Episode 8, layer 8: Data halls
Data halls
The fence. The power. The cooling. The fire systems. The fiber. Every layer we've walked through leads to these rooms. So what actually happens in here?
TPC is a fictional campus, rendered in Unreal Engine 5. Some 3D assets are made with the help of AI tools, and the narration uses an AI clone of Rick's own voice.
Layer 8 of 8: Data halls
In this episode
Rows of racks with cold and hot aisles, and TPC's two kinds of hall: a raised-floor hall and a solid-floor hall with hot-aisle chimneys. What sits inside a rack, and why empty spaces get blanking panels. The two power strips at the back of a rack, fed from separate A and B paths, and fiber links organized into A and B paths overhead. The room it takes to work safely, and who gets in. This is the last layer of the first pass, from the fence to the rack.
Three things to take away
- Racks breathe in cool air at the front and push warm air out the back.
- Blanking panels block a shortcut for warm air back to the front of the rack.
- Many servers have two power supplies, one on each of two separate power paths, so work on one path doesn't have to switch them off.
Who works here
- Remote hands techniciansThey act as the customer's hands on site: installing and removing equipment, running and checking cables, swapping failed parts and inspecting what the customer can't see from far away.
- IT techniciansThey look after the servers, storage and other equipment in the racks, and fix faults when something goes wrong.
- Network techniciansThey connect, configure and look after the equipment that moves the data.
- ElectriciansThey install and maintain the electrical supplies and lighting that every camera, reader and gate motor depends on, and much more as the series moves inside.
The Careers Guide shows how people get into each job.
Sources
Each source is listed with the claim it supports.
Blanking plates in open rack spaces stop hot exhaust air recirculating to the front of the cabinet.
Six effective airflow management measures in data center cabinets, Legrand
Blanking panels and other airflow management are listed best practices for data centre energy efficiency.
Best Practice Guidelines for the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency, European Commission JRC, 2024
Planning of cabling installations, including pathways and separation.
EN 50174-2, Information technology, cabling installation: installation planning and practices inside buildings, CENELEC, 2018
Remote hands are on-site staff who do hands-on tasks for a customer who isn't there, such as mounting equipment, cabling, inspections and replacing components.
What are remote hands in a data center?, LCL Data Centers