Technical Google servers How it Works

The Tech

When you're on a Google website , you're accessing one of the most powerful server networks in
the known Universe. But what does that actually look like? Here's your chance to see inside what
we're calling the physical Internet.





Inside our campus network room, routers and switches allow our data centers to talk to each other.
The fiber optic networks connecting our sites can run at speeds that are more than 200,000 times faster
than a typical home Internet connection. The fiber cables run along the yellow cable trays near the ceiling.





Our Council Bluffs data center provides over 115,000 square feet of space. We make the best out of
every inch, so you can use services like Search and YouTube in the most efficient way possible.





Hovering above the floor in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the scale of our data center there begins to take shape.
Huge steel beams both support the structure and help distribute power.






Plastic curtains hang in a network room inside our Council Bluffs data center. Here we serve up
cold air through the floor, and the clear plastic barriers help keep the cold air in while keeping hot air out.








These colorful pipes are responsible for carrying water in and out of our Oregon data center.
The blue pipes supply cold water and the red pipes return the warm water back to be cooled.








Our pipes aren't the only colorful things at our data centers. These cables are organized by
their specific hue. On the floor, this can make things less technical: 'Hand me a blue one'








As part of our commitment to keeping our users' data safe, we destroy all failed drives, on site.






Insulated pipes like these have a U-bend (called this due to their shape) so they can expand and
contract as the fluid temperature inside the pipe changes.






Thousands of feet of pipe line the inside of our data centers. We paint them bright colors not only because
it's fun, but also to designate which one is which. The bright pink pipe in this photo transfers water from
the row of chillers (the green units on the left) to a outside cooling tower.