With that in mind, the facilities do not call attention to themselves. Neither Exodus nor Global Crossing has any corporate signs on its facilities in Northern Virginia, leaving passersby to think they might be an office building or storage depot. Exodus does have a floor mat outside the front door at its Nokes Boulevard facility. But no one can get into either facility without a corporate laser-reading entry card or if a guard electronically unlatches the door. Or, if they're company employees or authorized construction workers, they have to again display their electronic card or have their finger and palm prints read on a hand scanner after they've entered a personal identification number.
Similar security is in force throughout other portions of the facilities.
Security cameras are everywhere. Local officials, even though they're mindful of the Web hosters' security needs, typically insist on the false windows for aesthetic reasons. Companies take all sorts of things into consideration when planning a data-center site. Jay Adelson, chief technical officer and a co-founder of Equinix, said some Web hosters prefer to be under airline flight paths, on the theory that air traffic controllers would know when a terrorist had entered the airspace. Other firms prefer the opposite, thinking it will limit the chance that a plane might crash into their building.