Google's Data Center Strategy Revealed

InformationWeek Daily - Monday, Dec 03, 2007

Google's Data Center Strategy Revealed For months, I've been trying to get Google to discuss its data center strategy. My approach was flawed. I could have gotten more information at a Rotary Club luncheon this week in Hickory, North Carolina. Until recently, Google didn't talk to anyone about the data centers it's building around the world at a cost of about $600 million each, but company officials realized they needed to open up as the locals started asking questions about the tall fences, bulldozers, and dust being kicked up in their communities. So Google now talks strategy with the people directly affected. As reported by John Dayberry in the Hickory Record, the manager of Google's under-construction data center in Lenoir, N.C., met yesterday with folks at the Hickory Rotary Club. Tom Jacobik told the group of about 100 that Google's data center there could be operational before year's end or early in 2008. Among the tidbits gleaned: Google plans to employ approximately 200 people at the facility. (That seems to be the rule of thumb for new Google data centers.) Google's getting involved in IT skills education and retraining at local colleges. And Jacobik, one-time director of tactical operations for Oracle, is helping supervise construction of another Google data center in Charleston, S.C. Last week, Google officials were in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they addressed the Chamber of Commerce's quarterly meeting. Ken Patchett (he manages Google's data center in The Dalles, Ore.) gave a status report on Google's Council Bluffs facility, answered some questions, and dodged others. As reported by the Des Moines Register, Patchett also had breakfast at Duncan's Cafe on Main Street. (Check out the picture; I'll take two eggs scrambled, toast, black coffee.) Patchett gave a "no comment" when a Register reporter asked about the number of servers deployed by Google worldwide. And when local farmer Bruce Barnett asked just what Google planned to do with 1,000 acres the company purchased south of town, he was told that Google was still thinking about that. Despite Patchett's reticence, more details of Google data center strategy emerged: Google's buying up additional land near its rural data centers. And Google's building data centers amid the corn fields of Iowa, in part, because physical proximity leads to faster search results. In Google's business, milliseconds count. In July, two editors from The Dalles Chronicle were invited inside Google's sparkling new data center in The Dalles, Ore. Patchett admits to hiring away a talented IT manager from a local business and getting an earful for it, but lays out a long list of community-development efforts. Google joined the local Chamber of Commerce, and it's helping the local library, fire department, and animal shelter. On the subject of Google's Oregon data center (pictures here), we learn that Google got a 15-year tax break -- only the second of that length in state history -- and that it qualified for that break by promising to pay an average salary that's 150% above the county's average wage, among other investment and employment obligations. Google's data center strategy comes into clearer focus with each town hall meeting. Charleston, here I come. What do you think about Google's storage plans? Feel free to leave a comment on the Google Blog. John Foley [email protected] www.informationweek.com
"A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Winners, Losers In Google's 700-MHz Spectrum Plans Google's entry into the spectrum auction could be a boost to companies like Frontline Wireless, which aims to build out a hybrid private/public network. Related Stories: Google Commits To Wireless Spectrum Bid AT&T's Spectrum Buy Rearranges Pieces On The 700-MHz Board 700-MHz Winds Start To Shift Google's Android Could Provide Sustenance For Mobile Linux Facebook Tempers Beacon Ad Features, Users Respond Actions taken on external Web sites will continue to appear at the top of a Facebook user's News Feed, but only if they opt-in. FBI's 'Bot Roast II' Leads To Alleged New Zealand Mastermind The teen's botnet group is responsible for taking control of more than 1 million computers through the use of malware, the FBI alleges. IBM Endorses Sun's OpenSolaris On The Mainframe IBM also put its stamp of approval on Sun's recently introduced virtualization platform called xVM. Generation 'Y' Loves Google, Telecommuting, Survey Finds The interns polled said they also place a high priority on information security and balancing security against usability. Microsoft's Xbox 360 Fall Update Set For Release The changes include new parental controls that let parents set limits on the amount of time their children can spend playing Xbox games during a given period. TiVo Patent Upheld In Suit Against EchoStar Despite an endorsement from the USPTO, a decision on the infringement case by the U.S. Court of Appeals is still pending. Winners, Losers In Google's 700-MHz Spectrum Plans Google's entry into the spectrum auction could be a boost to companies like Frontline Wireless, which aims to build out a hybrid private/public network. Google's Android Could Provide Sustenance For Mobile Linux Google's Open Handset Alliance and its use of Apache V2 public license, could prove as a proof-of-concept for some companies, ABI analysts suggest. Google Commits To Wireless Spectrum Bid The winner of the auction will have to pay at least $4.6 billion for the so-called "C Block" portion of the spectrum. Microsoft Drops Details On Silverlight 2.0 The Web presentation technology takes better advantage of the .NET development environment and should make it easier for programmers to create rich media applications. Z4 Sues Microsoft Over Windows Vista, Office Fresh off its $142 million court victory, z4 Technologies claims Microsoft still violates patents it holds for technology that blocks attempts to use a single password. Asterpix To Debut Hyperlinks For Video The company's technology shows a flashing circle or a dotted rectangle that lets users navigate through the video and get information on objects displayed on the screen. All Our Latest News See InformationWeek's daily breaking news on your mobile device, visit wap.informationweek.com and sign up for daily SMS notifications.	