[svlug] Server farm tour?

[Ian Kluft]

On Sun, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:36:15PM -0700, Bill Kendrick wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 31, 2005 at 10:10:29PM -0700, Ian Kluft wrote:
> > I think if a data center or co-lo facility is big enough, it's probably
> > worth seeing, as long as you can also be told some of the things it's
> > being used for.  That's the important thing - give some context to
> > differentiate it from a plain "chorus of cooling fans".
> 
> Remember also that this is a 12yo kid we're talking about.
> (Admittedly one who knows more about IPTables than I do, but...)

Yeah, that's the part that makes me think he'll get something from this.
He already has an interest in it.  (I'm also assuming his father's request
implied some interest in the topic as well.  It'll be interesting to see
which one of them shows more of the "kid in a candy shop" reaction.)

I clearly remember an event from when I was 12 that inspired me a lot.
I got to visit the flight deck of a Boeing 747 at 40,000' over Greenland
(on a flight from London to San Francisco.)  It was on British Airways,
and the captain was out for afternoon tea.  The co-pilot was supervising
the autopilot.  He pointed at the empty left seat and said, "have a seat."
I had an interest in planes already, and understood even at that age what
a rare privilege I was getting.  It was undoubtedly a big part of why I got
my private pilot license 10 years later while I was still struggling to put
myself through grad school.  And even today you can see those aerospace
related interests in me - if the topic comes up, I can't shut up about it.

Yeah, you can inspire a kid of that age.  Whenever I help with that now,
I consider it part of giving back for what was given to me.  (And that may
serve as a good example for others here too. :-)

Though it's an apples-and-oranges comparison, I think the flight deck visit
is analagous to a kid today who understands networking getting to see a
data center or server farm.  We'll see - it all depends on the kid.

One of the instructions that I was given as a 12 year old will of course be
repeated if this tour can be arranged... "Don't touch anything."