Microsoft copies Yahoo!’s chicken coop with tractor shed.

The following blog post is written by Kevin Timmons, ex-Yahoo data center executive.

When Phase 1 opens in Quincy it will be located adjacent to our existing 500,000-square-foot facility.  However, the new datacenter is radically different.  The building will actually resemble slightly more modern versions of the tractor sheds I spent so much time around during my childhood in rural Illinois. 

Tractor shed in my home town of Mt. Pulaski, IL

The building’s utilitarian appearance belies its many hidden innovations. The structure is virtually transparent to ambient outdoor conditions, allowing us to essentially place our servers and storage outside in the cool air while still protecting it from the elements. The interior layout is specifically designed to allow us to further innovate in the ways that we deploy equipment in future phases of the project. And, like any good barn, the protective shell serves to keep out critters and tumbleweeds. Additional phases have been planned for the Quincy site and will be built based on demand.  Those phases will incorporate even more cutting-edge methods to deploy servers and storage in ways that have never been seen before in the industry. 

Scott Noteboom, VP of Yahoo data centers worked for Kevin Timmons and has been pitching the Yahoo Chicken Coop.

Yahoo is Ready for A Data Center Revolution

June 9th, 2010 : Rich Miller

Scott Noteboom of Yahoo during his keynote presentation Wednesday at the 7×24 Exchange conference in Boca Raton, Fla.

Scott Noteboom , the head of data center operations at Yahoo, sees 2010 as a moment of historic opportunity for the data center industry. As growing Internet adoption requires infrastructure everywhere, he says data center builders would do well to note the early history of the automobile industry.

The Yahoo Computing Coop
The end result was the new Yahoo data center in Lockport, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo. Lockport features the first  implementation of the Yahoo Computing Coop (YCC), which operates with no chillers, and will require water for only a handful of days each year. The YCC units are prefabricated metal structures measuring about 120 feet long by 60 feet wide. Each of the three coops has louvers built into the side  to allow cool air to enter the computing area, allowing the entire building to function as an air handler.

If you are interested in the approach’s the Yahoo! gang approach you can go to Megawatt Consulting’s KC Mares.  KC worked for Kevin along with Scott and has been busy designing green data centers for others.

KC has provided data center operations and acquisition services to Google, as well energy and renewable energy options. KC led data center strategy, procuring all data center services and developing several large data centers while leading the charge to reduce energy consumption and costs, achieve carbon neutrality goals and develop large wind and solar projects.

KC MaresKC Mares - MegaWatt Consulting Founder

The Data Center industry is a small world, and people are moving between companies faster than ever.  We’ll see who makes the big career moves in 2011.

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Yahoo VP Data Center Operations preaches Information Factory mindset as way to green the data center

I had the chance to meet Scott Noteboom at Data Center Dynamics in Chicago last week, but missed his talk as I was hosting the other hall while he presented.  We had a nice discussion though later, and discussed the Yahoo Chicken Coop design as I had a chance to interview Chris Page 2 weeks earlier.

Yahoo's Data Center Future, Industrial Data Center Revolution

I had a chance to talk to Chris Page, Yahoo's Director Climate and Energy Strategy at Yahoo! Inc.  I've had the opportunity to watch Chris's presentations over the years at various data center conferences, and I was curious on what she had to share after three years at Yahoo!.

Luckily at AFCOM's Data Center World I got a chance to see Scott present the same talk again.  I really liked Scott's presentation as he presented on many topics I discussed a year ago like The Data Center as an Information Factory.  Here is what I wrote a year ago.

Nov 04, 2009

Can you Green the Data Center? Maybe if you think in terms of an Information Factory

I have been writing on the Green Data Center topic for over 2 years with 1,000 blog posts. And, one of the things I have found is the name “data center” is not an accurate description to the layman of what data centers do. Are data centers the “center of data”?  In the past there was one corporate building that was the place where data was housed for the corporation. The standard for Fortune 500 companies now is to have multiple data centers around the world to provide information availability, disaster recovery, and reliability. How can there be multiple centers of data? If you green the data center what am I supposed to green? These multiple centers?  How?

What I propose is a more accurate description of what data centers are in this economy.  The Data Center is an information factory, a building that makes information suitable for use with information machinery – servers, storage, and networking hardware. Information is the raw material input into the factory. Software running on the hardware processes information increasing the value. Like any other manufacturing process electricity is used to power and cool the machinery.  How much power is used to run these information factories, in 2006 1.5% of the US electricity production was in data centers, doubling 2000 consumption, growing at a 12% annual rate.

