Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Data Center Inside a Mountain






A former mine built into the side of a dolomite mountain in the Ozarks houses backup data for thousands of financial institutions. In fact, Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY), which provides IT automation and processes ATM and debit card transactions for 8,700 banks and credit unions, is housing its backup data center in The Mountain Complex, a mission-critical facility located just outside Branson, Missouri, situated more than 100 feet above the top of the Table Rock Dam.

The Mountain Complex is a 3 million square foot storage center complex, with about 300,000 square feet of space under development as mission-critical data center space.
The Mountain Complex has offered co-location and off-site data storage for about a year through an alliance with CenturyTel. The facility is above ground and built in the side of a mountain, allowing for a constant 65 degrees temperature without some of the challenges associated with underground facilities. The site has 34-foot ceilings, and doesn’t allow trucks or trains inside to protect air quality, according to the company web site.

The Mountain Complex joins a growing list of underground data center facilities seeking to attract disaster recovery business. The facility owners say the site is “nearly impervious” to catastrophes like tornados which blow over the site or flood-waters which cannot reach it. In other words, you will safe over there in a case of a Zombie Apocalypse!


ozarks data center in a mountain