Located 85 feet under the surface of the Earth in a decommissioned limestone mine, Bluebird Underground enjoys reduced cost and enhanced security. See it for yourself in this slideshow.

Mitch Wagner, Executive Editor, Light Reading

January 5, 2017

10 Slides

Bluebird Network, a Midwestern regional telco, dug down deep to locate its 30,000 square-foot data center. It located the facility 85 feet underground in a decommissioned limestone mine.

The underground location saves costs by providing natural climate control, and enhances security by making the equipment inaccessible from the surface.

Tod Murren, general manager of Bluebird Underground, talked with Light Reading about the advantages and challenges of building and operating a data center in a mine. Learn more here: Bluebird Digs Data Center 85 Feet Underground

And click the photo below for a slideshow that takes you inside the underground facility.

Figure 1: Getting Started Early stages of construction, 2003. Early stages of construction, 2003.

— Mitch Wagner, Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, Editor, Light Reading Enterprise Cloud

About the Author(s)

Mitch Wagner

Executive Editor, Light Reading

San Diego-based Mitch Wagner is many things. As well as being "our guy" on the West Coast (of the US, not Scotland, or anywhere else with indifferent meteorological conditions), he's a husband (to his wife), dissatisfied Democrat, American (so he could be President some day), nonobservant Jew, and science fiction fan. Not necessarily in that order.

He's also one half of a special duo, along with Minnie, who is the co-habitor of the West Coast Bureau and Light Reading's primary chewer of sticks, though she is not the only one on the team who regularly munches on bark.

Wagner, whose previous positions include Editor-in-Chief at Internet Evolution and Executive Editor at InformationWeek, will be responsible for tracking and reporting on developments in Silicon Valley and other US West Coast hotspots of communications technology innovation.

Beats: Software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), IP networking, and colored foods (such as 'green rice').

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