title: Isn't it too late to build a data center?
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pub_date: 2019-10-09
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author: ungleich
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twitter_handle: ungleich
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_discoverable: yes
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abstract:
Is it or is it not too late to build a data center?
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body:

The very valid question,
[isn't it too late....to build a
data center?](https://twitter.com/Mac_S13/status/1181983378100424710)
was asked on Twitter and it made our team here in Glarus smile a lot,
and we decided to write a blog article about this question.

## Fiber = the advantage of a data center?

According to the tweet, the main strength of a data center is fast
network connection, or the fiber line that you have. And nowadays,
everyone has fast fiber, so it follows that data centers are maybe not
needed anymore.

## TL;DR

It is not that easy.

## How to run a data center in reality

Some time ago we wrote about
[How to run a really green
data center](https://ungleich.ch/de/cms/ungleich-blog/2019/07/12/how-run-really-green-datacenter/).
Admittedly, the question was not about running a **green** data
center, so let's dive a bit more into it.

Running a data center like we do at [Data Center
Light](https://datacenterlight.ch) does indeed require a fiber
connection. To be precise, actually a couple.

## How much fiber is enough fiber?

Don't tell anyone, but geeks are working at ungleich. And according to
geeks, there is never enough fiber. But for real, how much fiber is
needed? In our case, running a data center at 3 different locations,
requires a couple of dark fiber lines and a couple of redundant
upstream connections. Using the rule of thumb, let's say we need at
least 3 fiber connections:

* One for location A
* One for location B
* One to connect locations A and B

So are three fiber connections enough?

## What is actually in a data center?

Maybe the real question is, why would you run a data center at all?
Alright, for the geeks of us, "just because I can" is a reason, but
let's think about other cases as well. For instance we are running a
data center, because we our customers asked us to run one (easy, isn't
it?). So some years ago we started buying hardware like switches,
servers, SSDs, cables, transceivers, disks, network cards, access
points and even much, much more cables.

And why did we do that? Because we were asked to host virtual machines
and data for our existing customers. So if you want to run a data
center, you also need a bit of hardware.

And there comes one of the bigger problems: hardware also needs to be
turned on. And if it is on, it actually consumes energy and you do not
proper fuses. Not only the ones inside the data center, but also the
ones going into the building!

## So what do you need to run a data center?

So to run a data center, you need at least

* enough power (best to be 100% renewable here!)
* enough network capacity
* enough space

These are the three base ingredients for a data center. Then the only
thing that is left, like for every good menu, is a chef. And in case
of a data center, the chef is the team running it. The team that is
available all the time, that fixes the network, replaces the disks and
servers, etc.

## Too late or not too late? To be or not to be?

We would like to rephrase the question a bit, because we actually
think the notion of the question was more: **Does it make sense to
start a new data center TODAY?**
So what is the answer to this seemingly easy to answer question? Does
it make sense or not?
We want to answer with a crystal clear **yes-and-no** answer.

### Yes, build a new data center today

We encourage everyone to actually build their own data center. Get
some IPv6 space to your home, get a bit of equipment. Even get some
servers. Maybe even some ARM servers to save some energy for a change?

Build it, like it, maybe even fail at it. It is a great experience to
build your own. We strongly believe into decentralisation, so we
encourage distributing the Internet more to different places.

Put all the fun stuff on it. Put your development on it. Don't forget
to backup your stuff to somewhere else, though.

We even invite you to [join our chat](https://chat.ungleich.ch) to ask
about how to build a data center and we are more than happy to share
our experiences.

### No, don't build a new data center today

If you start fresh and you are not with an experienced team and you
want to offer services to other people, we dis-recommend building a
data center on your own. Taking the responsibility to run things even
when you are sick, even when you want to go to holidays, even if it is
3am is not very healthy if you are not a team that works well
together.

If you think that the world is already well off with Amazon and co.,
it is also not a good idea to build one yourself. You need to be able
to stay in the business even though you get questions like "But I can
put everything to Amazon - why does it need you?"


## Does fiber at home make data centers redundant?

And to answer the other implicit question asked: we think that fiber
at home actually enables the use of data centers better. So far if
your connection was slow, you had to have all your data
locally. With fiber at home, you can store your data anywhere (you
probably shouldn't, but that is a topic for a different post) and
access it quickly.


## More of it?

If you want to learn more about this topic,
you can always get in touch with us as follows:

* email: info at ungleich.ch
* open chat: [chat.ungleich.ch](https://chat.ungleich.ch)

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