What is the First Greenpeace Data Center Target? Apple? Google? Microsoft?

Datacenterknowledge blogs on how quickly Apple is building its $1 billion dollar data center.

Apple Moving Quickly on NC Project

July 28th, 2009 : Rich Miller

apple-ncApple is known for keeping its new technology secret prior to launch. So it’s not surprising that the company has had little to say about its $1 billion data center project in North Carolina. The new iData Center may not get the fanfare of a MacWorld keynote when it launches, but one thing is clear: Apple plans to move quickly to the construction phase.

“It’s my understanding that they want to have bulldozers on-site in mid-August,” said Scott Millar, execurtive director of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp. “They’re moving ahead rapidly with permitting and acquiring the land, with the intent of hitting the ground running.”

And, after writing my own blog entry on Greenpeace’s painting “Hazardous Products” on HP’s roof , the same PCWorld points out how successful Greenpeace has been in modifying Apple’s environmental position.

Greenpeace's aggressive tactics may turn off a lot of people, but they do get results. In 2006 the group launched an all-out PR war on Apple, which at the time was using PVC and BFRs in many of its products. Fast-forward to 2009, and Apple's new computer lines are virtually free of these toxic chemicals.

While Cupertino didn't exactly play nice with Greenpeace, there's little doubt the environmental group's constant badgering had an impact on Apple's green policy.

How can Greenpeace, not already have a plan in place to address Apple’s data center for its environmental impact?

Now, you could say Greenpeace why not go after Google or Microsoft?  Greenpeace could, but why haven’t they already.  It is not worth it for media coverage.  Going after Apple would get people’s attention.

If not Apple, who else makes sense to go after if you were Greenpeace?

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IDG Publications Have You Seen Oracle’s Data Center Construction?

I had a a laugh watching the news about Oracle’s data center and the announcement by the local gov’t officials regarding the facility.  I wrote my own blog entry about the Sequoia data center presentation.

But, I’ve seen the data center site, and there hasn’t been construction this year, and the only evidence of construction is a bit of foundation work.  There is no electrical infrastructure or super structure for the data center. The below picture and press would make you think the site is a failed data center construction project put on hold.

I tried to get an aerial map from google and bing.com, but the pictures are too old to show the construction site foundation. 

DataCenterKnowledge has a post referencing the local Salt Lake City paper.

Oracle Halts Utah Data Center Project

July 8th, 2009 : Rich Miller

Oracle's planned Utah Compute Center in West Jordan, Utah. State officials say Oracle has halted construction on the project.

Oracle's planned Utah Compute Center in West Jordan, Utah. State officials say Oracle has halted construction on the project.

Oracle has halted construction on a $300 million data center project in West Jordan, Utah in a move that appears to be tied to the company’s pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems. The construction stoppage was reported this morning by the Salt Lake Tribune, with Utah economic development officials saying the company has “put it on hold for a little while” while waiting for the economy to rebound.

Oracle unveiled the West Jordan project last May, when company president Safra Catz said the new facility “will allow us to support our growing On Demand business, as well as the technology infrastructure to support our research and development and customer service requirement.” Oracle touted its Project

The IDG news network picked this up and spread the news even more.

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  1. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center | ITworld

    Jul 9, 2009 ... The move could be tied to its pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
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IDG Publications Have You Seen Oracle’s Data Center Construction?

I had a a laugh watching the news about Oracle’s data center and the announcement by the local gov’t officials regarding the facility.  I wrote my own blog entry about the Sequoia data center presentation.

But, I’ve seen the data center site, and there hasn’t been construction this year, and the only evidence of construction is a bit of foundation work.  There is no electrical infrastructure or super structure for the data center. The below picture and press would make you think the site is a failed data center construction project put on hold.

I tried to get an aerial map from google and bing.com, but the pictures are too old to show the construction site foundation. 

DataCenterKnowledge has a post referencing the local Salt Lake City paper.

Oracle Halts Utah Data Center Project

July 8th, 2009 : Rich Miller

Oracle's planned Utah Compute Center in West Jordan, Utah. State officials say Oracle has halted construction on the project.

