Gallery: See What's Buried in the Swiss Bunkers Turned Into Secretive Data Centers
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery01DEPOSIT54
Entrance to Mount10, a the data centre known as “The Swiss Fort Knox”, Saanen-Gstaad, Switzerland, 2010. Built in 1946 by the Swiss army, this former military bunker was converted into a data centre in 1993. It is linked by a glass fibre connection to another bunker 10km away, Swiss Fort Knox II, which is still Swiss army property. Clients are assured the army has no control over their activities.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery02DEPOSIT56
Main corridor of Mount10, a data center known as “The Swiss Fort Knox”, Saanen-Gstaad, Switzerland, 2010. With more than 26,000 former bunkers, Switzerland is a coveted location for information storage and backup. The fact that the Patriot Act applies only to data stored on American territory or in American companies abroad has attracted many clients to European facilities.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery03DEPOSIT57
Entrance to Bahnhof.se, “Pionen”, a data center in Stockholm, Sweden, 2011. Located 30 meters below ground, hewn into the rock below the Sofia church, this former Cold War military bunker was refurbished in 2008 by the Bahnhof company. It's built to withstand a nuclear explosion and its backup generators are made from German submarine engines.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery04DEPOSIT55
Basement of SafeHost, a data centre in Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland, 2012. Created in 2000 in a suburb of Geneva, SafeHost is an entirely private data centre. Clients include financial institutions and international organizations as well as private businesses.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery05DEPOSIT59
Servers, Bahnhof.se, “Pionen”, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011. Bahnhof holds two Wikileaks servers. The Swedish company won't concern itself with the contents, however. As long as Wikileaks continues to pay the rent, Bahnhof sees no problem in continuing to provide the space. Other data centers such as Swiss Fort Knox have refused to host Wikileaks.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery06DEPOSIT58
Main room hewn into the rock, Bahnhof.se, “Pionen”, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011. This high security computer centre in based in a nuclear shelter used by the Swedish civil defense during the Cold War. In the main room, under tight security, the server cabinets are disaggregated and maintained by a team of computer engineers.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery07DEPOSIT60
Business continuity room, SafeHost, Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland, 2012. This room with 300 workplaces in the SafeHost building can be rapidly activated at the request of a client following critical data loss. Backup and recovery of client data can be managed here. Cafeteria, conference room, printers and telephones are all available. Within hours, normal business activity can be resumed.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery08DEPOSIT61
Server cabinets, Bahnhof.se, “Pionen”, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011. When it came to the design of this facility, Director Jon Karlung was inspired by sci-fi films Logan’s Run, Silent Running, Star Wars, and the Bond films. “I was thinking of the Blofeld set-up and even considered adopting a white cat. But that might have been going a little too far,” jokes Karlung.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery09DEPOSIT62
Server cabinet, SafeHost, Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland, 2012. According to a report by Brainserve and Securitas of 5 May 2011, there are three causes of data loss: human error (14 percent), system failure (24 percent) and malicious attacks (62 percent).
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery10DEPOSIT63
Business continuity room, SafeHost, Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland, 2012.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery11DEPOSIT64
Data repository at Sispace, Dülliken, Switzerland, 2010. Sensitive data is kept in yellow boxes with a barcode, stacked in rows and layers. The building is guarded 24/7. Storage is in acid-free cardboard boxes, with fire protection and guaranteed maximum security for the reassurance of the client.
© Yann MingardDEPOSIT/2009-2013DATA chapterwww.yannmingard.ch12DEPOSIT68
An interior wall of Mount10, in Saanen-Gstaad, Switzerland, 2010. Originally, a bunker built by the Swiss army in 1946. The basic infrastructure is original. Only the contents have changed.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery13DEPOSIT65
Central room of the data centre of Mount10, Saanen-Gstaad, Switzerland, 2010. The server space here is rented on a yearly basis. The room is under permanent camera surveillance, constant guard, and is protected by an anti-ABC (atomic, bacteriological, chemical) system. There are biometric controls for entry to the room.
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery14DEPOSIT66
A guard waiting for the armoured door to open in one of Mount10’s many corridors. Different uniforms are used and adapted or omitted for client visits to accommodate the sensibilities of the client and the situation in the client’s country (war, dictatorship, coup d'etat).
Yann Mingard. Courtesy East Wing Gallery15DEPOSIT67
The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Hinxton, Cambridge, UK, 2013. This seemingly empty test-tube contains Shakespeare’s sonnets, a Martin Luther King speech, a jpeg photo and a copy of the 1953 article by Crick and Watson describing the structure of DNA. This information is encoded and stored in synthesized DNA form.
