10th Anniversary of In-House Data Center 'Gak Chuncheon'
Uninterrupted, Accident-Free, and Disaster-Free Operation
No Service Interruption for 70 Hours Despite Power Outage
Second Data Center 'Gak Sejong' to Operate in Second Half of This Year
Blueprint for 'Future-Oriented Robot Data Center'
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Naver's own data center, 'Gak Chuncheon,' is celebrating its 10th year of operation this year. Having operated Gak Chuncheon without a single interruption or accident, Naver will officially launch a new data center, 'Gak Sejong,' this year. Gak Sejong, which incorporates 10 years of data center operational know-how and new technologies, is a core driver of Naver's future.
10 Years Accident-Free 'Gak Chuncheon'
On the 9th, a visit to Gak Chuncheon in Chuncheon City, Gangwon Province, revealed the concentration of Naver's diverse technological capabilities. This was evident from the entrance. Snow that had recently fallen was frozen on flower beds and sidewalks, but no traces of snow remained on the roads. This was because the heat generated from running servers was recycled and used as road heating. This prevents fire trucks from being unable to access the site due to snowy roads during winter disasters such as fires at the data center. It captures both energy efficiency and safety.
Naver named the data center 'Gak Chuncheon' by taking 'Gak (閣)' from 'Janggyungak,' the repository at Haeinsa Temple where the Tripitaka Koreana is stored, emphasizing the data center as a preservation site for records. The facility was built on a site of 54,229㎡, seven times the size of a soccer field. It houses approximately 100,000 servers (120,000 units), which is equivalent to building 10,000 National Library of Korea-sized libraries that hold 9 million books each.
Each Chuncheon server room. The waste heat generated in the server rooms is recycled to heat greenhouses in Chuncheon during winter and to melt the external roads. (Photo by Naver)
Gak Chuncheon has maintained a 'three no's' operation for the past 10 years: no downtime, no accidents, and no disasters. Naver has devoted efforts to training dedicated personnel and research and development (R&D) across all stages from design to construction and operation. It invests billions of won annually in infrastructure. Additionally, Naver independently developed systems necessary for data center facilities and service operations. These systems are internalized to fit Naver's services, enabling faster and more accurate responses than when using outsourced data centers in case of failures.
Naver has especially focused on ensuring continuous service without interruption even during disasters such as power outages or fires at the data center. In the office space, employees continuously monitored news and entertainment issues on large screens, considering that traffic could surge rapidly when issues arise. On another screen, services such as comment posting, email, and blogs operated automatically according to scenarios. This work is carried out 24/7 to check for any service disruptions.
Approximately 600,000 liters of diesel are stored underground at Gak Chuncheon. Server rooms operating at high power become useless if electricity supply is cut off. To prepare for this, Gak Chuncheon can supply power via diesel engines. The stored emergency diesel can sustain operations for about 70 hours without external power supply. All servers are duplicated, so even if Gak Chuncheon stops or fails, no full-scale service outage occurs.
Noh Sang-min, Head of Naver Cloud Data Center, is explaining the operational know-how of 'Gak Chuncheon' and introducing 'Gak Sejong'. (Photo by Naver)
'Gak Sejong,' the Core of Naver's Future
Naver will operate its second proprietary data center, 'Gak Sejong,' in Sejong City in the third quarter of this year. Considering that most data centers are concentrated in the metropolitan area and the location of Gak Chuncheon, Naver chose the location of Gak Sejong accordingly.
Soangmin, head of Naver Cloud Data Center, said, "Most data centers are concentrated in the metropolitan area, which can be vulnerable to disasters, so we decided to build a data center in Chuncheon, which is distant from the metropolitan area." He added, "Later, looking for a place that could be separated from both the metropolitan area and Chuncheon, we chose Sejong City," explaining the reason for selecting Gak Sejong's location.
Gak Sejong is a hyperscale data center far exceeding the size of Gak Chuncheon. It will be built on a 293,697㎡ site, six times larger than Gak Chuncheon?equivalent to 41 soccer fields. It will accommodate 600,000 servers. Naver's technological capabilities in big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics will be concentrated here. Advanced technologies such as robotics and autonomous driving will be extensively applied. The large site will operate autonomous shuttles to enhance productivity in on-site operations.
Perspective view of 'Gak Sejong' scheduled to operate in the second half of this year. (Photo by Naver)
At this location, the advancement of Naver's ultra-large AI 'HyperCLOVA' will also take place. IT Service Headquarters Director Suhwan Jung explained, "HyperCLOVA requires large-scale servers and computing power, so power supply is the most important factor. The key is how much power can be provided per rack (shelf storing batteries)." He added, "We are preparing extensively on how much power to supply per rack and how to manage the heat generated accordingly." He further stated, "Gak Sejong will be the foundation for the growth and global expansion of Naver's recently spotlighted ultra-large AI HyperCLOVA."
Naver plans to disclose its data center operational know-how. Director Soangmin said, "We are documenting the technical details while building Gak Sejong," adding, "We are describing the technologies applied in each part from design to construction and operation of the data center. Once Gak Sejong is completed, we plan to share parts of this information with many people." He continued, "We consider Naver's data center technology to be the highest level domestically. The technology accumulated over 10 years will not fall behind in the global market."
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