Oracle's planned Utah Compute Center in West Jordan, Utah. State officials say Oracle has halted construction on the project.

Oracle has halted construction on a $300 million data center project in West Jordan, Utah in a move that appears to be tied to the company’s pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems. The construction stoppage was reported this morning by the Salt Lake Tribune, with Utah economic development officials saying the company has “put it on hold for a little while” while waiting for the economy to rebound.

Oracle unveiled the West Jordan project last May, when company president Safra Catz said the new facility “will allow us to support our growing On Demand business, as well as the technology infrastructure to support our research and development and customer service requirement.” Oracle touted its Project

The IDG news network picked this up and spread the news even more.

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  1. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center | ITworld

    Jul 9, 2009 ... The move could be tied to its pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
    www.itworld.com/.../oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-green-data-center - Cached - Similar -

  2. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green datacenter | Green IT ...

    Jul 9, 2009 ... The move could be tied to Oracle's pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems, which recently opened a similar datacenter.
    www.infoworld.com/.../oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-green-datacenter-752?... - Cached - Similar -

  3. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center | The Industry ...

    Oracle recently halted work on a green data center project in a suburb of Salt Lake City, but it is not clear why.The data center in West Jordan, ...
    www.thestandard.com/.../oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-green-data-center - Cached - Similar -

  4. Oracle Mysteriously Halts Work on Green Data Center « News ...

    Jul 10, 2009 ... Oracle has stopped work on a major new data center in Utah that was intended to support its on-demand business. ...
    news.programsdb.net/oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-on-green-data-center.html - Cached - Similar -

  5. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center - Network World

    Jul 9, 2009 ... Oracle recently halted work on a green data center project in a suburb of Salt Lake City, but it is not clear why.
    www.networkworld.com/.../070909-oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-on.html?... - Cached - Similar -

  6. Oracle Mysteriously Halts Work on Green Data Center - Network ...

    Jul 9, 2009 ... Oracle Mysteriously Halts Work on Green Data Center - Network World · Open this link in a new window. submitted by Celeste LeCompte on ...
    pro.gigaom.com/.../oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-on-green-data-center-network-world/ - Cached - Similar -

  7. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center - Topix

    Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center. Oracle recently halted work on a green data center project in a suburb of Salt Lake City, ...
    www.topix.com/.../oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-on-green-data-center - Cached - Similar -

  8. Silobreaker: Oracle Mysteriously Halts Work on Green Data Center

    Jul 10, 2009 ... Oracle mysteriously halts work on green datacenter. The move could be tied to Oracle's pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems, ...
    www.silobreaker.com/oracle-mysteriously-halts-work-on-green-data-center-16_2262446436316610565 - Cached - Similar -

  9. Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center ( - Internet ...

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  10. Oracle Mysteriously Halts Work On Green Data Center

    Jul 9, 2009 ... Twitter Oracle mysteriously halts work on green data center The move could be tied to its pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems By Chris ...
    newswire.webprowire.com/summaries/2164024.html - Cached - Similar -

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Cheap Data Center Space, Shuttered Retailers

MSNBC.com/AP has an article about empty big retail space.  The interesting thing about these big retail spaces, is they are built like warehouses.  Seems like a good space to put in containerized data centers as long as you can get the power and network infrastructure in place.

‘Ghostboxes’ haunt communities across U.S.

As big retailers go under, consolidate, blight is monument to lost jobs

Image: Ghostbox

With the recent spate of bankruptcies and store closures, including Circuit City and Linens ’N Things, more abandoned buildings like this Sportsman's Warehouse in Allen Park, Mich., will be added to a struggling commercial real estate market.

View related photos

Carlos Osorio / AP

updated 2:48 p.m. PT, Mon., July 6, 2009

BISMARCK, N.D. - Hundreds of anxious shoppers watched as city officials used power saws to cut 2-by-4s during Home Depot Inc.’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for its 102,700-square-foot building center in Bismarck. Less than three years later, the home improvement retailer shuttered the underperforming store, leaving a big orange empty eyesore on the outskirts of town.

