Hey, the internet is a series of tubes after all!

[progressoid]

Photographed for google’s new website, 'where the internet lives', images capture a never before seen behind-the-scenes glimpse into their high-tech data centers. The pictures demonstrate the complexities involved in securing and hosting data for the world's largest search engine browser. Featured are google's eight data centers, including those in Belgium, Finland and the United States.

These colorful pipes are responsible for carrying water in and out of the Oregon data center.
The blue pipes supply cold water and the red pipes return the warm water back to be cooled.



Each server rack has four switches, connected by a different colored cable. These colors are kept the same
throughout the data center to know which one to replace in case of failure.



Hovering above the floor in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the scale of google's data center there begins to take shape.
Huge steel beams both support the structure and help distribute power.



Water storage tanks below the cooling towers ensure they have water available whenever needed.



Insulated pipes like these have a U-bend so they can expand and contract as the fluid temperature inside the pipe changes.



The system of pipes composes a water filtration unit underneath a cooling tower outside the data center in Lenoir, North Carolina.



Lots more cool photos at http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/gallery/#/tech

via http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/24303/where-the-internet-lives-behind-the-scenes-at-googles-data-centers.html

[Rambis]

1. I had no idea Al Gore's internet was so colourful

[Politicalboi]

2. I was driving behind a truck yesterday

That had big tubes on the back of it. I thought about the internet, and that crazy ass from Alaska Ted Stevens.

[progressoid]

3. You need big tubes to download movies!

[skinnertest]

4. These pictures are amazing.

I never imagined that the google data center would be filled with giant metal water pipes. It's like a steam punk data center.

[Hutzpa]

6. .

[Hutzpa]

5. I'm surprise they're allowing people to take photos of that place. nt

[progressoid]

7. It was likely well coodinated.

I've been in places like that. They don't just let you roam around. Since it was commissioned by Google, I'm sure there were two or three Google people with the photography crew most of the time.

[marble falls]

8. I think I know where the idea came from, coptrights, anyone?

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4513934105051391&pid=1.7&w=189&h=145&c=7&rs=1