay for mobile operators. Then they bought the operator Kubio, who tried to impersonate Finnish, which is especially beneficial in St. Petersburg, because all communication to Europe goes through Finland.


    All the engineering here is done somehow very beautifully and with a soul

    So, the company engaged in the creation of equipment for telecoms, quite unexpectedly for all, entered the market of these same telecoms. And in order to surprise everyone at all, they also decided to build a data center, which was alternately named by all names.
    The geographic assembly workshops of General Datacomm are located within the turbine blade factory. And what does it mean to be located on the territory of the former Soviet factory? Right! Huge territory and almost unlimited electricity. Therefore, the data center is built under one roof with a warehouse and say that there is less space, it’s just brazen to lie. Previously, they knew how to build from the heart and did not restrain themselves on a scale.


    Free space inside - at least play soccer

    But back to the history of the data center. He did not receive a strong impetus in development, and, apparently, the secondary position of this business line for the founders of the parent company is to blame for this. Therefore, until recently, its development was extremely nonlinear and in fits and starts. But now, having gone from just a large server room to a completed engineering facility, this data center is clearly starting to gain momentum.
    On the ground, this means the following: the data center is now almost empty, and the active phase of searching for customers is underway, which means more than reasonable prices and a willingness to make concessions that they will never agree to in other places. All the main operators have already logged in, so there is no problem with the connection.


    IMAQLIQ Audience Award, for the main stage with the coolest views

    Pleasantly surprised by the attitude to the reservation of electricity. Local engineers have the main principle: guaranteed power, this is what we give out from the UPS and diesel, and everything else is a reserve. In practice, this means the presence of main switchboards with very respectable cabinets and battery racks. Also, the guys themselves proposed to start a diesel engine to show an exit to the operating mode in 15 seconds. While going to the diesel engine, we told how they check the fuel suppliers - they just call them at the most inconvenient moment in time and ask when they can bring the right amount of fuel. If the answer does not suit (and it happens that no one answers), then they no longer work with this provider.


    Slowly, customers fill the area

    As a conclusion:
    This data center, in the form as it is now, I call for myself a data center for storing backups, i.e. a place where you can already come, but it’s somehow scary to be the first to bring serious equipment, because the place is new and has not survived all the youthful problems. But to drag nonsense here to write backups to ribbons or some other archive server, which seems to be needed, but in fact it just takes up space in the racks - nice thing. Usually in any middle arm of the company there is something similar, not very important, and you want to remove it to a remote site. But it is clear that the guys are actively developing, working and their development plans are ambitious, so hurry to see. They have all the makings to become a serious player in the data center market. Let's see what time shows.

    BonchAichi


    By far the most unusual of the sites visited. But in order for the story about her to be understood, it is necessary to step aside and turn to the historical site of the Internet power of St. Petersburg - Bolshaya Morskaya 18.
    BM18 is the historically established largest traffic exchange point in the city located at the University of Industrial Technology and Design. There are only about 120 operators here, and the number of cables, fibers and possibilities for organizing communications is completely prohibitive. This was mainly due to the geographical location - the most central center of the city. Directly opposite the arch of the General Staff Building, a two-minute walk from the Winter Palace, etc. But besides its obvious enormous importance for local telecoms, it is also known for the regularity of emerging problems of different levels of adequacy. Among the most famous - a flood from above, then a flood from below, do not forget about the fire and the unfortunate electrician who cut off the connection in half of the city for disconnected porn, etc. The main reason - BM18 is located at a federal university, therefore, nobody wants to invest especially in the infrastructure of their own building, of course, and from here there are numerous jambs. This annoys many, but there is nowhere to go especially, and the operators continue to sit there.


    A large, if I may say so, machine room

    But if there is a demand, then there will be a supply. It was under this motto that the BonchAichi data center was organized. But I remind you: this is still the center of the city, these are old houses, these are crowds of tourists and other things that by no means correlate with such a concept as a data center.
    So, the first thing you pay attention to is size. After the objects visited, it seems just a crumb. The big hall is 25 racks, the small one is only 8. But here the main idea of ​​organizing this data center jumps onto the stage - to be as attractive to operators as possible and give as close access to wide communication channels as possible to heavy traffic generators. For example, the servers of the main city news site fontanka.ru now stand in Bonchaiti. After publishing the news, their outgoing traffic jumps to 4 Gb / s, and the presence of operators in the immediate vicinity of the servers greatly simplifies their life and the lives of the operators themselves. This is implemented using a multi-provider: several telecom operators and a traffic generator directly are connected to one router. The total capacity of the channels is 27 Gb / s.


