2020-01-04 14:51:15 +00:00
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title: Data Center Light
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---
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subtitle: A clean and sustainable data center
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---
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2020-02-02 13:37:37 +00:00
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image: /u/image/cards/datacenterlight.jpg
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---
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2020-01-04 14:51:15 +00:00
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content:
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## Introduction
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The [Data Center Light](https://datacenterlight.ch) is our radical
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different answer to challenges of the climate change and
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centralisation.
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It is located in Linthal and is part of the [Digital
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Glarus](/u/projects/digital-glarus) projects.
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## How Data Center Light came into existence
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Originally ungleich used to be a Linux/Unix/network consultancy
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company. Over the years, more and more customers asking us whether we
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provide a space to store their data and to run their applications.
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Until the end of 2014 we politely declined and referred our customers
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to other data centers or hosting providers.
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In 2015 however, we began to re-evaluate whether it is actually
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feasible to build a data center in Glarus.
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## The three components of a data center
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If you consider to run a data center, there are three important
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factors:
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* space - where to put your servers?
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* power - how to power your equipment?
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* connectivity: how to be reachable from the Internet?
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Our approach from the beginning was to avoid building new buildings,
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because there are many empty buildings from the spinning and weaving
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time here in Glarus.
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After looking around a bit, we found a nice old house, the [Digital
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Chalet](/u/projects/digital-chalet), which we started to modernise
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immediately and prepare it for a data center prototype.!
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The local power company, [TBGS](https://www.tbgs.ch/), a now long time
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partner, offered us to help to get proper power connections into the
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Digital Chalet.
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And as luck turned out, TBGS was also able to provide us with a direct
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fiber line. Later we learned that this was actually not so much of an
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"accident", but something we could have seen coming:
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The valley of Glarus was historically hosting spinning and weaving
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companies, most of which used to have their own power plant. The power
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plants are usually hydro power plants, supported by the river
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[Linth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linth). Nowadays, there are also
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some solar polar plants.
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Even after the spinning and weaving companies closed, the hydro prower
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continue to run. As a grid provider, you need to measure the
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production capacity to compensate the producers correctly. TBGS did a
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smart move many, many years ago: instead of reading the data via a
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slow copper line, they were smart and added fiber lines directly to
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the power plants.
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And this is the reason why we were easily able to also be connected to
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the fiber backbone.
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## The growth of Data Center Light
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After our initial prototype in the Digital Chalet proved to be
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working, we expanded to a bigger area in Linthal, the
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[Linthpark](https://www.linthpark.ch/). This area hosts the historic
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building of the **Spinnerei Linthal**, which are also modernised and
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now provide us with space for running the Data Center Light.
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## Why is named Data Center Light?
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The "light" refers to avoiding resource heavy and unsustainable
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components. We employ the following mechanisms to avoid wasting
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resources:
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* We only consume 100% renewable energy
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* We don't rebuild, but use existing buildings
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* We use modern, but used hardware where possible (not for disks/ssds
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though)
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* We don't cool our servers
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## How does a data center work without cooling?
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Instead of using high density racks and putting them next to each
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other, we use the available space of the old factory
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buildings. Instead of hosting 40 servers on one square meter, we host
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one server on 4 square meters. We can do this, because factory halls
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tend to be huge. And in Glarus, they are also available.
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## Products based on Data Center Light
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In the Data Center Light we offer
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* [Virtual Machine Hosting](/u/products/virtual-machine-hosting)
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* [IPv6 only Virtual Machine Hosting](/u/products/ipv6-only-hosting)
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* [Data Storage](/u/products/data-storage/)
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2020-03-19 11:32:05 +00:00
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* [Colocation](/u/products/colocation/)
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2020-01-04 14:51:59 +00:00
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Our objective is to enable people world wide and locally. From easier
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working to giving safety to being able to store your data sustainable.
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