A Peek Inside Facebook’s Data Center in Sweden

Recently Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared rare images of Facebook’s giant data center located in Sweden. To introduce, Luleå Data Center is just 70 miles south from the Arctic Circle and is unique in many perspectives. The huge data center is known for employing only 150 employees who travel around with the help of scooters! In his Facebook post on Luleå Data Center, Zuckerberg shared some facts which are interesting for modern day data center specialists to look at.

Shared on September 28, 2016 the Facebook post updated by Mark and shared by official page of Luleå Data Center stated — Over the next few months, I’m going to start posting some rare photos of the most advanced technology Facebook is building around the world.

We’re starting deep in the forests of northern Sweden with the Luleå data center. It’s a key part of our global infrastructure, and it uses a variety of local natural resources to increase efficiency and save power.

The small town of Luleå is less than 70 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and it’s typically pretty cold. The temperature in the area is below 50 degrees most days, so we use large fans to pull in the outside air to naturally cool the thousands of warm servers that line the center’s broad hallways. A dozen hydro-electric plants operate on nearby rivers, providing a reliable and renewable power source. The whole system is 10% more efficient and uses almost 40% less power than traditional data centers.

Inside, the main building is the size of six football fields. Nearly all the technology in the facility, from the servers to the power distribution systems, is based on Open Compute Project designs as well.

You probably don’t think about Luleå when you share with friends on Facebook, but it’s an example of the incredibly complex technology infrastructure that keeps the world connected. I’m looking forward to sharing photos of more of our advanced technology soon.

It is interesting to note here that Luleå Data Center happens to be the first non-US data center in Sweden apart from being the first ever by the company in European soil. It is also hailed as one of the greenest data centers in the world. The update by Facebook’s CEO indicates that we are going to have more insights into the company’s technology centers and projects.

At present you can enjoy seeing these pictures originally shared by Mark Zuckerberg which includes details about the data center as well as quotes by some people working over there:

‘Luleå Data Center, Sweden’- One of the Greenest Data Centers in the World

These enormous fans draw in the outside air to cool the tens of thousands of servers in the data hall. In the winter, when temperatures plunge to -30 degrees the situation is reversed, and the heat from the servers warm the massive buildings.

The building’s exterior reflects the innovative designs inside.

The center opened in 2013, and was our first outside the US. Wherever possible, we used the beautiful wood and art of the area to showcase local craftsmanship.

Old and obsolete hard drives are crunched, forever protecting privacy. Christer Jonsson is in charge of this important task. “I must be very careful,” he says.

The equipment is reduced to its basics so it runs cooler. It can also be easily accessed and repaired quickly. A few years ago, it took an hour to repair a server hard drive. At Luleå, that’s down to two minutes.

The main data hall is so big that engineers move around on scooters.

About 150 people work here, but the data halls are frequently empty. Because of the simplified design, we need only one technician for every 25,000 servers.

The data center is huge, but the idea that launched it began on the back of this paper napkin. Late one night, while traveling, engineer Jay Park sketched his vision for a system that streamlined the way power moves from the local utility grid to our servers.

“It is important for people to know that nothing leaves the site and their data is safe. The old drives are destroyed.” — Christer Jonsson, Server Technician

“There’s a beauty in all of this. It’s like a massive and very well-orchestrated machine, where everything works in concert and allows people across the planet to communicate and share in an incredibly efficient way.” — Joel Kjellgren, Luleå Site Manage

“The biggest challenge working here? Getting to the data center by car when it is -30 degrees C outside!” — Emilie De Clercq, Data Center Technician

“Look at these racks, the network devices, the cabling. Everything is like reference model!” — Max Zavyalov, Network Engineer in Edge & Network Services team

“There is no more efficient data center in the world.” — Jay Park, VP of Data Center Design and Construction

“Working here is to be trusted with great responsibilities since this is a really important center for all our users. I like the challenge to not only do my best, but also to always find better and more safe solutions for us.” — Joakim Karlson, Mechanical Systems Specialist

“It’s a very important job, and I am very proud to be trusted with that responsibility.” — Linnéa Svallfors, Security Officer

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