Earlier today, Google released a massive gallery of pictures of their Data Centers around the world. In an effort for greater transparency, Google also published a guided tour on YouTube and even a Street View tour of their data center in Lenoir, North Carolina.

With 13 data centers around the world (7 in the Americas, 3 in Asia and 3 in Europe) running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s fascinating to see how the world’s biggest Internet company is powered.

For all pictures, video and information, be sure to visit the official Google Data Centers site at: http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/

 

 

 

“These colorful pipes send and receive water for cooling our facility. Also pictured is a G-Bike, the vehicle of choice for team members to get around outside our data centers.”

 

 

 

“Blue LEDs on this row of servers tell us everything is running smoothly. We use LEDs because they are energy-efficient, long-lasting and bright.”

 

 

 

“Our Council Bluffs data center provides over 115,000 square feet of space. We make the best out of every inch, so you can use services like Search and YouTube in the most efficient way possible.”

 

 

 

“In case anything should happen to our data, we have it all backed up. One of the places we back up information is here in our tape library. Robotic arms (visible at the end of the aisle) assist us in loading and unloading tapes when we need to access them.”

 

 

 

“Inside our campus network room, routers and switches allow our data centers to talk to each other. The fiber optic networks connecting our sites can run at speeds that are more than 200,000 times faster than a typical home Internet connection. The fiber cables run along the yellow cable trays near the ceiling.”

 

 

 

“A rare look behind the server aisle. Here hundreds of fans funnel hot air from the server racks into a cooling unit to be recirculated. The green lights are the server status LEDs reflecting from the front of our servers.”

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

“Hamina is one of three data centers we maintain in Europe. Previously it was the home of the Stora Enso paper mill.”

 

 

 

“As part of our commitment to keeping our users’ data safe, we destroy all failed drives, on site.”

 

 

 

“Thousands of feet of pipe line the inside of our data centers. We paint them bright colors not only because it’s fun, but also to designate which one is which. The bright pink pipe in this photo transfers water from the row of chillers (the green units on the left) to an outside cooling tower.”

 

 

 

“Each of our server racks has four switches, connected by a different colored cable. We keep these colors the same throughout our data center so we know which one to replace in case of failure.”

 

 

 

“In an unoccupied area, motion-sensors automatically switch off the main lighting to save power. The result is the dazzling glow of the world’s data filtered through multicolored LEDs. It’s like holiday lights year-round.”

 

 

 

“Our servers are some of the most efficient in the world. One of the ways we’ve innovated to make them better is by putting a DC power source (battery) right on the server rack.”

 

 

 

“Our pipes aren’t the only colorful things at our data centers. These cables are organized by their specific hue. On the floor, this can make things less technical: ‘Hand me a blue one.'”

 

 

 

“These ethernet switches connect our facilities network. Thanks to them, we are able to communicate with and monitor our main controls for the cooling system in our data center.”

 

 

 

“Server floors like these require massive space and efficient power to run the full family of Google products for the world. Here in Hamina, Finland, we chose to renovate an old paper mill to take advantage of the building’s infrastructure as well as its proximity to the Gulf of Finland’s cooling waters.”

 

 

 

“Plastic curtains hang in a network room inside our Council Bluffs data center. Here we serve up cold air through the floor, and the clear plastic barriers help keep the cold air in while keeping hot air out.”

 

 

 

“Denise Harwood diagnoses an overheated CPU. For more than a decade, we have built some of the world’s most efficient servers.”

 

 

 

“Dusk settles around our data center in Douglas County, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.”

 

 

 

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