- RUVDS expands hosting coverage to the coldest, most remote areas on Earth
- Testing promises high-speed data access in extreme remote environments
- Constraints and Innovations at the Antarctica Mission Test Data Center
Russian hosting company RUVDS has announced plans to provide servers to one of the most remote locations on Earth: Antarctica.
The company builds on previous Arctic experiments to explore the feasibility of providing high-speed, uninterrupted data access from remote frozen regions of Antarctica.
According to the company’s schedule, this ambitious venture will take place next year and aims to prove that reliable server infrastructure can operate even in the harshest conditions.
The world’s most challenging climate
Previously, RUVDS had had success at Barneo Ice Camp, a temporary station on an ice floe near the North Pole. In early 2024, the company delivered a “data center in a box” to Banio via airdrop from an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft.
The server is equipped with weather-resistant materials and is connected to the RUVDS satellite. It is designed to provide network access and data hosting capabilities in the Arctic. Although the server was originally intended to run for a month, an emergency evacuation due to ice breakup interrupted the experiment just a week later.
Drawing on Arctic experience, RUVDS is now preparing advanced insulation and backup power systems for Antarctic servos.
The device will include uninterruptible power supply Respond to power failures and ensure continuous operation. The goal of RUVDS is to create an “Antarctic Data Center” that can provide users with high-speed data access regardless of extreme temperatures.
Server connections will rely on high-speed communication channels, which are expected to be provided with the hardware. RUVDS has not yet specified what technology will be used for the channel, but its Arctic experiments utilize its own satellite, StratoSat TK-1, which was launched in June 2023 in partnership with Russian aerospace company Statonautica.
The satellite is a low-Earth orbit picosatellite and is a key part of RUVDS’ Arctic and Antarctic operations. Despite memory corruption during launch, StratoSat TK-1 is still operational, broadcasting a simple HTML page from space.
The company has a variety of server delivery options. It will use transport aircraft and ships capable of withstanding the challenges of reaching Antarctica.
If successful, the server installation will pave the way for future data centers in remote polar regions, contribute to scientific research and potentially open new communications routes to hard-to-reach parts of the world.
“We already have successful experience testing startup servers in the Arctic – this is the first method of testing. And Antarctica, as a region with more complex logistics and conditions, allows us to continue research on a new level”, VDS Servers said Nikita Tsaplin, CEO of hosting provider RUVDS.
Tsaplin continued: “As part of the mission, we will study the possibility of establishing satellite communications, including high-speed channels, and I do not rule out that we will conduct beta tests for commercial use of the server.”
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