Chapter 1: First steps, baby steps

7. The safe comfort of a cold, noisy, dusty datacenter

Ah, the glamorous world of datacenters in 1997—a chilly, dusty symphony of servers and cables where the attire of the day includes a blanket and a scarf, and the soundtrack is a never-ending hum of coolers. Let me take you on a journey through these tech wonderlands where the air is crisp, the servers are loud, and the fashion choices are as unconventional as the architecture.

First things first, let’s talk about the temperature. Walking into a datacenter is like stepping into a freezer. It’s a bone-chilling 19°C, and suddenly you find yourself envious of penguins for their natural insulation. So, my ingenious solution? Always keep a blanket and a scarf in the car—a mobile cocoon for those unexpected deep freezes. You never know when you might have to endure an extended stay in this cryogenic paradise.

And then there’s the dust. Oh, the dust! Even the newest, shiniest datacenters are not immune to the omnipresent cloud of particles. It’s like a perpetual dust storm, and you learn quickly to embrace the casual attire—jeans and a T-shirt become your datacenter uniform. Why? Well, the dust settles everywhere, and there’s no point ruining a perfectly good suit when you’re wading through the digital desert.

Now, let’s delve into the technical marvels that populate these hallowed halls. Servers, the unsung heroes of the digital age, stand like sentinels, humming with the promise of computing power. Picture this: rows upon rows of rack-mounted servers, standing tall and proud, their lights blinking like a dazzling city skyline. Each server, a digital superhero ready to crunch numbers and process data at the speed of thought.

Cabling, the unsung spaghetti of the tech world, weaves a mesmerizing tapestry across the datacenter floor. Color-coded and meticulously organized, these cables form a complex network that rivals the neural pathways of the human brain. It’s a dance of copper and plastic, a ballet of connectivity that ensures seamless communication between servers, storage, and the outside world.

Storage, the silent powerhouse, lurks in the shadows, quietly holding the digital secrets of the universe. Massive magnetic disk arrays, like ancient tomes on library shelves, store megabytes of data, waiting to be summoned at a moment’s notice. It’s the grand repository of information, the silent guardian of the digital realm.

Cooling, the unsung hero of server survival, whirs and hums in the background. Giant air conditioning units battle the relentless heat generated by the army of servers, ensuring they don’t break a sweat—or worse, overheat. It’s a delicate dance of thermodynamics, a ballet of cool air and warm exhaust that keeps the servers humming along happily.

Power supply, the lifeblood of the datacenter, flows through the veins of every server and storage unit. Redundant power feeds, backup generators, and uninterruptible power supplies form a safety net, ensuring that the digital heartbeat remains steady even in the face of electrical hiccups. It’s a power play of epic proportions, where uptime is the ultimate goal.

Amidst the cold, the dust, the noise, and the technical symphony, you find yourself yearning for moments of solitude. The continuous hum of servers becomes a lullaby, and after a few hours, you crave the sweet sound of silence. A paradox, perhaps, in a place designed for constant activity, but even the most dedicated datacenter denizens need a break from the cacophony.

So, there you have it—the quirky, funny, and utterly fascinating world of datacenters in 1997. A realm where temperatures are frigid, dust and noise constant companions, and servers are the unsung heroes of the digital age. Welcome to the heart of technology, where the cool air, the whirring servers, and the colorful cables create a symphony of data that shapes the digital landscape.

It’s 1997 and you start working regularly, within your job for a major american telco, in datacenters. Your first impression is the cold – and in fact you learn to keep a blanket and a scarf in the car all the time just in case you need to spend a considerable amount of time at 19°C. Also, even the newest sites are super dusty, so you adapt your attire to casual and keep a change in the car, just in case. Then there is the noise – you notice it in the first minutes and it’s almost comforting. Yet after 3-4 hours you realize you get tired of the continuous noise of the servers’ coolers and need some empty sound of silence. Re-write and describe how datacenters are built in 1997, using lots of technical examples for servers. storage, cabling, cooling and power supply. use a witty, funny, quirky tone.