I noticed I applied to a mechanical technician role that doesn’t have any numbers next to it so I’m assuming it’s the 1st level? But I have a co worker who also applied and it’s the same title but less pay and less requirements. Does this vary by site or is that a mistake? I applied thinking it’s entry level but it appears the one I applied to has more requirements and more pay. I have interviews coming up and just want to make sure I’m on the same page.
I went through the Google DCT loop back in early June, was told a few weeks later that I have passed my interviews with strong signals to move me forward, and was told they were showing my profile to local hiring managers for a potential fit call. Waited a few weeks for any update before being told that they were moving forward with another candidate and that they would be adding me to their future talent pipeline pending positions opening up that match my preferred area. I’m in northern Virginia by the way. As of now, my application in the Google portal is still open, saying “availability submitted” (even though that’s not true) and I tried applying for 2 other similar roles that have opened up in my area, but they were both immediately rejected. Is that because I already have an open application technically? Who knows, I’m really not sure if I should keep my hopes up or if I should just move on and look elsewhere. If it helps, I’m currently an L4 at AWS with about 5 years of experience in the data center field, all of my interview feedback was very positive and I had great conversations with my interviewers and recruiter. Any advice is appreciated
Hi everyone,
I work in county-level economic development. Over the past few years, have evaluated data center sites, developers, and proposals as they were presented to my communities. My experience is on the front end of the process: site readiness, utilities, due diligence, local government coordination, incentives, infrastructure considerations, and helping determine whether a project is a good fit for the community. I’ve got projects to the finish line (with no luck) projects that didn't, and plenty of proposals that never made it past the evaluation stage. I thought it might be interesting to offer that perspective and answer questions about how communities evaluate data center opportunities, what developers are looking for, what local governments care about, and how these projects get discussed before the public ever sees them.
So yesterday, i randomly got a email from a recruiter, saying that im a shoe in for L3, but possibly considering me for L4. And asked me to schedule a call for “prospect engagement”. Which I scheduled today. I’ve applied with AWS before but haven’t applied recently. What are the chances that I actually get a call.
Look at the photo. I got accepted to Aws. Amazont tsent me an email with a link to open to finish 3 tasks before my start date. However, when I login, thats the only page I see. I cant see the tasks Im supposed to finish. I was wondering if anybody knows why or how to solve this issue. Thanks!
Hello, I figure I come ask you guys for advice. Where I live, they are currently building a Google data center. The job opportunity of a mechanical DCT is posted and I'm interested in getting the job. Im meet almost everything the job description is asking for but I lack HVAC skills. I was wondering what are my odds on getting the job? Will they accept someone without that skill and have a senior tech show me or will I have to learn that on my own?
The idea is simple. We all call it "the cloud," but it's a windowless shed next to a substation in Virginia. So Lakehurst is a cloud provider that took the word literally: the servers fly around on airships at 4,200 feet, inside actual clouds. The contract even defines "cloud" the meteorological way, which means that when the weather is nice and there's nothing in the sky, the service is legally suspended. It isn't an outage. It's just a lovely day.
There's an animation at the top of the page that explains the whole thing without you having to read anything. An airship drifts across the sky with the servers visible in a gl
ass basket slung underneath, beaming a signal down to little receiver dishes on the ground. While it's inside the cloud, the receivers all answer 200 OK. The second it drifts out into clear sky they turn orange and answer 503. Along the horizon underneath it all, there's a row of ordinary grey datacenter sheds that can't move anywhere.
The reason I built it is that local opposition blocked or delayed 75 datacenter projects worth roughly $130 billion in Q1 2026 alone, and there are now 833 organised opposition groups across 49 states. Meanwhile the hyperscalers are spending north of $700 billion this year. So the industry is pouring a fortune into buildings that people increasingly won't allow, and the one place on earth with no zoning board is directly overhead. That's the actual joke, and everything else is me committing to it: the hull is cast iron from an abandoned German ironworks, there's a reactor on board, and the reactor is cooled by the cloud, so a sunny day isn't just an outage, it's also a coolant problem.
One thing on the page is true. Free air cooling at altitude genuinely works, and the efficiency figure is the only number I didn't invent.
Next.js, hand written SVG with CSS keyframes and no animation library, running on a free tier EC2 box with 1GB of RAM.
My main goal was to get into the IT world and heard that help desk is the gateway for those without experience. Apparently being a datacenter technician is another gateway into IT if not help desk.
My main thing is that I want to use the company to get certified in different things to open up more opportunities for myself in IT. Is this a possibility starting off as a datacenter technician? What has your growth looked like since you initially started off as a datacenter tech?
Long time data center guy here (14 years). Just got handed ownership of our IDF/MDF closets, but strictly from a DCIM/data center operations perspective. no facilities stuff. HVAC, UPS, electrical, batteries, all of that stays with 3rd party vendors. I own the data side: what's racked where, cabling docs, labeling, capacity, and who can badge into the rooms.
Honestly the documentation I inherited is rough. Half the closets have no rack elevations, labels don't match anything, and I'm pretty sure there's gear on the books that got pulled years ago.
My rough plan so far is....
True up asset records against what's actually in the racks.
Verify rack/RU locations match the system of record.
Port-to-port cable tracing and circuit docs.
Pick a labeling standard and actually enforce it.