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The above is an image Google uses to illustrate its green Information Factory (aka data center).

Here is Scott's talk

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with a point made to demand three things - speed , performance, cost.

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Scott makes the point about Castles vs. Factories.

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Which looks like my point about Fortresses vs. Factories.  :-)

Aug 06, 2009

Data Center Site Selection - Are you building an Information Fortress or a Flexible Information Factory?

Mike Manos writes a long post on his blog driven by Microsoft’s recent decision to move Windows Azure out of Washington State.

The Cloud Politic – How Regulation, Taxes, and National Borders are shaping the infrastructure of the cloud

Yahoo suggests a change in site selection, innovation, and efficiency which leads to a greener data center.

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I could go on about things I liked about Scott's talk as so much of what he presented are ideas I have discussed on this blog.  But, talking about ideas is not nearly as interesting as showing the results.

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Yahoo is setting the bar to share its current data center practices which align with a green data center. 

Yahoo!

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Yahoo's Data Center Future, Industrial Data Center Revolution

I had a chance to talk to Chris Page, Yahoo's Director Climate and Energy Strategy at Yahoo! Inc.  I've had the opportunity to watch Chris's presentations over the years at various data center conferences, and I was curious on what she had to share after three years at Yahoo!.

There has been ample press coverage and the Yahoo! team pulled off data center PR that sets the standard for responsible citizenship.  We don't have to name the others who throw data center events/openings, but few come close to what Yahoo has in being professional.

alt

Yahoo opening buoys hopes for attracting more

By By Jonathan D. Epstein

NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER

Published:September 21, 2010, 7:33 AM

...

Carol Bartz, the Internet giant's CEO, joined Gov. David A. Paterson, Sen. Charles E. Schumer and a host of other state and local politicians in unveiling the new "server farm" at the Town of Lockport Industrial Park.

The project highlights the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's first use of a new environmentally friendly design that relies in large part on Western New York's cooler climate and the availability of low-cost hydropower to conserve energy and save on electricity costs.

"We're thrilled to unveil our world-class data center in Lockport and take an active role in the community," Bartz said. "Yahoo is serious about sustainability and is leading efforts to address climate change. That's why we believe in creating highly efficient data centers that minimize the impact on the environment."

So my first question to Chris was "what is next?"

Chris discussed how a low PUE is just a part of the effort.  There are efforts in power supplies, UPS systems, reliability of systems, load balancing across sites, compute with less watts, and decreasing water.

The Yahoo chicken coop (YCC) design will support Yahoo's expansion into new site construction which logically would mean going to Europe and APAC with the design.  And Chris said the engineering team was confident the YCC can work in many other regions.

But, going after the dozens of small changes is what is next.  Which brings up the approach of holistic system design and Chris used the term the arrival of "Industrial Revolution in Data Centers." 

But the danger of being an industrialists is the "robber baron" persona.

Robber baron is a pejorative term used for powerful 19th century United States businessmen and banker . The term may now relate to any businessman or banker who used questionable business practices to become powerful or wealthy.

Yahoo has demonstrated a socially responsible citizenship in data centers.  And as Chris points out there is an industrial revolution in data center construction.  Data centers are one of the fastest growing industrial segments, and the companies who have the most are the information industrialists.

Who are the companies who have the reputation of these industrialists/robber barons?

List of businessmen who were called robber barons

Yahoo has figured out they don't want to be on this list.  Google too.  The top financials - Wells Fargo, BofA, Citicorp, and JP Morgan are all sensitive to the environmental impact of their future data center construction.

Think about your data center impact to your companies brand.  You don't want to be listed as a data center robber baron who exploits the environment.

Green your data center.

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Yahoo scores PR win with Chicken Coop

I had a chance to interview Chris Page, Director Climate and Energy Strategy for Yahoo!

Part of what I was curious about was what others wrote.  I'll write another post based on the interview.

Here are some creative headlines.

Yahoo Spreads its Wings with 'Chicken Coop' Data Center

Reuters - Matthew Wheeland - ‎8 hours ago‎

Yahoo's latest data center, which we first wrote about earlier this year, brings the decidedly low-tech ideas of ...

Yahoo's Chicken Coop Data Center: Sometimes Low Tech Solutions Are Better

BNET (blog) - Kirsten Korosec - ‎9 hours ago‎

Kirsten Korosec has been a print and online journalist for more than 10 years covering education, politics and ...

Yahoo's new "Chicken Coop" server farm is a building that breathes

Core77.com (blog) - ‎11 hours ago‎

On a heavy Core77 blogging day, my laptop will become uncomfortably hot. And that's just one machine; you can imagine what kind of blistering heat a server ...

