I spent Wednesday evening and most of Thursday in Zürich.

On Wednesday I had dinner with some business partners; “business as usual”.

But on Thursday, after my business presentation to potential customers, I had the very rare and exclusive opportunity to visit one of the main data centers in Switzerland. Here are some impressive facts about them:

  • they host 1/3 of Swiss banks data
  • internet traffic = 40% of Switzerland’s internet traffic
  • energy bill = 2 million Swiss Franks per annum
  • 2 different energy suppliers from 2 different access points, with preferential oil supply in case of a failure (full reserves for 5 days for the generators)
  • almost 50 telecoms suppliers, from many different countries, providing direct access for their customers worldwide
  • RFIDs paired with 3D fingerprint scanners which measure the fingerprint but also the morphology, pulse and temperature
  • separate isolated room to open packages, to minimize the risk of fire
  • single person magnetic doors
  • temperature, movement, and sound sensors
  • double-gated entrance even to the parking lot!
  • building-within-building construction to avoid physical damage from a truck, explosives, missiles…
  • near the airport for easy access, but out of any flight path to minimize the risk of airline accident

Even most Hollywood movies don’t portray these high-security technology facilities accurately!