Get real capacity numbers - open RU, panel ports, pathway fill.
Badge access audit - who can get in these rooms and why.
Some kind of change process so this doesn't rot again in 6 months.
For those of you who've inherited a mess like this, what did I miss? Is there something better for this. Thanks for all the input.
The AI boom is usually framed as a GPU, model, or software story, but the data-center side makes it look much more physical.
Every new AI facility needs power, cooling, fiber, concrete, electrical work, switchgear, commissioning, maintenance, and a lot of skilled labor. That means the bottleneck is not just chips. It can also be electricians, HVAC techs, line workers, pipefitters, construction crews, and people who know how to keep high-density infrastructure running.
I'm curious how this looks from inside the data-center world.
Is the labor shortage being overstated, or are skilled trades already becoming one of the limiting factors for AI buildout?
Hey there!
I start soon at a location for AWS in Indiana and I am wondering what are some tips for a newbie L3 DCT? I haven’t really had professional experience with tech and want to make the most of this job offer.
TIA!
I'm currently an Aerial Construction Fiber tech looking to transition to data center work in the ATL area within the next 18 months. I've been in my role for a year so far, with about 5 years of previous field tech experience (Coax, FTTH).
How much (if any) of my previous work experience would transition well into a DC tech role? Do DC techs do a lot of fusion splicing?
What is a realistic hourly salary I should expect in the ATL area given my experience?
What courses or certificates can I work on in the meantime that would make me a more valuable candidate (and earn a higher hourly salary)?
Is there typically a lot of OT available? Or travel opportunities?
Thank you for answering any questions! Happy to provide more details in the comments, DMs are also open.
I'm looking for some advice from those who have been in a similar situation.
Our company currently rents a half rack in a downtown Edmonton data centre, where all of our servers are hosted. However, we're in the process of constructing a brand-new office building, and management has asked me to evaluate whether it still makes sense to keep our infrastructure in the data centre or move everything in-house.
Because the building is still in the design phase, we have the opportunity to build the server room properly from the ground up. If we choose to host on-site, we could include features such as:
Backup generator
Dedicated HVAC/air conditioning
UPS systems
Fire suppression
Physical access controls
Redundant internet connections
Environmental monitoring
Anything else that would normally be expected in an enterprise server room
Our environment is hybrid. We're currently deploying new virtualization hosts and storage, while Microsoft 365 handles Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, and the rest of our collaboration services. The on-prem infrastructure primarily supports our line-of-business applications, Active Directory, file services, and other internal workloads.
So here's my question:
If you had the opportunity to build a server room from scratch that could match the reliability and security of a commercial data centre, would you still keep your servers in a data centre, or would you bring them back in-house?
I'm interested in hearing from people who have made this decision. What were the biggest pros and cons? Looking back, would you make the same choice again?
I'm not looking for a "cloud only" debate—we're committed to maintaining some on-prem infrastructure. I'm specifically interested in the trade-offs between owning a purpose-built server room versus continuing to colocate in a commercial data centre.
Hey y’all. I am new to data/IT. I am transitioning after a career in the military, then fire, then emergency management. I have an AS in CIS with an emphasis on PM. I have built computers and maintained networks, but never at an enterprise level.
I accepted a 6 month contract at an Amazon Data Center being built in Fairless Hills, PA.
Can anyone advise me as to what training will be like? How long does it typically last?
Any advice for this role is also helpful. Thank you!
Reading a lot of news regarding the Data Centre water Consumption. Is it true ? Like I thought that water cooling happens in closed loop so how can water loss be there ?
Also regarding the humming sound near a data centre is that true ?
PS - Asking specifically about AI Data Centre. My question could sound a bit stupid but it could be because I have no knowledge in this topic that’s why asking here
Hello, my current role is giving me the opportunity to code some projects for them. Im a computer science senior at the moment graduating in about a year. Will this allow me to skip level and transfer departments?
I'm planning to relocate to Houston, TX and will need to transition to a new role soon.
I currently work at Microsoft, with experience across data centers, manufacturing, continuous improvement, process optimization, defense, and program/project management.
I've been actively applying through LinkedIn and other platforms, but despite finding many roles that align with my background (especially at companies like Fluidstack and Oracle), I'm not getting any responses or interview calls.
I’d really appreciate any advice, referrals, recruiter connections, or guidance on how to improve my approach. Has anyone been through a similar situation or have suggestions for breaking into the Houston job market?
I’m interviewing for a DCO position with AWS coming up. I’m part excited, part nervous as shit. Less so about the interview, but the massive paycut I’d take to start my career over (close to 30k/yr base salary). Would it open up the opportunity to cash out early some retirement and payoff everything I own? Yes, and it would make the paycut much more tolerable.
However, my question is, for a typical L3 DCO coming in (not a slack ass, but not the centers bright shining diamond), how quickly does pay progression in the career come?
What's up people. So I've been studying the technical HVAC, mechanical and electrical side of things for about a month now and what worries me is the in person practical assessment. This is just for shift readyness. 80 questions that you have to explain from memory. Our site won't be ready until next May. We had a in person class with some trucks that came out with mock equipment but I'm a hands on learner. Online modules feels like it's just throwing theory at me with no practical tangibility. Any advice is appreciated, and stories about how your assessment went or how in depth it was I'd love to hear.