The building, sitting derelict and silent on acres of asphalt, is now listed for sale at $10.5 million. But there’s been little interest in the near windowless warehouse-like building that occupies a lot the size of a dozen football fields.

Or maybe you could even use the space for a content delivery network in strategy locations.

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Eleven Criteria in Site Selection – Green Data Center

Here is an excerpt from Douglas Alger’s Grow a Green Data Center book that lists eleven criteria in site selection.

  • Electrical mix: As discussed in Chapter 2, some energy sources spawn much more carbon dioxide when used to produce electricity than others. Deciding to locate your Data Center in a region where electricity has a lower carbon emissions factor is an excellent way to make the facility greener before design work even begins. (More information about electrical mix is provided in Chapter 4: Powering Your Way to a Greener Data Center.)
  • Weather: Some Data Center energy efficiency measures can only be implemented with the cooperation of Mother Nature. For instance, air side economizers that use outside air to chill a Data Center (and are discussed in Chapter 5: Cooling Your Way to a Greener Data Center) are more practical to use in regions where it’s cold much of the year rather than in areas where it’s usually warm or mild.
  • Building codes: Are the green measures that you intend to include in your building allowed by the regional building codes? If they aren’t, are you willing to either do without that efficiency or else invest the time and effort to negotiate for a variance for your project?

    NOTE

    The Robert Redford Building in Santa Monica, California, houses offices of the Natural Resource Defense Council and in 2004 became one of the first buildings to achieve a LEED platinum rating. Design efforts began in 1999 but the 15,000 square foot (1,393.5 square meter), three-story building was not completed until late 2003.

    Green design elements including rainwater collection, the use of recycled plastic piping (in lieu of copper) and the use of waterless urinals all had to be negotiated with the city because they either conflicted with or else were not addressed by building codes at the time.

  • Workforce proximity: Although not a Data Center design issue per se, the distance that employees commute to reach your facility affects how much carbon dioxide they generate every day. It’s for this reason that some environmental building assessment systems award points for features that promote alternative transportation, such as close proximity to public transit or installing bicycle storage units.

Other Data Center Site Selection Factors

As green as you want your Data Center to be, it’s impractical to select a site solely on its environmental merits. Several other factors should be considered, including:

  • Property zoning: Is construction of a Data Center allowed at the location?
  • Natural disasters: Is the region prone to earthquakes, ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, landslides, fire or other severe events?
  • Pollution: How is the air quality at the location? Is there any risk of IT equipment exposure to dust, industrial byproducts or other contaminants?
  • Interference: Are there any nearby sources of electromagnetic interference (also called radio frequency interference) such as telecommunication signal facilities or airports?
  • Vibration: Are there any nearby sources of vibration such as railroads, major roads or construction?
  • Political climate: Is the region politically stable or do conditions exist that might jeopardize the safety of employees or operation of a Data Center?
  • Flight paths: Is the property within the flight path of an airport, increasing the possibility of a plane crashing onto the site?

Site selection considerations, including how to evaluate the a property’s risk factors and mitigate them, are discussed in greater detail in my previous book on Data Center physical design, “Build the Best Data Center Facility for Your Business.”

The referenced book has more details.

Chapter 2   Choosing an Optimal Site

Assessing Viable Locations for Your Data Center

  • Building Codes and the Data Center Site
  • Site Risk Factors
  • Natural Disasters
  • Pollution
  • Electromagnetic Interference
  • Vibration
  • Political Climates
  • Flight Paths

Evaluating Physical Attributes of the Data Center Site

Relative Location

  • Accessibility
  • Disaster Recovery Options

Pre-Existing Infrastructure

  • Power Analysis
  • Cooling Capabilities
  • Structured Cabling

Amenities and Obstacles

  • Clearances
  • Weight Issues
  • Loading Dock
  • Freight Elevators
  • Problem Areas
  • Distribution of Key Systems
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