Datenklo

Short description: Cubicles for connectivity at hacker camps

Tents and a "Datenklo" (German, in English "data loo") at the Chaos Communication Camp, Finowfurt 2007

History

The original Datenklo or CCC-Modem was an acoustic coupler modem in the early 1980s for which the Chaos Computer Club made plans and schematics available. The moniker 'loo' refers to an ingenious idea in the construction of the device: The use of rubber cuffs, commonly available as plumbing supplies, to connect the audio transducers to a normal telephone receiver.

The Datenklo name was subsequently repurposed to describe the use of rented portable toilet cubicles to host communications infrastructure at hacker camps:

The most striking thing entering the old military airfield where the Chaos Communication Camp is being held this week is the cables stretched everywhere, across fields, hung from bunkers, most obviously leading into blue porta-potty containers scattered throughout the grounds, retooled to serve as network hubs stuffed with switches and fiber connections instead of semi-sanitary facilities.

Connectivity

The Datenklo provides a temporary wiring closet for the networking equipment required to deliver pervasive connectivity to hacker camp attendees:

Switches furred with wire sit in neat stacks on top of toilet seats, and a wireless access point in the roof broadcasts a local wifi network too. As one of the network administrators explained to me, toilets are the perfect spot for outdoor data hubs – they are weatherproof, mobile, and can easily be locked to keep out drunken party-goers. Cables from the Datenklo lead to a hut called the NOC or network operations center, and are threaded through a window into a series of servers cooled with a portable air conditioner.

Datenklos are interconnected to create the site network, with hacker camp attendees asked to bring their own cables if they would like a wired connection to their tent:

Inside each DK is a power distribution box with circuit breakers, one or two network switches, and a wireless access point. Often they come with a free roll of toilet paper. We expect all camping areas to be within 50m of a Datenklo. Most are closer, but we recommend you bring up to 50m of Cat5 cable if you want to connect to your tent. Likewise, if you want power, it is best to bring a long cable (although it is likely that there will be closer distribution points around the field if you instead bring a 16A commando connector).

Photo of a Datenklo "data toilet" at Electromagnetic Field 2022 hacker camp

The role of Angels

Hacker camps are generally organized and run by volunteers known as angels, and the Network Operation Centre angels not only create the network as part of site build-up and tear it down afterwards, but also connect attendees' cables to the switches in the Datenklo:

Just leave your cables in an obvious position outside the door so we can see them, and someone will be around to connect them up regularly. If this doesn't happen quickly enough, you can follow the instructions on the DK to tweet or SMS us.

Many other roles exist for angels:

While the most obvious angels to most attendees are the helpers operating the cashdesk, checking wristbands at the doors, or selling drinks at the bars, there are many of tasks to be done "behind the scenes" that are barely noticeable (or only become visible when something goes wrong). All of these people, from a new person helping out at a Chaos event for the first time, to the experienced people on the organizing team who do the sophisticated planning in the months and weeks leading up to the event - they are all angels.

Back to the future

Whilst wireless networking and Internet protocols have become the norm for voice and data communication, the Datenklo provides hacker camp attendees with the opportunity to build and learn about Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), turning the Datenklo into a "phone box" of sorts:

One of the most popular functions turned out to be faxing, with around 17 attendees bringing a fax machine and 200+ faxes sent, 100 of which went to @EMFFacsimile - a Fax to Twitter Gateway. A couple of attendees also bought Apple Newton PDAs and modems and got rather excited when they faxed between themselves, possibly for the first time in 30 years.

Photo of a Datenklo "data toilet" at Electromagnetic Field 2022 hacker camp