Want to visit Google's data center in Oregon? Just pick up the nearest Google Cardboard

By Kevin Parrish March 24, 2016

Google Data Center 360° Tour

Visiting a data enter can be an interesting experience. To the average person, it’s a lot of big, stacked, noisy hardware and plenty of chilled wind to keep all those machines cool. For the hardware enthusiast, and those employed in the related field, there’s plenty of awesomeness to see that makes our world go round, especially in the larger centers. Now both consumers and tech junkies can check out Google’s massive data center planted in the middle of The Dalles, Oregon, without having to leave the comforts of their couch.

Recommended Videos

“Several months ago, those of us on the Google Cloud Developer Advocacy Team had a rare opportunity to tour the Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon,” reports Google’s Greg Wilson. “Many of us had seen other non-Google data centers in our careers, but this experience was beyond anything we ever imagined. We were blown away by the scale, the incredible attention to security and privacy, and the amazing efforts to make the data center extremely efficient and green.”

The result from this visit to Google’s facility is a virtual tour thrown up on YouTube (8:29). The clip is best viewed using Chrome for desktop, the YouTube app for mobile devices, or Google Cardboard. For the latter option, users simply load up the YouTube app and tap on the Cardboard icon when the video starts to play. Unfortunately, this only works on the Android version for now – Apple iOS support is on the way.

According to the video, most Google employees aren’t even granted access to the facility. During the presentation, viewers using the Chrome browser can grab the screen with just a mouse click and look up, look down, and even turn a full circle while the guide explains hardware and speaks with the locals.

Google opened the data center in The Dalles back in 2006. According to the company, it invested $1.2 billion into the facility and created more than 80 full-time jobs. Google chose the site because The Dalles provides plenty of land for expansions, lots of people to hire, and the local energy infrastructure. There’s reportedly also special enterprise zone tax deals that exempt Google’s computers from local property tax, and a sales tax exemption provided by the state.

The launch of Google’s virtual tour of the facility arrives alongside the Google NEXT 2016 event in San Francisco, which opened its doors on Wednesday. There, individuals of the Google Cloud Platform community have gathered together to check out the latest in cloud technology development.

If you’re wanting to check out the facility in Google Cardboard, you’ll need to get started by seeing what’s available on Amazon here. We’ve tested the $13 kit provided by JoyGeek, and it works great. Google boasts that Cardboard is the best way to experience its 360-degree tour.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…

Computing

I have Meta Quest 3S and this is the best VR accessory yet — it’s on sale

Kiwi Design best VR accessory Meta Quest 3 headstrap

Ahead of the holidays and some prime family time, I've picked up the Meta Quest 3S. So far, my family is absolutely loving it, and my kids are constantly bugging me to play games, explore worlds, and get virtual. Naturally, I manage the time we're all spending -- you don't want too much screen time. But regardless, every one of us ends up becoming immersed, which means spending a lot of time with the headset on. One of the biggest drawbacks of the stock setup is that the headstrap is uncomfortable, and it puts a lot of pressure on your face. That means, the Meta Quest 3S's best VR accessory -- and the Meta Quest 3, too -- is a new, custom strap.

We grabbed the Kiwi Design Quest 3-Quest 3S headstrap and it's fantastic. It's also on sale right now for 20% off. Normally $30, it's discounted to $24 with a coupon code. Why am I sharing? If you pick up a Meta Quest 3 or 3S for yourself, or you're planning to gift one to someone over the holidays, I highly recommend ordering one of these straps. It vastly improves the experience and makes wearing the headset much more comfortable. It's also easy to adjust the fit, which is a big deal for kids. You have no idea how frustrating it was to constantly adjust the headstrap for my children between each turn.

Computing

Best early GPU Black Friday deals: Save on top graphics cards now

The Gigabyte RX 6750 GRE graphics card over a dark background.

Building a PC from scratch can be a lot of fun, and with the upcoming Black Friday on November 29, it's a perfect time for you to pick up hardware. One of the most fun bits of any build is picking the parts, and for that, graphics cards are probably the most fun to pick between. That said, GPUs also tend to be the most expensive pieces of hardware that go into a desktop, especially if you're trying to aim for something in the mid-to-high-end range that can easily reach $500 or even $1,000. That's why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite early Black Friday GPU deals for you below.
GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 -- $290 $350 17% off

This RTX 3060 is a great starter card for those who want to be on a budget and will handle most slightly older games pretty well at 1080p and 60Hz, potentially up to 100. It may struggle a bit with newer titles without compromises, but that's fine given the reduced $290 price point.

Computing

Nvidia just scaled down DLSS 3, and that’s a good thing

The RTX 4080 Super graphics card sitting on a pink background.

Nvidia's signature tech, DLSS 3, just got yet another update -- and although it's subtle, it actually seems like a good thing for some of the best graphics cards. The latest version, 3.8.10, bundled with the GeForce 566.14 driver, doesn't seem to introduce any major changes, but Nvidia enthusiasts noticed that it's about half the size that it used to be. Where's that difference coming from?

No, Nvidia didn't downgrade DLSS 3 -- at least not in any major way. Although this hasn't been confirmed by Nvidia itself, it appears that the company removed a whole bunch of DLSS presets and replaced them with just two. These presets make it easier for gamers to choose the type of focus they want to apply to each game.