What do they do, walk into a Google datacenter and randomly yank out a 1U server that they feel like and rip out some ethernet cables? I really don't quite understand how this works.
Any good datacenter distributes everything geographically and encrypts everything.
You're thinking too big. "Normal size datacenters" is a small industrial building with 20 racks. And yes, they walk in, shut the power and start hauling drives. No joke.
> they walk in, shut the power and start hauling drives.
Or, if they suspect disk encryption, they don't shut the power. Instead, they dissect the power cords to add a special UPS, so that they can move servers without powering them off...
It led me down the path of imagining two data centers: one in your basement, and one in some office building with a reception area, some cubicles, etc. It seems like the former would see the government breaking down doors and yanking servers off the rack, ripping ethernet cables. The latter would probably see a phone call or perhaps a discussion with reception, followed by a security officer or something.
The suspicious workload could be the exact same in both cases, but this is one of those neat little spots where being a Real Business has massive advantages.
Datacenters retail space, power, and cooling -- sometimes bandwidth. Data privacy is up to the tenant, but datacenters have a process just like any ISP to facilitate the execution of legal warrants.
That's exactly how it works in Russia. This led to some innovative services and exotic contermeasures, like locating the datacentres inside the perimeter of military factories (hard for LEOs to breach unnoticed), or installing racks inside trucks - you have time to drive them out of a nearby building while the front doors are breached.
What do they do, walk into a Google datacenter and randomly yank out a 1U server that they feel like and rip out some ethernet cables? I really don't quite understand how this works.
Any good datacenter distributes everything geographically and encrypts everything.