Message posted by The Doctor (Member since 10/20/2022) on May 16, 2023 at 10:22:33 PST:
There should have been trenching for all of that stuff - optic fibre for the upstream links (into and out of the facility's network), possibly some copper depending on how long the runs are (but probably not given how much has moved over to optics for long-haul comms), definitely power lines for primary power. Also water (potable for personnel, theoretically nonpotable for water cooling of some infrastructure and fire suppression) and sewage (for personnel as well as drainage). For data centers, it's always buried for security reasons. Doesn't matter if it's a civilian DC run by a company in the private sector or a purpose built DC for a base or facility. The fiber bundles used for this sort of thing is what folks call "big bore," which is to say they start around 2 inches in diameter and go up from there. It's the sort of fiber big telecom providers run to go from CO to CO. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't run very well between poles because of how heavy it is. I've definitely never worked on any of it aboveground. It's also why the North American Fiber Seeking Backhoe gives us conniptions and the inspiration to create new forms of profanity. But that's a separate issue, as well as probably less of a risk for situations like this. Also, given the nature of the base and the kinds of things they're working on (TS at a minimum) they're going to want to protect those fiber runs from physical damage (somebody cutting them or the Fiber Seeking Backhoe) as well as minimizing the risk of someone tapping into them somehow (which is really, really hard to do but definitely possible). So, not only would they be buried but they'd probably be inside a conduit of some kind for additional protection. Which seems like they wouldn't have to do something like that but you'd be surprised. I've attached a link to a blog post by Bruce Schneier back in '09 about this happening in Tyson's Corner, Virginia that goes back to primary sources. I lived in the area when this happened, and it was a total clustercuss for a good 15 hours.
In Reply to: Re: New building south of the new dining hall at Area 51 posted by Joerg (Webmaster) on May 15, 2023 at 9:58:32 PST:
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