7 ms·

Scaleway's data centre in the catacombs, 26 metres under Paris

96 points by baud147258 7y ago

gregmac 7y ago
If you want to see more than 2 pictures (one of which is of a small drainage channel), there's a detailed blog post about the construction: https://blog.scaleway.com/2016/c14-story-part-1-meet-our-nuclear-fallout-shelter/ https://blog.scaleway.com/2016/c14-story-part-1-meet-our-nuc...
- Isamu 7y ago
  Really fascinating! The pedal-powered blowers (ventilation?) are a nice touch.
- bradstewart 7y ago
  Really interesting read, thanks. But I have to wonder... why? Was all of that effort worth it?
  - gregmac 7y ago
    The Register article mentions this: > With city space ever scarcer and more expensive, but latency requirements only increasing, companies have been looking at innovative ways of getting data centres closer to the action. It doesn't specifically say this is the reason Scaleway did it, but it could make sense if there's a bunch of tech firms located nearby and the above-ground real estate is expensive.
  - LinuxBender 7y ago
    Probably mostly marketing. This would be one place that data archives might survive nuclear and small to medium asteroid impacts, assuming it is water tight and really strong submarine doors. I did not see any bar (pressure) ratings. There are a handful of companies that have underground data-centers, but I think it's mostly hype. Creating functional (real) bunkers at that scale is very expensive. When I look at bunkers, the first things I look for is how many bars of pressure they are rated for. A nuclear bunker must be rated for at least 8 bars. Getting permits for underground generators and fuel tanks is also very expensive.
    - brianwawok 7y ago
      The bunker was already dug though? That seems at least to make the cost a bit less absurd.
      - LinuxBender 7y ago
        Absolutely. Building from scratch is tens to hundreds of millions. Former military bunkers were paid with tax money. :-) The new owner is just paying for inspections, retrofit, modernization, etc...
      - bradstewart 7y ago
        The bunker was dug, but they had to go through a ton of work to reinforce it, pour a foundation capable of holding server racks without disturbing the existing structure, waterproof it, and more. Maybe the seemingly advanced building techniques they described in the blog post are also required to build an above-ground datacenter. Or the cost of doing it (and doing it below ground) isn't drastically greater.
    - amelius 7y ago
      Wouldn't it make more sense to replace the servers by food, and make the bunkers habitable?
      - LinuxBender 7y ago
        If you expect humans to keep the servers running, then certainly a majority of space would be required for food, storage, waste, supplies, water, more water, air tanks, air filtration systems, grow lights and green house. You would also need a medical staff and counselors. Oh and lots of books and a place to sleep. :-)
        reificator 7y ago
        Don't forget power...
        7y ago
  - VectorLock 7y ago
    I bet the biggest driver was they probably acquired the property really cheap. Building it into a data center probably wasn't any more expensive than an above-ground property.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- agumonkey 7y ago
  Simply fascinating.
djsumdog 7y ago
I've wanted to use Scaleway as their prices seem way better than DigitalOcean/Vultr for larger/bare metal servers, but they just lack ... everything from their API. It's one of most poorly documented VM APIs I've ever seen. They also have no managed DNS! You've got to setup your own DNS servers! The server setup does seem tool though. Also, how did a Register link get through? I thought that site was banned on HN.
- progval 7y ago
  > Also, how did a Register link get through? I thought that site was banned on HN. What's the reason for it being banned?
- mfontani 7y ago
  > how did a Register link get through? I thought that site was banned on HN Oh deary me, why should that be? Just because the journos are snarky and sarcastic, or because it's pretending to be a red-top? ... or is it because it's mostly written in Perl?
  - GordonS 7y ago
    I kind of agree with you, but also with the parent - because it's no longer pretending to be a red top. Very soon after El Reg was bought by the Daily Mail, there was a very noticeable change in the writing. It had always been snarky and sarcastic, but in amusing way - afterwards it was snarky and sarcastic, but in a kind of hateful, "fake outrage", unmistakable Daily Mail kind of way. I'd read El Reg almost every day for a decade before the Dailly Mail bought them, but I just couldn't stand it afterwards. A real shame.
    - diodesign 7y ago
      Hi, I work at El Reg. Just wanted to say we're not owned by the Daily Mail. I used to work for the Daily Mail Group, funnily enough, leaving in 2011 to join The Reg. But, anyway, no: El Reg isn't owned by the Daily Mail. It's the same four co-owners and the same independent publication. (If you haven't read us for a while, then please why not try us again. We're still snarky but I like to think our sarcasm and skepticism is precisely deployed as and when it's needed rather than as a scattergun. And above all, puns, jokes, and irreverence aside, we strive to be technical and correct.) C.
rhardih 7y ago
I came to Scaleway from Linode since they had very competitive pricing and generally always thought they were pretty nice. That is, of-course, until they decided to up the price on my tier by almost 60% with very short notice. Same box I'd been running for years, no upgrades or nothing aside from a shiny new price tag...
- latchkey 7y ago
  What did they say when you contacted their support?
  - rhardih 7y ago
    No info apart from confirming, that yes, that would indeed be the new price going forward.
z3t4 7y ago
This is very cool, but it wont be as fun when water starts to drop on electrical equipment. And cooling will probably be an issue too. But I guess it's worth it if you get a central location in a major city.
Lowkeyloki 7y ago
If you like this sort of thing, I'll gladly dig a hole and put a Raspberry Pi in it.
- Karunamon 7y ago
  There's probably a market for single low-powered servers in physically hard-to-reach locations.
  - 0x4a42 7y ago
    Try Cyberbunker :)
metildaa 7y ago
Scaleway has been hosting large scale SIP attacks for the past few years: https://badpackets.net/ongoing-large-scale-sip-attack-campaign-coming-from-online-sas-as12876/ https://badpackets.net/ongoing-large-scale-sip-attack-campai...
MapleWalnut 7y ago
The title is kind of clickbait. The article says this is near the catacombs, not in them, which makes sense since the catacombs are ossuaries. better title: "Scaleway's data centre in a bunker, 26 meters under Paris"
- etiennemarcel 7y ago
  In Paris the word "catacombs" is used in a larger sense than ossuaries. It also covers the huge network of old quarries, mostly on the left bank. They pretty popular with urban explorers ("cataphiles"). The data center is built in one of these quarries turned into a shelter.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

