725 S Wells - New Chicago Data Center Complete

The interior of our new data center at 725 S Wells is now complete. We have some external things to complete yet, chiller and generator turn-up/testing, UPS testing, finishing the redundant dark fiber links, etc. The plan is to be live June 1 and we will, of course, be getting the network equipment and offices setup before then. You can see some of the base details for the space, as well as how far we've come on this project, by looking at the initial in-depth report and pictures: https://www.steadfast.net/blog/new-data-center-construction-update-october-29

I have a couple notes as well. 1) This has been complete for about a week and a half now, hence the reason there have been no construction updates. 2) We could not take pictures in the UPS room or the mechanical room yet as the epoxy on the floors is still drying, we'll hopefully have those soon. 3) We do not yet have pictures of the roof, as metal work is still being done, making it a bit unsafe. Other than that, here are the pictures (click to see a larger version), and if you have any questions, certainly feel free to ask! This first picture is of the kitchen area of the break room, complete with microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, sink and cabinets.

Here is a view from the other side of the break area, you can see the kitchen area to the back left.

This is our new office space on the 8th floor. You can see the nice big windows, to let in a lot of natural light and in the back are the stairs up to the raised floor data center.

Then here is a view the other way, with the conference room door along the back wall and the door to the "man trap" to the right of that, with a window looking into the data center next to that.

Now, to the exciting stuff, the data center, though we'll start with the IDF room, where all the cross connects and connections to other floors/carriers will be, along with our core networking equipment.

OK, now here is the open data center floor, "man trap" and entry ramp are to the left. You can see the basket rack and busway mounted above. The cold aisle will of course be where the perforated tiles are, and in the hot aisles there are vents in the drop ceiling to pull the hot air back to the HVAC units.

Talking about HVAC units, here are the guts of one of the 4 70 ton HVAC units. To note, this cooling is also supplemented by an air side economizer to pull in cool outside air when possible, improving overall performance and efficiency.

Here is a view of the wall you can't see from the first picture. You can see one of the three PDU units that is feeding the busway and one of the humidification units. As you can see, the cabling/wiring is done through the floors, walls, and ceilings, to keep the data center itself extremely neat and clean.

Again, if you have any questions regarding the facility itself, availability, etc. please contact us!