Inside the data center ‘full-wall’ of Google

The search giant Google currently has 13 data centers located in North America, 1 in South America, 6 in Europe and 2 in Asia. Building them started in 2001 and have continually improved each year to look what they are today.

All of these data centers or data centers are placed under strict 24/7 guard with a 6-layer protective fence just like in the American blockbusters, just to challenge the super thieves. The infamous came out of movies like Now You See Me or Money Heist.

The security operations center (SOC) of Google is responsible for monitoring the data center (data center) remotely.

These fences include rigid defense systems such as fences equipped with optical fibers to detect someone climbing on, barrier preventing vehicles from rushing inside, optical cameras covering all nooks, inside and outside. day and night. Along with that is the security of walking and driving patrol 24/7.

The first layer of security, as is often seen in movies, is the access card. In Google’s data center, employees are also decentralized according to levels. For example, a level 2 employee card cannot enter a level 3 area.

This protective layer is placed right from the entrance and is placed anywhere there are doors. One note is that if the system detects that the door has been open for too long, it will issue an alarm. Therefore, all doors must be closed for the next opening within the allotted time. Of course, specific information is secure by Google to avoid being exploited by fraudsters.

The next layer of security is an operating security center (SOC) installed to monitor the entire operation of the data center remotely. The center was of course secretly placed in a random location.

The Operations Center is tasked with timely detecting and giving out unusual weather warnings and annual trouble-shooting drills to ensure everything is running smoothly. The center is open 24/7 and 365 days a year.

An engineer is checking the sewer line in the server area, the heart of the data center.

At some of the special protection layers, the staff not only has to scan the card but also has to scan the retina at the door to be allowed to go. In the deepest layer of protection that less than 1% of employees are allowed to enter, Google designed its own security chip called Titan that is capable of verifying device identities including hardware and hardware components. It also authenticates the identity of the person who exercises the root access. This is also where the engineers do the server maintenance.

In the final layer of protection that only a few people have access to, this is where Google destroys hard drives and devices for the rest of their life.

And even if it is already inside, escaping is not easy because the security doors scanning the metal equipment will not let a crook get out easily.

Finally, when every layer of protective barrier has been broken, Google keeps data safe by scattering it in various locations that cannot be grasped by the operators themselves. split, copy, and randomly name.

In addition, when there is a fire or sudden natural disaster, one Google data center will quickly transfer data to another center. At the same time, the backup generator also runs immediately to make sure electrical problems don’t happen.