The ship's engine on the roof of our Swiss data center not only brings a holiday feeling to Dübendorf, but above all security for our customers and partners of the Netstream Cloud and Streaming Services.
The mysterious roof of the data center
"And what do you think we have on the roof of our data center?" my colleague Danielaagme on one of my firstagat work. I could already tell from her smile that it wasn't satellite dishes, which was the first thing that came to mind. It probably wasn't a tangle of cables either. It's worth mentioning that thisagmy first time working in the IT industry. But what was it then?
Luckily, I didn't have to guess for long, because I never would have thought of a ship's engine! A ship's engine?? How cool is that?! And what was it doing on a rooftop? My first thought was of those beach bars with piled-up sand that you find on rooftop terraces in many cities. But that could hardly be the reason.
Once you knew the answer, it was perfectly logical and obvious. In the event of a power outage, our ship's engine is the lifeline for the operation of our own data center – and therefore also for the Cloud and streaming solutions of our customers and partners. Or should Iag: for their "sea of data"...?
What a UPS has to do with network availability
Fortunately, we in Switzerland have a reliable energy supply and rarely experience power outages. And when they do occur, they usually only last a few minutes and are regionally limited. This is truly fortunate, considering the economic damage such an interruption could cause. This also highlights for me how essential network availability is for our customers and partners, and how we protect their business from such outages. It also underscores the trust they place in us when they choose us as their Cloud partner.
Thanks to my colleagues and a bit of my own research, I know that in the event of a power outage, the first thing that kicks in is the – brace yourself for the long name – redundant uninterruptible power supply (ag) in the Netstream Data Center. This means that high-performance batteries take over the power supply for our servers,ag, and network components for a short time. This allows us to continue providing our customers and partners with Netstream Cloud and streaming services without delay or interruption. However, the batteries are only used to bridge the time it takes for theaggenerator to start up. They provide the initial emergency power supply. But who then takes over from our first responders?
The Sleeping Giant on the Roof
This is where the aforementioned ship's engine comes into play. Thanks to this blog postagI now know that it functions as a redundant emergency power supply (ag) in our data center. While the battery power supply is in full swing, our sleeping giant on the roof awakens with a loud roar to take over asaggenerator. It only takes a few seconds for the behemoth to be fully operational and able to replace the batteries. Then it impresses as a true powerhouse: the diesel-powered generator produces 700 kVA of output. Should the worst-case scenario of a prolonged power outage occur, contrary to all odds, the ship's engine would need to be refueled for the first time after 48 hours. This can be done continuously while it continues to perform its function. Refueling it would likely be quite a spectacle, as the tank is also located on the roof of the data center. Of course, we are all glad that no one has been able to observe this yet, as it has not been necessary so far.
Monthly tests for emergencies
To ensure everything runs smoothly in an emergency, the systems are tested once a month, explains my colleague Erik Amgwerd, who works as an Infrastructure Engineer at Netstream . During this test, the ship's engine is thoroughly examined for 30 minutes. You can feel Erik's enthusiasm when he talks about the performance of our ship's engine.
Better to have the ship's engine on the roof than by the sea
For our customers and partners, the giant tower on the roof of the Netstream Data Center means maximum security. Thanks to it, they can continue navigating the sea of data at full speed, even in the event of a prolonged power outage, and continue using their cloudbased Netstream services.
I realize: the ship's engine we have up there on the roof is 1000 times better – and more spectacular – than any beach bar.
With that in mind: Full steam ahead and Netstream Cloud ahoy!