96 points by baud147258 7y ago

If you want to see more than 2 pictures (one of which is of a small drainage channel), there's a detailed blog post about the construction: https://blog.scaleway.com/2016/c14-story-part-1-meet-our-nuclear-fallout-shelter/ https://blog.scaleway.com/2016/c14-story-part-1-meet-our-nuc...

Isamu 7y ago
Really fascinating! The pedal-powered blowers (ventilation?) are a nice touch.
bradstewart 7y ago
Really interesting read, thanks. But I have to wonder... why? Was all of that effort worth it?
- gregmac 7y ago
  The Register article mentions this: > With city space ever scarcer and more expensive, but latency requirements only increasing, companies have been looking at innovative ways of getting data centres closer to the action. It doesn't specifically say this is the reason Scaleway did it, but it could make sense if there's a bunch of tech firms located nearby and the above-ground real estate is expensive.
- LinuxBender 7y ago
  Probably mostly marketing. This would be one place that data archives might survive nuclear and small to medium asteroid impacts, assuming it is water tight and really strong submarine doors. I did not see any bar (pressure) ratings. There are a handful of companies that have underground data-centers, but I think it's mostly hype. Creating functional (real) bunkers at that scale is very expensive. When I look at bunkers, the first things I look for is how many bars of pressure they are rated for. A nuclear bunker must be rated for at least 8 bars. Getting permits for underground generators and fuel tanks is also very expensive.
  - brianwawok 7y ago
    The bunker was already dug though? That seems at least to make the cost a bit less absurd.
    - LinuxBender 7y ago
      Absolutely. Building from scratch is tens to hundreds of millions. Former military bunkers were paid with tax money. :-) The new owner is just paying for inspections, retrofit, modernization, etc...
    - bradstewart 7y ago
      The bunker was dug, but they had to go through a ton of work to reinforce it, pour a foundation capable of holding server racks without disturbing the existing structure, waterproof it, and more. Maybe the seemingly advanced building techniques they described in the blog post are also required to build an above-ground datacenter. Or the cost of doing it (and doing it below ground) isn't drastically greater.
  - amelius 7y ago
    Wouldn't it make more sense to replace the servers by food, and make the bunkers habitable?
    - LinuxBender 7y ago
      If you expect humans to keep the servers running, then certainly a majority of space would be required for food, storage, waste, supplies, water, more water, air tanks, air filtration systems, grow lights and green house. You would also need a medical staff and counselors. Oh and lots of books and a place to sleep. :-)
      - reificator 7y ago
        Don't forget power...
        7y ago
- VectorLock 7y ago
  I bet the biggest driver was they probably acquired the property really cheap. Building it into a data center probably wasn't any more expensive than an above-ground property.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
agumonkey 7y ago
Simply fascinating.

