Microsoft Corporation is building a new type of data center

At the same time, the cost of such a data center is $ 500 million, which, in principle, is almost the usual price for data centers of corporations of this level. So, Microsoft is going to completely change the structure of its existing data center, almost completely rebuilding and expanding it. This need arose due to the constant increase in user activity of various services of the corporation. According to company management, the new data center is a fourth-generation structure, and it was named in the project, Gen4. Gen4 will be completely modular, not only in relation to servers, but also in relation to the general infrastructure (power network, mechanics, water supply, etc.).

As for the servers, they will be installed in special containers, which in size reach the size of ordinary containers for transporting goods. The developers believe that this method of server placement will help to avoid a number of troubles in the event of any failures and accidents. In addition, the modular infrastructure of the data center itself assumes its resistance to external influences. In other words, if a fire, or a hurricane, or something else happens, the data center will be restored very quickly, literally "cube by cube."

It is interesting that each of the containers where the servers are located are independent mini-data centers, since each of them has its own power supply, cooling, etc. The company management believes that this way of hosting servers and the overall structure of the data center is ideal for cloud services.

The modular scheme allows you to reduce capital costs by about 20-40%, which is a very tangible amount if you operate with millions of dollars. Among other things, Microsoft reports that the cost of server maintenance will be significantly reduced in the new data center, which often exceeds the cost of the servers themselves. This is achieved, again, thanks to such a modular structure.

If it is necessary to increase capacity, this can be very easily done by simply adding a few mini data centers that will quickly fit into the general scheme of the uterus data center. This is another point that allows us to talk about significant cost savings. Most likely, after creating its new data center (it will be located in South Virginia), Microsoft will also rebuild its other data centers by converting them into structures like Gen4.

Source .