[TriLUG] Have you ever worked at a Data Center?

[matt at noway2.thruhere.net]

I haven't worked for a data center itself, but I did work for a company
that makes static switches and PDUs for them, and spent a bit of time in
them.

One of the biggest things I noticed was the tight security, at least at
the ones I was at.  You had to be pre-approved to even get in the parking
lot.  You had have proper ID on you at all times, and often times be
escorted.  Every door, expect perhaps the bathrooms, was at least key card
access and sometimes retinal scan.

The A/C in the buildings was the next thing I really noticed.  It was cool
and breeze, at least on the "floor", but it was loud.  Walking / standing
on raised floors is about as comfortable as concrete so make sure you have
good shoes.

No windows is definitely true.  You tend to lose all sense of time as the
light and environment is almost constant and it feels like I would imagine
a Borg cube to feel with row upon row of black fridge sized boxes.  I
suppose this could be an issue, or possibly a benefit, if you are on
alternate shifts.

The people seem to be quite tight knit and the facilities have always been
comfortable with decent break areas, often times including soda machines,
coffee makers, and even cable TV.  Internet access, though, was usually
difficult to obtain, unless you went to a manager level office.



> Yeah....that would help a lot.  My company has pretty much married
> Microsoft.  :(
> On Nov 11, 2010 12:38 PM, "Alan Porter" <porter at trilug.org> wrote:
>> > One of the best things I remember about working at the data
>> > center was the team building and luncheon events we did to
>> > boost morale, because we didn't have any windows.
>>
>> Not having Windows would boost my morale by itself.
>>
>> Oh wait... that's not what you meant, was it?
>>
>> Alan
>>
>>
>>