    Signalers have a belief - the Internet will remove itself if there are no camera cabinets in the world without a beard. Therefore, every signalman rescues the Internet from this scourge as best he can.

    But as we understand, there are not many traffic generators like this, so they don’t need large-sized gyms. On the other hand, operators also do not need to keep a mountain of active equipment to organize peering and crossings, and they do not require a patch of electricity and cold panels. Although the management assured that regular servers are happy to wait, the benefit is quite affordable. But they are not ready to accept large corporate clients who bring a lot of heavy iron, which eats a lot of electricity and generates a lot of heat.
    Further. The data center is located on the ground floor of an ordinary non-residential building, which means that somehow you need to dodge with backup power and solve the cooling problem.


    Someone does not know how to hang equipment evenly.

    With cooling, everything is more or less clear: precision air conditioners, a modest remote module and a raised floor do their job. By the way, the house itself helps - this part of the building is always in the shade, so the surrounding air itself is always cool.
    But with backup power, it turned out interestingly here. It’s clear that no one in their right mind will ever allow the installation of a diesel generator in the courtyard of the house, which means that one must somehow dodge.
    The most amusing solution was found: nearby, on another site, there is a generator ready for everything, which in case of an accident is quickly brought in and connected to the power circuit through a connector on the street. A reasonable question arises - what about traffic jams? This is the center of the city, everything is always there! But the guys claim that they checked everything in battle, during the most terrible traffic jams and are ready to drag it almost in their hands. In fact, a guaranteed delivery time of 40 minutes. It seems like a lot. But the UPS is designed to support operation for an hour, and its capacity will increase as the rooms are filled with equipment. A very interesting solution, it seems to me.

    As a conclusion:
    If you want to get to your servers for a guaranteed time - here you are (metro in the neighboring house). If you need a bunch of operators - you are here. If saving on traffic is not an empty phrase for you - you are especially here because Now they give the Internet for free. If you value relationships with colleagues more than paperwork in business - this is definitely your option. Each visit here will look like a visit to old friends for a glass of tea. But if you do not have specific requirements, then I would think in the direction of more classic places.

    Afterword


    And then we went on a boat ride, where delicious German beer, the right beer food and guides from all the visited data centers were waiting for us. Conversations were already more substantive, because there were impressions of different sites and it was possible to compare them reasonably with each other.
    Representatives of data centers are also interested in knowing what impression they make in comparison with colleagues and how much they meet the needs of the audience for which they are positioning themselves. And again, to understand what customers need.
    And nobody canceled just live communication. I may not have heard, but no one tried to sell anything to anyone that evening.
    In general, remember: any event in St. Petersburg should end on a boat. This is an axiom. But if you need evidence, the main thing for you is not to escape from the ship.


    What do you want to say at the end


    This event leaves behind exclusively positive emotions. There is absolutely no feeling of a lost day, as is often the case after marketing trips. Useful contacts for business, new acquaintances and a pleasant feeling of new knowledge. Although, perhaps, the boat and foamy drinks, which, as you know, contribute to conversations, are to blame.
    The goal - to show the data center market - is 100% complete. Of course, the market is much larger than 4 data centers, but when you personally experience the difference between seemingly identical places, making the right decision becomes much easier.
    For myself, I want to say that now I can reasonably advise on the choice of site, depending on the task. At least within the limits seen on this day. Previously, all recommendations could take place on the basis of the principle: well, they are said about these that they are not bad and good for money, and there seems to be an uptime. But the real engineer should not use the words “like” and “it seems” in his words.
    What I want to highlight as a separate line - the format of such an event is a ready-made corporate event with a minimum budget. I am sure that a million and a thousand office IT people with great pleasure would have repeated this path, not forgetting the part about lunch and a boat trip. It remains to agree with the data centers. Although many people are already inviting you on an excursion, but one data center without the possibility of comparison is quite boring.

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