Facebook's largest Data Center you never seen
Facebook requires massive storage infrastructure to house its enormous stockpile of photos, which grows steadily as users add hundreds of millions of new photos every day, and as it expands its platform capabilities to support video and, more recently, 360-degree video. In addition, the company’s infrastructure must support platform services for more than 1 million web sites and hundreds of thousands of applications using the Facebook Connect platform.
It takes a big network to support a global audience. Here's a look at the network equipment area of the Lulea facility, which is Facebook's first data center outside the United States. About 70 percent of Facebook's users are outside the U.S. and Canada.
Here's one of the data halls in Lulea, with rows of server racks on either side of a central corridor. Cool air from the facility's upper-level "penthouse" cooling system enters the room above this center aisle, and is diffused by the screens seen near the top of the photo, which help the air spread to the end of the rows.
Servers.Lots of servers. Here's a look at the racks inside the Lulea facility, with network switches at the top of the rack, servers filling the bulk of the rack, and storage at the bottom.
Blue lights are important in helping the servers look cool, as well as feeling cool. In the row at right, UPS units occupy the space between the "triplet" racks.
The upper level of Facebook's data center serves as a huge cooling system, with fresh air entering the building through louvers and then passing through a series of chambers that filter and cool the air, which then enters the server area on the lower floor. This fan wall helps maintain pressure to guide the air through filters.
What happens to the warm air that comes out of the back of Facebook's servers? It rises into a plenum above the data hall, and then into this chamber at the end of the "penthouse" level, where it will typically be vented to the outside through the row of fans at left. On cold days, the exhaust heat can be recirculated and mixed with outside air to adjust its temperature before entering the data hall.
Facebook's data centers are known for their artwork, especially panoramic murals that make office environments feel more vibrant. Here's a look at some of the support space in the Lulea facility.
The artwork inside Facebook's data centers typically reflects an aspect of the local community. This relaxation space in the facility in Sweden evokes the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights. Lulea is located not far below the Arctic Circle.
Perhaps the best vantage point for grasping the size of a Facebook data center is the roof, where the full expanse of the facility unfolds before you. Yes, that's a big roof.
For more on the new data center, check out our coverage: Facebook Goes Global and Gets Greener. For additional coverage of the company's infrastructure, see our Facebook Channel.