Gallery of Network Operations Centers
A Network Operations Center rests at the heart of every telecom network or major data center, a place to keep an eye on everything.
Some of these NOCs are really “dressed to impress”, while others have taken a more mundane approach.
So, for inspiration, here is a set of pictures of different NOCs from telecom companies and data centers (and one content delivery network) that we here at Pingdom have collected from around the internet.
Dressed to impress
These NOCs are obviously designed to impress visitors on top of being useful. We don’t even dare to think what it cost to build some of these (especially the one from AT&T).
AT&T’s Global NOC in Bedminster, New Jersey
Reliance Communications’ NOC in India
Lucent’s Network Reliability Center in Aurora, Colorado (1998-99)
Conexim’s NOC in Australia
Akamai’s NOC in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Slightly more discreet
While still impressive on a smaller scale, these NOCs have taken a slightly more conventional approach. We noticed a divide here. Data centers tend to have more scaled-back NOCs while telecom companies often fall in the “dressed to impress” category, perhaps partly due to having more infrastructure to monitor than the average data center (and shareholders).
Easy CGI’s NOC in Pearl River, New York
Ensynch’s NOC in Tempe, Arizona
TWAREN’s NOC (Taiwan Advanced Research & Education Network)
The Planet’s NOC in Houston, Texas
KDL’s NOC in Evansville, Indiana
And the not-flashy-in-the-least award goes to…
The people at Rackspace are apparently not big on the flashy stuff at all.
Rackspace’s NOC in San Antonio, Texas
Image sources:
AT&T NOC from AT&T, Reliance NOC from Suraj, Lucent NOC from Evans Consoles, Conexim NOC from Conexim, Akamai NOC from Akamai via Bert Boerland’s blog, Easy CGI NOC from Easy CGI, Ensynch NOC from Ensynch, TWAREN NOC from TWAREN, The Planet NOC from The Planet’s blog, Rackspace NOC from Naveenium, KDL NOC from Kentucky Data Link.
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Fan Attaguy
May 21st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
To be fair… the Rackspace NOC picture isn’t even facing the screens. You can see that it seats 24, while the Planet’s NOCs seat only 12 and KDL looks to seat <10. Also, Most of the NOC pictures shown are from actual Networking companies, where the network is their primary business. The Planet and Rackspace use networks as just a part of their business, so they really don’t need gigantic War Games-ish monitoring rooms.
Chris Scott
May 21st, 2008 at 2:49 pm
One of Rackspace’s moto comes to my mind in that one… Substance over flash
anonymous
May 21st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Rackspace doesn’t have a NOC as such, but it does have a team of monitoring techs who monitor all the server alerts. Also any of the engineers are able to work on any alerts, which are shown in a common console that anyone can access.
Hahah What
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:20 am
Rackspace doesn’t have a NOC? Can I just say you are wrong and leave it at that?
They do have a *real* NOC, trust me.
Royal Pingdom
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 am
Regarding the Rackspace NOC, if anyone has any other pictures than the one we show here (which admittedly is from 2005 according to the photographer), please post a link here in the comments.
Justin
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:23 am
I’d like to see more Rackspace pics also.
Josh
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Hello,
The picture labeled Conexim’s NOC in Australia. That is not correct. That is the Network Operations Center of UUNET/MCI WorldCOM which is now Verizon Business. I know cause I work there.
Royal Pingdom
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Hi Josh,
We definitely didn’t know that. Do you have another source (preferably a link) which can confirm this? We found the picture on the Conexim website (the link is available at the bottom of the post).
KLIX
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:14 am
Some pictures from Telenor’s NOC at Fornebu, Oslo, Norway
http://www.media.allerinternett.no/php/obj.phpi?o=2262762&w=450&frame=0&ee=1164188811
According to digi.no(a norwegian e-newspaper), the NOC has approx 100 seats, and a surface of 1250 square meters.
The NOC gets 5 million error messages every week, and uses IBM Micromuse to manage them. The three main screens are 10×6m large.
The article(in norwegian), and more pictures can be found here:
http://www.digi.no/php/art.php?id=358331
Brenton
May 29th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Royal Pingdom,
Here is Telstra (Australia) Global Operations Centre. It monitors Australia’s largest Telecommunications network.
These photos are old, I don’t have dates, but they are probably from around 2002.
All CRTs have now been replaced with LCDs and the Video Wall has been updated.
The impressive centrepiece of the
Global Operations Centre is the massive
digital video wall – one of the largest in
the Southern Hemisphere. Measuring
24 metres x 3 metres, the video wall
comprises 96 video cubes and enables
staff to manage the operation of Telstra’s
fixed and mobile telecommunications
networks, high speed internet options,
broadcast television, products and
services.
The Global Operations Centre officially opened in August 1999 and provides a centrepiece for showcasing Telstra’s technological leadership and capabilities in managing large scale networks. Copper, fibre-optic cable, radio and satellite technologies connect our customers to our local access switches.
* Approximately $35 million to construct over 15 months
* Approximately 190 people involved in the construction
* Telstra employed 63 suppliers – many of them local
* 3,750 litres of paint was used over 8,000 square metres
* Electrical systems are built around high reliability and maintenance can be performed without interrupting the Centre’s normal operations
* 2,935 plants have been planted in and around the Centre
* The stunning centrepiece for the Global Operations Centre is the massive digital videowall – one of the world’s largest. The videowall measures 24 x 3 metres and comprises 96 video cubes.
* There are approximately 400 staff who work in the large surveillance hall, who monitor and manage Telstra’s networks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/images/media/photos/73764g2_hires.jpg
http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/images/media/photos/73764g1_hires.jpg
http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media/photos.cfm?SearchContent=Yes&CategoryID=6
Feel free to add it to your collection.
Josh
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Royal Pingdom,
I checked the Conexim site and for some reason all 3 pictures they have posted on their sites are UUNET NOCs
which is now Verizon Business.
So far this is the only picture of the Verizon NOC I found out there. The picture is very small but you can see that its the same noc you have up on your site as Conexim.
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/print/22_16/31353-1.html
Ahamed Bauani
August 28th, 2008 at 1:26 am
I really appreciate your effort to put the collection of ‘Network Operation Centers’ picture in a single place. This is really impressive. Good job mate. I personally had a 42U Rack space with ‘The Planet’ Hosting Company, but never have a chance to see their NOC. Expecting more nice work from you in future…
Thanks
Ahamed Bauani
Manager, System
Communication Division
Telnet Communication Limited
http://www.telnet-bd.com/