-1-
As you may recall from one of my previous posts, I went to Nuremberg to visit the IP-Exchange data center on Saturday, May 28. I started out at 6:30 in the morning, packed my Handelskontor Hamburg branded bag and went to the Altona train station by bike. It was a very nice morning and the sun had already warmed the air quite a bit.
Due to the early hour I had to get a ticket at the Fahrkartenautomat. As I had used the ticket vending machines serveral times before, it was a straight forward approach – despite of the fairly complex and at times irritatig GUI.
I got an unreserved place at a table. Throughout the journey I used the power outlet that was conveniently placed next to the table to finally recharge the battery of my Canon Ixus 40 for the first time since I had bought it. That took serveral hours however and so I was unable to go about some offline work by utilizing my currently battery-less and therefore current-dependent laptop device.
-2-
I spent the time reading through most of The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum, a book I had bought shortly before departure at the Chicago airport in fall of last year.
When I arrived in Nuremberg we had already reached an outside temperature of approx. 29° C. It was fairly hot. Since I had no idea how to get to the data center I approached the Bahn Service Point and asked for directions.
The IPX data center is located in Gewerbepark Nürnberg-Feucht, which is in the south-east part of Nuremberg. It turns out that the bus station on location (Am Tower) is only served from Monday to Friday. That meant I had to take U1 to Langwasser Mitte and then Bus 57 from there to Streubuck. You have to walk back through the forest to Gleiwitzer Str. and head to your left side towards the Autobahn. You will recognize the old tower, which is situated right next to the data center and presumably left from an American airbase. That’s also why the street, where the data center is located, is called Am Tower, I suppose.
-3-
The data center itsself is built inside a former aircraft hangar. We met with T., C., M. and J. from IPX in the NOC and opted for a tour through the entire data center. Unfortunately, it was strictly prohibited to take photos inside the data center, but it really was impressive. The center currently consists of two colocation facilities, which contain around 7.000 servers. Each month the data center produces more than 500 terra byte of traffic, which is equal to Strato and half that of 1&1, as M. said later on. All of us had the opportunity to see our own server. Of course the air conditioning worked quite hard that day to keep anything at the right temperature level. Air circulation was so high in one colo that the light bulbs hanging from the top moved from one side to the other in the air stream.
Than we initiated phase two of the meeting and went outside the data center to have a nice BBQ sponsored by IPX – including alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks of course.
Later M. took us on a private tour of the NOC and showed us what steps IPX took to monitor and fight incoming and outgoing DDoS attacks. He also told us a lot interesting things about his work and new features to come.
-4-
At around 8 p.m. I left together with W., who dropped me off at Fulda station around clock 10. Unfortunately, there was only a train to Hannover. I arrived 20 minutes late at 0:30 a.m. on Sunday. Because there was no direct connection from Hannover to Hamburg before 6:45 a.m. I took a Regional Express to Bremen, which had graciously been ordered to wait for our train. I was there at 2 a.m. and am currently waiting (3:45 a.m.) for the first train to Hamburg, that should leave here at 5:13 a.m. from platform 10. This solution is faster than actually waiting in Hannover.
During my lay-over I already had some coffee to cope with results of a 12 hour day without sleep and I took some photos of the station. Next to me in the waiting room most people sleep on the benches. Occassionally some people walk through the main hall. Also since about 2:50 a.m. service personell are working hard cleaning the staition utilizing some machines that make a lot of noise whenever they come by the waiting area. Also since 3:00 a.m. there are people at work behind the desks of two still closed bakery shops. Burger King and the Bahn service point behind me seem to be open 24/7.
I will now try to finish my book.
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