Winners, Losers In Google's 700-MHz Spectrum Plans Facebook Tempers Beacon Ad Features, Users Respond FBI's 'Bot Roast II' Leads To Alleged New Zealand Mastermind IBM Endorses Sun's OpenSolaris On The Mainframe Generation 'Y' Loves Google, Telecommuting, Survey Finds Microsoft's Xbox 360 Fall Update Set For Release Virtualization At The Desktop? Examine how more than 250 companies plan to adopt server virtualization technology in this recent InformationWeek Research report, Server Virtualization. The BI Explosion Examine the business intelligence strategies of 500 companies, including deployment drivers and challenges, spending plans, and vendor selection, in this recent InformationWeek Research report. Last CIO Standing: Joke Contest As I've said several times, I'm committed to passing along every CIO joke -- both by and about CIOs -- that I hear. Unfortunately, I don't have a joke this time. But I do have a little bit of insight that concerns a certain top technology executive's sense of humor -- or lack thereof. The Incompleteness Theory Of Open Source, Continued After my last post about how "failed" open-source projects aren't really failures at all, a colleague of mine provided me with more perspectives on that situation. The very way open source works, he claimed, is like an amortization of risk against failure in software development. BlackBerry 9000 Details And Image Leaked Details and specs of the much-anticipated, touch screen iPhone killer, the BlackBerry 9000, have supposedly been leaked. Let's take a look. Google Wants It All When It Comes To Wireless Google put months of speculation to rest today by officially announcing that it will bid in the FCC 700 MHz spectrum auction come January. It might eventually have its own mobile platform, offer all kinds of mobile services and have spectrum, but can Google feasibly run its own wireless network? Could Linux Help Bring Both Koreas Together? People in South Korea speak of folks in North Korea more as lost brothers than bitter enemies. Over the years the two have made various rapprochements, but now it looks like North and South are teaming up on a whole new kind of joint project: a Korean-language Linux distribution. Motorola's CEO Calls It Quits Some would say it is about time. After a troubling year for its handset business and massive shareholder pressure, Motorola's CEO Ed Zander has agreed to vacate his chair at the end of the table. He'll hand it over to Motorola chief operating officer Greg Brown. The real question is, will this change of leadership be what Motorola needs to turn things around? Zumobi Talks Widgets And Mobile 2.0 A few weeks ago I sat down to discuss Mobile 2.0 with handset giant Nokia at Mobile Internet World. This time I wanted to deepen the conversation and cover mobile widgets with Beth Goza, Senior Marketing Manager at startup Zumobi. Guess what, widgets are key to bringing Web 2.0 to the third screen. Police Claim Exploding Mobile Phone Did Not Kill South Korea Man Yesterday the blogosphere exploded with news that an exploding cell phone may have killed a man in South Korea. Now police claim the combustible handset did not play a role in the man's demise. What gives? Shop Google, Earn Airline Miles Google is taking a page from the credit card companies by incorporating an airline miles reward program as part of Google Checkout this month. AMD Opens Bangalore R&D Center When you get CEO Hector Ruiz to fly into India to open up a new engineering facility, you know AMD is getting serious about 45nm quad-core chips. Microsoft Rumored To Release A Windows Mobile Update Although there aren't many details currently available, word on the street is that Microsoft has previewed an update to its smartphone operating system, Windows Mobile 6, to the lucky few attending the annual Mobius conference. Mobile Application Acceleration: Deliver on the Promise of Global Flexibility -- Riverbed Technology Read this Riverbed performance brief to learn how your company can accelerate enterprise applications and allow remote users and globally distributed teams to improve their productivity. Featured Jobs: ITT Corporation seeking Associate Program Manager in Fort Wayne, IN Agilent seeking Quality Control Analyst in Boulder, CO Hayes Group LLC seeking Business Analyst in Baltimore, MD Fulcrum Microsystems seeking Networking Software Engineers in Calabasas, CA Blue Cross Blue Shield Association seeking Production Support Analyst II in Chicago, IL For more great jobs, career-related news, features and services, please visit our "Career Center. Try InformationWeek's RSS Feed Discover all InformationWeek's sites and newsletters Recommend This Newsletter To A Friend Do you have friends or colleagues who might enjoy this newsletter? Please forward it to them and point out the subscription page. More than 20,000 IT terms, more than 20,000 definitions: All at your fingertips, all in TechEncyclopedia Saw a TechWeb feature you want to see again? You are subscribed as #emailaddr#. To unsubscribe from, subscribe to, or change your E-mail address for this newsletter, please visit the InformationWeek Subscription Center. Update your subscriber profile.
Note: To change your E-mail address, please subscribe your new address and unsubscribe your old one. Keep Getting This Newsletter Don't let future editions of InformationWeek Daily go missing. Take a moment to add the newsletter's address to your anti-spam white list: [email protected] If you're not sure how to do that, ask your administrator or ISP. Or check your anti-spam utility's documentation. Thanks. We take your privacy very seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy. InformationWeek Daily Newsletter A free service of InformationWeek and the TechWeb Network. Copyright (c) 2007 CMP Media LLC 600 Community Drive Manhasset, N.Y. 11030 © 2007  |  CMP Technology LLC  |  Privacy Statement  |  Terms Of Service