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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 an
by 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 agoThe bunker was already dug though? That seems at least to make the cost a bit less absurd.
- LinuxBender 7y agoAbsolutely. 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 agoThe 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 agoWouldn't it make more sense to replace the servers by food, and make the bunkers habitable?
- LinuxBender 7y agoIf 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 agoDon't forget power...
- LinuxBender 7y agoFor sure. All the military bunkers I have been in had numerous massive generators and hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel.
- thbb 7y agoThe fact there's not much else to do in this place, the land purchase must have been dirt-cheap compared to ground-level installations in downtown Paris. So, if they needed to be close to decision centers, that's a very good choice.