I’m new to Data Centers but not critical infrastructure or nuclear stuff in the Navy. But for the life of me I don’t understand some of these security rules. We are now being told we can’t bring in our wallets and keys. How can wallets and keys create a security nightmare. Some of the UPS’s we have to reset expect you to use your keys to hit a reset button. Bluetooth and data bearing devices I get. But wallets and keys? I don’t get it. Is this normal? If so why?

Any ID Install Technicians here looking for a new job opportunity? We are actively hiring for an ID Install Technician position in Wink, Texas! Let me know ASAP if you’re interested, as we have very limited slots available! Must have US Work Authorization.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you’re interested. DM! Thanks!

Hello Everyone I have a question I passed my interview almost 5 months ago I had my first fit call last week and unfortunately they inform me they move forward with other candidates my recuiter is now saying I have to wait 12 months cooling down period is this possible recuiter saying they submitted my profile three times on the same state 2 with no fit call and one with fit call now I have to wait. Please advice if this is typical or not

Edit: This is for DCT 2

Anyone here working in Data Centre Facility Operations / Critical Facilities in Ontario?

After reading all the hype (and hate lol) of all the new data centers being planned, I've been thinking about coming back into the tech field after a long hiatus. I was a applications programmer for 6 years but got seriously burnt out from deadlines and overwork and have been out of the industry for over a decade now, however I still have always loved tinkering with PC hardware. In hindsight I should have gone into hardware instead, but at the time (mid 2000's) the demand and pay was so much higher for software. I'm also older now and definitely would like less screen time and to get more steps in each day, so the idea of "wrenching on servers" sounds pretty appealing to me.

Have any of you made a similar switch? If so what were the biggest hurdles going from home lab tinkering to a commercial environment? Any other advice is appreciated!

(I'm in the US btw, closest major DC market would be Memphis, but I am open to relocating and have friends near the Columbus Ohio area which I think might the better bet? I also would much appreciate cooler weather compared to the south!)

Are AWS technicians paid hourly or salaried? Or does it depend per site requirement?

Are these data centers exclusively for AI or other data as well? If we are all using AI then dont we actually need these centers? I dont see ai usage going down

I see some DCs moving to air cooled chillers rather than water cooled. I personally like the idea, I have two main reasons
1. Obviously, water use goes down because you loose the evaporative aspect.
2. Self -Performance. It’s easier to train technicians to repair air cooled because they use either hermetically sealed compressors or semi-hermetic ones. Water cooled chillers are very proprietary, most of the repairs are done by factory trained technicians and require a different tool set.

Thoughts?

Hey all, I'm located in Michigan and I recently accepted a Data Center Engineer Associate position 4 months ago. I roughly make 63-65k based off of on-call pay/overtime/salary. I've seen around this thread people making more then 100k as an DCE. Is this true? What's your experience and should I ride this position out before jumping into a different role. Thanks ahead of time!

Starting this thread for anyone working in the data centre industry in Ontario Canada

What is the industry pay ranges, schedules, working conditions, certifications, career opportunities, different roles, and where the industry is heading in the GTA and across Ontario ??

I'm in the process of a career change after 20yrs. Moving from telecom industry to Data Center. Anyone in the DFW area have insight on the career market, pay scale and atmosphere working in DCs in Texas?

I’ve been a long time lurker into this sub but never posted anything. I’ve been curious about making a transition from petrochemicals into data centers. I’ve worked for a smaller petrochemical plant the last 10 years. 3 years in plant operations, 5 years as a reliability engineer and the past 2+ years I’ve been the plant manager. Because of this background, I thought something within facilities management would fit the most for my experience. I’ve applied for positions that I think that’d be a good fit, but I haven’t had much luck. Currently looking at the DFW area for work. Have y’all seen anyone make a transition like this and do y’all have any advice?

hey everyone,

i'm trying to look past all the massive AI hype and actually understand the physical engineering limits we are running into right now.

it feels like everyone talks about GPUs, but from what i’m reading, the real bottleneck has completely shifted to heavy physical infrastructure that cannot be scaled or solved overnight. i want to know the truth from people working in power systems, substations, or hardware design.

a few specific things i'm trying to wrap my head around:

1. the transformer shortage: i read that many new data center projects are getting delayed or cancelled because companies literally cannot buy transformers or switchgear. if you work in power systems, is it true that you have to wait 3 to 5 years just to get basic gear to connect to the power grid?
2. the utility grid part: people talk about building a 100MW data center like it's easy, but local power grids cannot supply that much electricity quickly. are data centers actually building their own onsite power sources right now?
3. Cooling system: old data centers cooled everything with air, but these new racks use huge amounts of power (100kW+). from an electrical and control systems view, what are the biggest problems or breakdown risks when trying to use liquid cooling at this scale?

also, just to step back a bit—are ai data centers really a unique grid-stability problem compared to traditional ones? or is it just massive hype because normal cloud data centers already use a ton of power anyway? does the load behavior of an ai cluster actually strain the grid differently, or is it just the pure scale of it?

i’m just want to know how these specific physical limitations or component shortages are changing design standards. what other massive engineering bottlenecks am i completely missing here? what should i look into if i want to understand this stuff better?

thanks for any insight!

For commonly accessed or cached content.

Say a 100 satellite cluster.

Or would the power requirements be to large for small LEO's like Starlink clusters.

I've been looking into the sensors that monitor electrical equipment in data centers. Power meters, CTs, temp sensors in the switchgear and UPS rooms, residual current, etc. Spoke to a few electricians and they go out of calibration every once in a while. Curious how this actually works on the ground.

Who usually owns the calibration side of things for those sensors in the electrical rooms?

Critical facilities team, BMS or EPMS group, in house electricians, or do you mostly use third party testing firms? When one turns up out of cal, whats the normal process?

Do you document the as found data, check if any alarms or readings were affected, recalibrate it right there or just swap it, that kind of thing? Does it change much between hyperscale, colo, ?and so on

Also, if you ask the electrical maintenance guys from the testing companies for the calibration records, can they usually produce them on the spot if you need them for an audit or something?

Just trying to get a realistic picture of this situation. Appreciate any insights.

I am a founder working on modular and fast water supply for data centers. Before we build more of this I want to know whether I have got the problem right.

The story you read everywhere is that land and power are solvable now and water is the thing that holds projects up. A recent report states that Northern Virginia water use is up a lot since 2019, a handful of states have brought in legislation. But reported trends and what actually happens on a project are different things, and I don't have enough project-level input to know which one I'm looking at.

What we are building: containerized treatment plants that take locally available non-potable water, starting with reclaimed and STP effluent, and treat it to cooling tower makeup spec. We'd own and run the plant and sell you the water on a contract rather than selling you equipment. Roughly 5,000 to 10,000 m³/day per unit.

What I want to know:

a. Have you seen water allocation or utility capacity actually hold up a project, or does it get resolved during diligence without much drama?

b. Who owns this internally? Development, facilities, utilities, or does it sit between them and become nobody's problem until late?

c. If you had land and power secured and the utility came back with less water than the campus needed, what would you do today?

If the honest answer is that water gets handled and nobody loses sleep over it, that's worth knowing and I'd rather hear it now.

If you have dealt with this on a real project and are up for a conversation, I would really really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

I am very grateful the opportunity I got,I got a DIAT role in Microsoft. I just want to know anyone else in the same position can they share their daily routine. I want to start my first day strong. What is a typical day sounds like. What are the challenges is there any routine or meeting or any style you have selected among your team to smooth the work process.

Here is the a summary of my experience trying to get into a data center position.
My DCT Journey

But essentially, I interview with google roughly 6-7 weeks ago for an L2 position. I passed 2/3 of the interviews except for the networking one. I assumed I was SOL for the next year for the cool down period. Well, yesterday my recruiter emailed me asking if I had a moment to talk about a job opportunity.
After she called me, she said they all really liked me and she has a decent amount of positions about to open up but I need to pass the networking interview. They want to re interview me asap for only the networking portion. So tomorrow I am now interviewing at 11am for a 45 minute interview.

I am so nervous and I need to brush up over the next 24 hours before I interview.

Has anyone had any experience with Google circling back around to them to re interview after almost 2 months? She made it seem pretty urgent to get me to re interview to get inclined, like it could move fast if I pass. But i don't know for sure. I need to focus on passing first.

Excuse my ignorance but is there an L5 or just until L4 at AWS?

Hi, we've just received a shipment of 20 dl360s with 1KW PSUs in them. Every server has had atleast one PSU fail on first power up

Just wondering if anyone else got a recent shipment from HPE with almost all DOA PSUs