Equinix Data Centre Technician - Career Transition Program?
Discussion
I recently stumbled upon a job advert by a company called Equinix for 'Data Centre Technician - Career Transition Program' and I am really interested.
I am an aircraft engineer, desperately looking to move into new industries and explore new opportunities and really like the look of becoming a data centre technician.
Does/has anyone here work for Equinix or know much about them as a company? They seem pretty big and employee reviews online generally seem good.
Does anyone here work as a data centre technician? Do you enjoy it? Would you recommend it? Is the salary good? How is the job progression?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
I am an aircraft engineer, desperately looking to move into new industries and explore new opportunities and really like the look of becoming a data centre technician.
Does/has anyone here work for Equinix or know much about them as a company? They seem pretty big and employee reviews online generally seem good.
Does anyone here work as a data centre technician? Do you enjoy it? Would you recommend it? Is the salary good? How is the job progression?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
A lot of the DC techs I know quite enjoy the work environment- you’re reacting to customer issues, but for the most part, data centre hardware is stable and a lot of management can be done remotely by the owner. So it’s generally quiet, especially at night.
I assume it’ll be shift work? Probably Christmas Day/NYE etc- but you do get your shifts months in advance, which I know some prefer.
Server hardware is all plug and play and common sense if you’re already from a tech background. It’s worth brushing up on basic Windows/Linux and networking concepts - chances are the job will involve a lot of of ‘why isn’t this server working’ and it’s up to you to work out why !
I assume it’ll be shift work? Probably Christmas Day/NYE etc- but you do get your shifts months in advance, which I know some prefer.
Server hardware is all plug and play and common sense if you’re already from a tech background. It’s worth brushing up on basic Windows/Linux and networking concepts - chances are the job will involve a lot of of ‘why isn’t this server working’ and it’s up to you to work out why !
anonymous said:
[redacted]
This is a very good point. When I worked in a DC we had a definite split of roles. The guys who ran the computers and the guys who did the electricals. And the guys who did all the HVAC etc. Each in their own silo.I wonder if Equinix are recruiting people who can do the electricals now and grow into doing the network side of it too.
Equinix are one of the higher end providers - they've bought up a lot of their competition over the years.
DC Technicians are usually aligned to either facilities type roles - managing access, escorting visitors, investigating problems with the DC equipment like electrics and HVAC etc and general portering duties, or more technical - perhaps running network cables in the existing containment, patching in connections and providing remote hands/hands and eyes services for customers who colocate their kit in the DC.
Some DC operators do have their own server and network infrastructure but that would usually be managed by specialist engineers - albeit they may be located remotely and will require the same sorts of hands and eyes services customers will do.
Every member of staff I've ever come across who works in a DC full time - and I've been in many of them in both the UK and Europe - has come across as surly and pretty miserable. I've put that down to the type of work they do - they get all the running round and bum jobs but all the big interesting stuff is done by specialists or third parties.
Remote hands jobs will be things like connect a cable between point A and point B in a customers rack, go to the customers rack and call the customer and tell them what lights are on on a box, swap a failed disk over - relatively simple tasks that don't require much thought. You have to tread carefully and only act on the customers direct instruction.
If you want a job where you'll largely be allocated tasks that you can complete quickly without much thought it's probably not a bad job, but I don't see much career progression into a more specialist technical role. The other thing to be aware of is some DC are huge places and there will be a lot of walking round. They are also very serious about security and policies - probably not an issue if you're coming from an aviation background though.
DC Technicians are usually aligned to either facilities type roles - managing access, escorting visitors, investigating problems with the DC equipment like electrics and HVAC etc and general portering duties, or more technical - perhaps running network cables in the existing containment, patching in connections and providing remote hands/hands and eyes services for customers who colocate their kit in the DC.
Some DC operators do have their own server and network infrastructure but that would usually be managed by specialist engineers - albeit they may be located remotely and will require the same sorts of hands and eyes services customers will do.
Every member of staff I've ever come across who works in a DC full time - and I've been in many of them in both the UK and Europe - has come across as surly and pretty miserable. I've put that down to the type of work they do - they get all the running round and bum jobs but all the big interesting stuff is done by specialists or third parties.
Remote hands jobs will be things like connect a cable between point A and point B in a customers rack, go to the customers rack and call the customer and tell them what lights are on on a box, swap a failed disk over - relatively simple tasks that don't require much thought. You have to tread carefully and only act on the customers direct instruction.
