Inside the SKA's Fortress of Silence: Dual Faraday Cages Shield Universe-Listening Datacenter

In the remote Western Australian outback, where human radio frequency (RF) interference is nearly absent, engineers are completing a datacenter unlike any other. Serving the monumental Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope – an international project deploying 131,072 antennas across a square kilometer – this facility demands extreme measures to prevent its own computing infrastructure from sabotaging the universe-listening instrument it supports.

Professor Philip Diamond, Director General of the SKA Observatory, confirmed to The Register that construction is nearly finished, including a critical feature: two concentric Faraday cages enveloping the entire computing hall. This double-shielded fortress is necessary because while the SKA's Murchison location was chosen for its natural radio-quietness, standard computing equipment generates disruptive RF noise that could obliterate the faint astrophysical signals the telescope seeks.

Why Silence is Non-Negotiable

• Sensitivity Scale: The SKA's low-frequency antennas will detect signals billions of light-years away – emissions so weak they're drowned out by everyday electronics.
• Computing Paradox: Processing the telescope's expected multiple terabytes of data daily requires ~100 racks of servers, predominantly FPGA-equipped for real-time filtering. These systems inherently emit RF 'noise'.
• Catastrophic Interference: Even minor RF leakage could corrupt observations, rendering the SKA's multi-billion dollar investment scientifically useless.

Engineering Extreme Isolation

The solution is a layered defense:

1. Dual Faraday Cages: Nested metal screens block electromagnetic waves at all frequencies. Every surface – walls, ceiling, floor – acts as a continuous conductive barrier.
2. Sci-Fi Airlocks: Entry points use interlocked shielded doors. "The inner door will not open until the outer door is closed. And they make Star-Trek-like noises as they open and close," Diamond described. This prevents RF leakage during personnel access.
3. Filtered Infrastructure: Power lines and fiber optic cabling entering the facility pass through specialized waveguide filters that block unintended RF transmission.

"People effectively go through airlocks... This isn't just caution; it's fundamental to the science. Stray signals here aren't noise – they're showstoppers." — Prof. Philip Diamond, SKA Observatory Director General

Data Tsunami Meets Cosmic Whisper

The shielded datacenter performs critical preprocessing:

• FPGA-Powered Filtering: Field-programmable gate arrays analyze incoming data streams in real-time, discarding noise and extracting scientifically valuable signals.
• 10TB/s Pipeline: Cleansed data travels via dedicated fiber to supercomputers in Perth for deeper analysis, a link capable of handling 10 terabits per second.
• 2027 Science Verification: Despite full construction extending to 2029, Diamond anticipates early scientific papers from 2027, using the partially completed array – already the world's largest low-frequency telescope.

The Balancing Act Ahead

Challenges remain:

• Funding Gap: The project has secured 80% of required funds; securing the remainder is critical for completion.
• Scientist Ambition vs. Reality: Diamond anticipates tension as researchers push the SKA's capabilities: "The science community’s aspirations... may run ahead of our ability to satisfy them."

This radical infrastructure underscores a growing truth: as scientific instruments probe ever-fainter cosmic signals, the computing supporting them must vanish electromagnetically. The SKA’s silent datacenter isn’t just a technical marvel; it’s a necessary monument to the lengths required to hear the universe’s quietest secrets without our own technology shouting over them.

Source: The Register: SKA Datacenter Construction Progress