It has a lot of fans
Workers at Ukrainian data center operator GigaCenter have composed music based on the operational sounds of their data center.
Among the sounds used are the hum of servers, system signals, and the rustling of shoe covers. The song also includes the voices of Viktor and Maria from technical support.
“I didn’t want to just list the sounds," project lead Anton Khvastunov, director of business development at GigaCenter said (translated).
"The goal was to make the track come alive. I think we achieved that. We wanted to show that even a data center is part of the creative industry, that technical things can also be an inspiration for art."
The track took a month to make, with help from a mentor at Ukraine's Culture of Sound.
GigaCenter has also pressed the track onto a vinyl to be sent to clients and friends.
The company operates a single data center in Kyiv, built to Tier III standards. It has a total IT whitespace of 550 sqm (5,920 sq ft).
GigaCenter is part of GigaGroup, which includes telco GigaTrans, cybersecurity firm GigaSafe, and cloud operator GigaCloud.
As one of the nation's largest Internet providers, GigaTrans has suffered service disruptions amid Russia's ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine.
However, the GigaCenter track is a reminder that, despite mounting missile attacks on Kyiv, day-to-day life continues.
The 'where music meets tech' track joins a growing list of digital infrastructure-inspired tunes.
Late last year, IBM Research released five tracks based on the sounds produced at its Yorktown and Albany wafer fabrication labs. The company partnered with Academy Award-winning sound editor Skip Lievsay, supervising sound editor Paul Urmson, and composer Blake Leyh for the chippy beats.
Back in 2014, composer Matt Parker also remixed the sounds of a data center into music. Earlier still, Electric Light Orchestra performed music with the sounds of telephone lines in a song titled Telephone Line in 1976.