If you want a job where you'll largely be allocated tasks that you can complete quickly without much thought it's probably not a bad job, but I don't see much career progression into a more specialist technical role. The other thing to be aware of is some DC are huge places and there will be a lot of walking round. They are also very serious about security and policies - probably not an issue if you're coming from an aviation background though.
ping power and pipe are quite distinct disciplines, yes some over lap but generally they are unique. Id be wary of any that looks to have multi discipline techs fully across the disciplines.
electrical you can be working from general lighting and power through to specalised power systems uninterruptable power supplies and generators and you can be dealing with general 230 / 400 volt systems through to 11kv and even higher believe it or not..
I know one data cenrtre in Woking thats taking power in at 132kv... thats some set up.
data centre Id be wanting to do electrical. it is a decent career and you will always be in demand.
electrical you can be working from general lighting and power through to specalised power systems uninterruptable power supplies and generators and you can be dealing with general 230 / 400 volt systems through to 11kv and even higher believe it or not..
I know one data cenrtre in Woking thats taking power in at 132kv... thats some set up.
data centre Id be wanting to do electrical. it is a decent career and you will always be in demand.
Equinix have a lot of what are called "meet me" rooms for intra Telco connectivity to "meet" in the middle..
They have/had this for customers to connect to Azure/AWS networks.
Remember, you are entering a game where Amazon/AWS/Google run most infrastructure themselves now so server/storage hosting will be on the decline.
They have/had this for customers to connect to Azure/AWS networks.
Remember, you are entering a game where Amazon/AWS/Google run most infrastructure themselves now so server/storage hosting will be on the decline.
I’ve just left the industry. Have you seen the inside of a DC?
Just rows upon rows of server racks. It’s very loud and very warm.
Absolutely no natural light.
Outside they are an absolute blot on the landscape.
Awful places but they put a pool table in the canteen so that makes it all better.
Just rows upon rows of server racks. It’s very loud and very warm.
Absolutely no natural light.
Outside they are an absolute blot on the landscape.
Awful places but they put a pool table in the canteen so that makes it all better.
lrdisco said:
I’ve just left the industry. Have you seen the inside of a DC?
Just rows upon rows of server racks. It’s very loud and very warm.
Absolutely no natural light.
Outside they are an absolute blot on the landscape.
Awful places but they put a pool table in the canteen so that makes it all better.
I’d very much agree with this. Always happy to pop to our DC when required but even happier when the job is done in less than an hour. I think you would have to be a special type of breed to want to work in a DC. Can’t see them being to much different to a submarine but you can go home at night.Just rows upon rows of server racks. It’s very loud and very warm.
Absolutely no natural light.
Outside they are an absolute blot on the landscape.
Awful places but they put a pool table in the canteen so that makes it all better.
sc0tt said:
lrdisco said:
I’ve just left the industry. Have you seen the inside of a DC?
Just rows upon rows of server racks. It’s very loud and very warm.
Absolutely no natural light.
Outside they are an absolute blot on the landscape.
Awful places but they put a pool table in the canteen so that makes it all better.
I’d very much agree with this. Always happy to pop to our DC when required but even happier when the job is done in less than an hour. I think you would have to be a special type of breed to want to work in a DC. Can’t see them being to much different to a submarine but you can go home at night.Just rows upon rows of server racks. It’s very loud and very warm.
Absolutely no natural light.
Outside they are an absolute blot on the landscape.
Awful places but they put a pool table in the canteen so that makes it all better.
The ops centre wasn't in with the servers, it was just a regular office - albeit the ops room was "in" the data centre so didn't have windows. The management suite (outside the super-secure inner data centre) was regular offices on the side of the building with windows and everything!
Spent lots of time in DCs from 2000-2010 building virtualisation solutions - was quite exciting to be building ‘internet’ stuff and being able to plug your laptop into a 1gig pipe.
I remember London Telehouse - about 11 floors high and our suite was on the top floor - after a few years they locked all the toilet doors, so to take a pee it would take about 20 minutes to get all the way back to reception via the busy lift or the back stairs. All the on-floor toilets were for disabled only - i seriously considered getting a radar key so i could use them.
Thankfully since transferring my skills to Azure, I’ve only been in a datacentre once in 10 years and that was because I wanted to because where was located.
As others say, It was the techs like me who did the interesting stuff - the dc guys were there to facilitate things. Some were pleasant and some treated you like you had just taken a dump on the floor in their living room.
I remember London Telehouse - about 11 floors high and our suite was on the top floor - after a few years they locked all the toilet doors, so to take a pee it would take about 20 minutes to get all the way back to reception via the busy lift or the back stairs. All the on-floor toilets were for disabled only - i seriously considered getting a radar key so i could use them.
Thankfully since transferring my skills to Azure, I’ve only been in a datacentre once in 10 years and that was because I wanted to because where was located.
As others say, It was the techs like me who did the interesting stuff - the dc guys were there to facilitate things. Some were pleasant and some treated you like you had just taken a dump on the floor in their living room.
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