djsumdog 7y ago

I've wanted to use Scaleway as their prices seem way better than DigitalOcean/Vultr for larger/bare metal servers, but they just lack ... everything from their API. It's one of most poorly documented VM APIs I've ever seen. They also have no managed DNS! You've got to setup your own DNS servers! The server setup does seem tool though. Also, how did a Register link get through? I thought that site was banned on HN.

progval 7y ago
> Also, how did a Register link get through? I thought that site was banned on HN. What's the reason for it being banned?
mfontani 7y ago
> how did a Register link get through? I thought that site was banned on HN Oh deary me, why should that be? Just because the journos are snarky and sarcastic, or because it's pretending to be a red-top? ... or is it because it's mostly written in Perl?
- GordonS 7y ago
  I kind of agree with you, but also with the parent - because it's no longer pretending to be a red top. Very soon after El Reg was bought by the Daily Mail, there was a very noticeable change in the writing. It had always been snarky and sarcastic, but in amusing way - afterwards it was snarky and sarcastic, but in a kind of hateful, "fake outrage", unmistakable Daily Mail kind of way. I'd read El Reg almost every day for a decade before the Dailly Mail bought them, but I just couldn't stand it afterwards. A real shame.
  - diodesign 7y ago
    Hi, I work at El Reg. Just wanted to say we're not owned by the Daily Mail. I used to work for the Daily Mail Group, funnily enough, leaving in 2011 to join The Reg. But, anyway, no: El Reg isn't owned by the Daily Mail. It's the same four co-owners and the same independent publication. (If you haven't read us for a while, then please why not try us again. We're still snarky but I like to think our sarcasm and skepticism is precisely deployed as and when it's needed rather than as a scattergun. And above all, puns, jokes, and irreverence aside, we strive to be technical and correct.) C.

rhardih 7y ago

I came to Scaleway from Linode since they had very competitive pricing and generally always thought they were pretty nice. That is, of-course, until they decided to up the price on my tier by almost 60% with very short notice. Same box I'd been running for years, no upgrades or nothing aside from a shiny new price tag...

latchkey 7y ago
What did they say when you contacted their support?
- rhardih 7y ago
  No info apart from confirming, that yes, that would indeed be the new price going forward.

z3t4 7y ago

This is very cool, but it wont be as fun when water starts to drop on electrical equipment. And cooling will probably be an issue too. But I guess it's worth it if you get a central location in a major city.

Lowkeyloki 7y ago

If you like this sort of thing, I'll gladly dig a hole and put a Raspberry Pi in it.

Karunamon 7y ago
There's probably a market for single low-powered servers in physically hard-to-reach locations.
- 0x4a42 7y ago
  Try Cyberbunker :)

metildaa 7y ago

Scaleway has been hosting large scale SIP attacks for the past few years: https://badpackets.net/ongoing-large-scale-sip-attack-campaign-coming-from-online-sas-as12876/ https://badpackets.net/ongoing-large-scale-sip-attack-campai...

MapleWalnut 7y ago

The title is kind of clickbait. The article says this is near the catacombs, not in them, which makes sense since the catacombs are ossuaries. better title: "Scaleway's data centre in a bunker, 26 meters under Paris"

etiennemarcel 7y ago
In Paris the word "catacombs" is used in a larger sense than ossuaries. It also covers the huge network of old quarries, mostly on the left bank. They pretty popular with urban explorers ("cataphiles"). The data center is built in one of these quarries turned into a shelter.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]