Google offers virtual tour of its secretive data centres

Google is opening a virtual window into the secretive data centers that serve as its nerve center. The closely guarded facilities house an intricate maze of computers that process Internet search requests, show YouTube video clips and distribute email for millions of people.

The unprecedented peek is being provided through a new website unveiled Wednesday at this link. The site features photos from inside some of the eight data centers that Google Inc. already has running in the US, Finland and Belgium. Google is also building data centers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Chile.

[caption id="attachment_493984" align="alignleft" width="380"] One of the images from the site: Google Data[/caption]

The hundreds of photos provide a fascinating look in to the inner workings of what, for many of us, constitutes the Internet itself. Eerie blue lighting, colourful wires and shadowy figures are displayed in thumbnail format, and users can click on the images for a closer, more detailed look and caption.

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The pictures are divided in to three categories titled "The Tech", "The People" and "The places".

Virtual tours of a North Carolina data center also will be available through Google's "Street View" service, which is usually used to view photos of neighborhoods around the world.

AP