The chief operations office was in his element. This was the second “What is cooling tower” tour of the day. The first included a group of computer science engineer majors from the state’s largest university. The group of mostly college juniors and seniors were anxious to see what they had been reading about in class. For them, being able to visit a data storage center that served customers across six states was impressive. They were knowledgable, but still had questions to ask:

• What are the disadvantages of dry cooling?
• What is your company doing to reduce water consumption?
• How do you stay current on the latest compliance and regulations for data centers?
• How does the physical aspect of cloud computing platforms operate?
• Where do you find your staff that monitors the physical plant and all of its complex systems?
• Do you have any jobs available right now?

That last question from the first group, of course, got a few laughs. More than laughs though, the others in the touring group seemed to have wished they would have had the nerve to ask the one question they all had on their mind.
The second “What is cooling tour” tour was a group of local business associates who were trying to decide if they should work together to create their own data storage company, or if they should simply contract with the company who was hosting the tour. The chief operations officer was confident enough about the services that his company provided that he agreed to let this group tour their site. He welcomed the tour in spite of the fact that the group of business associates were technically attempting to become a competitor.
Personal Tours of Data Storage Centers Provide Opportunities for Questions and Exploration
A data center tour not only allows visitors to see the infrastructure that houses the data of businesses located across the country, but it also gives visitors a chance to ask questions, and further their understanding of specific questions like, what is cooling tower planning and use like?
Whether you are a business owner or a computer science engineering student, it is likely that you have never seen many types of cooling towers. A facilities tour, therefore, is informative. It gives both students and business personnel the opportunity to ask and understand how to determine the cost to purchase and operate these important and required locations.