Inside Facebook’s astonishing data centre

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has published details and photos of their Luleå data centre, which is located in the forests of northern Sweden.

The Luleå data centre is a key part of Facebook’s global infrastructure, and it uses a variety of local natural resources to increase efficiency and save power.

It is around 110km south of the Arctic Circle, and Facebook said the temperature in the area is below 10 degrees Celsius most days.

“We use large fans to pull in the outside air to naturally cool the thousands of warm servers that line the centre’s broad hallways,” Zuckerberg explained.

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 centres.

Inside, the main building is the size of six (American) football fields, Zuckerberg said. Nearly all the technology in the facility, from the servers to the power distribution systems, is based on Facebook’s Open Compute Project designs.

“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,” said Zuckerberg.

The photos below, with descriptions, were posted by Zuckerberg as part of his “rare photos of the most advanced technology Facebook is building around the world”.

Data Centre Idea

The data centre 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.

Data Centre Exterior

The centre opened in 2013, and was Facebook’s first outside the US. Wherever possible, Facebook used the beautiful wood and art of the area to showcase local craftsmanship.

Building Exterior

The building’s exterior was made to “reflect the innovative designs inside”.

Massive Fans

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.

Inside The Data Centre

About 150 people work here, but the data centre’s halls are frequently empty. Because of the way it is designed, Facebook needs only one technician for every 25,000 servers.

Main Data Hall

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

Equipment

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.

Hard Drives Crunched

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.

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