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by protocolture 115 days ago
Equinix in Sydney plonked 2 datacenters right on top of each other, and still insists that they are useful as redundant sites.

There was a locally very funny situation for a while when a tech influencer was insisting both equinix sites could be shut down by a single building collapse. He was wrong, but he wasn't so wrong that people shouldn't make better infrastructure decisions.
2 comments
bigfatkitten 114 days ago
The two in Alexandria are of course just down the road from the airport. A widebody jet cratering in that location will put them both out of business.
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protocolture 114 days ago
None of the runways point towards them, its hard to imagine that scenario.
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bigfatkitten 113 days ago
34R does. The immediate right turn in the 34R ILS and RNP missed approach procedures takes you pretty much directly overhead Equinix.

Aircraft routinely overfly the location either on departure from 34R or approach for 16L.

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jiggawatts 114 days ago
They're also below sea level.
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protocolture 114 days ago
Theres an Energex office building in Brisbane that has a backup generator below sea level. (Guess when they need to use the generator lmao.)
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jamesfinlayson 113 days ago
If it's a once in 25 year flood then it won't be a problem for the person who made that decision!
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hi_hi 114 days ago
I'm intrigued...how was he wrong?
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protocolture 114 days ago
The building in question wasnt really tall enough. And would have to be precision demolished to collapse in the way he was afraid of.

It would still cause chaos and possible power issues.

Needs to be taken in context with some Sydney buildings having maintenance defects a few years after they open. Largely due to inferior materials imported from china. The building in question developed some cracks in supporting beams and was briefly evacuated. There was never a chance it was going to topple on its own in a way that impacted more than 1/2 datacenters, so he pivoted to possible terrorism, but even thats largely nonsensical.

I just went hunting for the case and couldnt find it. The gentleman in question had published the claim to his business that was it happens trying to build contacts with defense and intelligence agencies for third party threat assessment. As far as I can tell the business no longer exists and he has deleted their footprint.

But he also posted the claim on public mailing lists so I can probably trawl it up if necessary.

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