I did on IRC

So, I'll reopen this (I was perhaps to fast to close), and include a few details and disclaimers.

Getting photos of the servers is NOT as simple as snapping the shot, and uploading it. A few things have to be done.

• We must file a ticket with the datacenter, which they then have to create a smarthands request, and have a technician for that datacenter company present during all photographing of equipment.
• We cannot photograph anything we do not own. This means infrastructure owned by the datacenter or its customers is off-limits, and cannot be photographed.
• The above smarthands means we pay an hourly rate to have the photographer (even if it is one of us in ops who can normally visit the site without escort) escorted around. The smarthands technician has to review each and every photograph taken to ensure it doesn't include any of their (or their customers) infrastructure.

So, this means we have to generate a different ticket for each specific site. As such, I'm removing the site projects from this master task, as it isn't specific to any one site.

@VictorGrigas:

Do you happen to have any plans to re-visit our older datacenter site (eqiad) or any of the new(er) sites (codfw) for taking more photos?

We have folks asking, and I recall your photos were better than mine ;D (Plus it involves us flying someone in to take photos, so it may as well be a professional.)

We'll have to clear it all in advance with the sites, this is just my preliminary ask.

@VictorGrigas: anything new? :-)

@Steinsplitter - Yes, actually I'll be photographing (and hopefully shooting video of) the servers on Dallas on the way back from Wikimania. I'll have that media online asap.

In T94694#1434282, @VictorGrigas wrote:

@Steinsplitter - Yes, actually I'll be photographing (and hopefully shooting video of) the servers on Dallas on the way back from Wikimania. I'll have that media online asap.

Do you have taken the photos yet? Please let me know if you need help with commons :)

Yes, I've shot the servers, but now there's a legal issue about the rights that I'm waiting to resolve. Needless to say it's frustrating. I'll let you know as soon as they are up.

These images were just approved by our legal team. Sorry for the wait:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Wikimedia_Foundation_servers_2015&action=edit&redlink=1

If this doesn't work for some reason, here's my upload feed:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:ListFiles/VGrigas_(WMF)&ilshowall=1

Well done @VictorGrigas :)

Thanks. This one is DEF my favorite: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Servers_2015-64.jpg

@VictorGrigas Great work, thanks! :) Would you like to add your photos to the appropriate categories of the server's location? Would be nice to know, where you did what photo (I assume the photos in the WMF Founrdatuion Servers 2015 category all were made in the Dallas data center (codfw)?

Yes they are all in Dallas, would you like to label them as such?

@VictorGrigas Already done :)
-> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_servers_in_Carrollton

WOW @VictorGrigas Cool photos. Thanks a lot!

Welcome! Happy to share