Inspired by the farm, Yahoo opens newest green datacenter

SmartPlanet.com (blog) - Andrew Nusca - ‎14 hours ago‎

The facility, just 20 miles from Niagara Falls and the Canadian border, combines the first implementation of Yahoo's “green ...

Yahoo Opens 'chicken Coop' Green Data Center

PC World - James Niccolai - ‎Sep 19, 2010‎

Yahoo is opening a data center in upstate New York that uses a radical new design to reduce energy costs by 40 percent, ...

Yahoo opens doors to self-cooled data center

CNET - Martin LaMonica - ‎Sep 19, 2010‎

Yahoo's Chicken Coop data center design takes advantage of the prevailing winds and outdoor air for almost all its cooling. ...

Yahoo Scores a Coop with Green Data Center Opening

Triple Pundit - Leon Kaye - ‎49 minutes ago‎

If you have ever visited a data center, you have to agree that they are pretty cool. ...

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Yahoo's Greenest Data Center opens, PUE 1.08

Yahoo opens its greenest data center today with a PUE of 1.08.

PCWorld reports.

Yahoo Opens 'chicken Coop' Green Data Center

By James Niccolai, IDG News

Yahoo is opening a data center in upstate New York that uses a radical new design to reduce energy costs by 40 percent, the company said Monday.

The data center in Lockport, near Niagara Falls, is cooled almost entirely by outside air that blows through the long data center halls to keep server equipment cool.

That means the data center doesn't need a chiller to provide cold water for cooling, avoiding one of the most energy-intensive pieces of equipment in a traditional data center.

The IT gear will be run primarily by hydroelectric power from the local utility, New York Power Authority. Yahoo says it's the most eco-friendly data center it has built.

The official Yahoo press release is here, and they are playing the green/sustainability card.

Yahoo! Opens State-of-the-Art Data Center in Western New York

Yahoo!'s Lockport Facility Was Awarded a $9.9 Million Sustainability Grant from the Department of Energy for Its Leadership in Designing Energy-Efficient Data Centers

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & LOCKPORT, N.Y., Sep 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) today unveiled one of the world's most energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective data center buildings in Lockport, Niagara County, New York. The state-of-the-art facility uses a combination of innovative data center design and Lockport's naturally cool climate to dramatically decrease its electricity use throughout the year.

Yahoo! is hosting a ribbon cutting event with Yahoo! executives and elected officials, including Yahoo! CEO, Carol Bartz; Yahoo! Executive Vice President of Service Engineering and Operations, David Dibble; U.S. Senator for New York, Charles E. Schumer (D-NY); New York Governor, David Paterson; U.S. Representative, Christopher Lee (R-NY-26); New York State Senator, George D. Maziarz (R-62); New York State Assemblymember, Jane Corwin (R-142); and New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and CEO, Richard M. Kessel.

"We're thrilled to unveil our world-class data center in Lockport and take an active role in the community," said Yahoo!'s Carol Bartz. "Yahoo! is serious about sustainability and is leading efforts to address climate change. That's why we believe in creating highly efficient data centers that minimize the impact on the environment."

Yahoo has successfully positioned itself as a leader in green data centers, and becomes the benchmark others are measured against.

The Lockport facility will have the first implementation of Yahoo!'s green data center design, called the Yahoo! Computing Coop (YCC). The best-in-class, energy-efficient design was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2010 with a sustainability grant of $9.9 million, the largest award received from the DOE's recent Green IT grant program. The facility uses a combination of Lockport's cool climate, prevailing winds and hydropower to keep the 120-by-60-foot server buildings cool. The YCC design, dubbed the "Yahoo! Chicken Coop," mimics the long, narrow design of a chicken coop to encourage natural air flow 100 percent of the time, resulting in an annualized average of less than 1 percent of the buildings' total energy consumption being required to cool the facility. Yahoo!'s Lockport data center is among the most efficient data centers in the world, with a low power usage effectiveness1 (PUE) of 1.08, compared with the industry average of 1.922.

Thanks to CNET is a picture supplied by Yahoo of the chicken coop design.

Yahoo opens doors to self-cooled data center

by Martin LaMonica

Yahoo's Chicken Coop data center design takes advantage of the prevailing winds and outdoor air for almost all its cooling.

Yahoo's Chicken Coop data center design takes advantage of the prevailing winds and outdoor air for almost all its cooling.

(Credit: Yahoo)

Looks a little different than what Yahoo has done in the past.

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