©Mark
Ollig
If you have ever taken the Sixth Street entrance ramp
to Interstate 94 from downtown Minneapolis, you may have driven by a building
resembling an above-ground bunker.
This building, directly east of the US Bank Stadium, is
called the 511 Building, and is a data network colocation center.
The 511 Building, officially called Minnesota
Technology Center, is a Midwest regional data center hub constructed in 1982,
and renovated in 2003.
This columnist is familiar with the 511 Building. I
worked there for a telecommunications provider 14 years ago.
It is known as Minnesota’s premier Telecom Hotel
because of the many telephone and internet providers having their network
equipment facilities located there.
Minnesota Technology Center is a major data hub
currently being used by 70 communication carriers.
These carriers (or tenants) include telephone
companies, ISP (Internet Service Providers), ASP (Application Service
Providers), web hosting providers, business cloud networks, and others.
Typical communications carrier’s fiber-optic cables
originate from outside the building and terminate inside the building to the
room housing their networking transport equipment.
Network transport facilities use signaling, such as
Digital Signal 3 (DS3) T-carrier over synchronous optical networking (SONET)
protocols to send and receive data with optical carrier transport “backbones”
located throughout the state and the country.
Admittance to this protected facility is controlled
through a card-access entry.
The building has 24/7 video monitoring cameras inside
and out and is staffed 24/7/365 by on-site security personnel.
The colocation rooms are 10,000 square feet, with a
36-inch raised floor, high ceilings, and no windows; although I recall some
rooms along outer walls with windows.
The 511 Building provides up to 300,000 square feet to
support tenants switching facilities, fiber-optic network systems, and
optical-cabled network interconnections.
The building includes redundant backup data network
connectivity, and an advanced climate-controlled environment.
The 511 data networking center has emergency
air-conditioning units, dual electrical utility feeds, and multiple backup
power generators.
This building contains redundant power systems,
including a 2-megawatt generator, power transfer switch, and UPS
(Uninterruptible Power Supply) system.
If any one component in the network or electrical
system fails, a redundant system designed to carry the full load immediately
takes over.
Should the primary HVAC (heating ventilation air
conditioning) system fail, a secondary system designed to handle full-capacity
cooling and heating requirements in the data center is on standby.
They also provide 24/7 HVAC chilled water for computer
networking components to prevent over-heating.
May 8, 2017, a Minneapolis Star Tribune article stated
the city of Minneapolis rented space in “a downtown building” for use as a
command center during Super Bowl LII (52).
Many believe the 511 Building (directly across the
street from the US Bank Stadium), was the command center’s location.
My time working at the 511 Building left a lasting
impression on me; especially with the sophisticated technology housed there. I
learned a great deal, installing and maintaining telecommunication and internet
services.
The website for the 511 Building is
http://new.511building.com.
There is a push to build data centers underground; one
example is the Bluebird Underground Data Center, located 85 feet below the
ground in Springfield, MO.
The data center complex is located inside an area
carved out of and surrounded by limestone rock.
“Missouri offers an ideal location for an underground
data center. The Bluebird Underground facility is housed in a cave carved out
of natural limestone, which provides a safe and secure environment,” reads a
statement on their website.
A photo on their website shows a communication
provider’s bay of equipment inside a secured room. Outside of this room, I noted
the hallway wall of limestone rock.
“Bluebird Underground Data Center Video Tour” is a
video uploaded by Bluebird Network. It shows several details (with lots of
limestone) of their underground facility at https://bit.ly/2S0f84f.
Here is its website: https://bluebirdnetwork.com.
Not only do we have above- and below-ground data
centers, there are also underwater data centers being tested by Microsoft and
Google.
I’ve also learned about what are called “mini-data
center” satellites, orbiting the Earth.
So, the next time you take the Sixth Street entrance
ramp to Interstate 94 from downtown Minneapolis, look for the building
resembling an above-ground bunker.
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| Colocation wiring between cabinet frames inside 511 Building |
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| Carrier communication/data cabinets inside the 511 Building |
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| Bluebird Data Center (underground) |
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| (Service provider cabinets -note the limestone wall) |