November 27, 2007 at 12:35Microsoft plans to build a data center in Siberia
Microsoft is discussing plans to build a data center for 10 thousand servers in Irkutsk or Angarsk, said Birger Sten, director of the Russian representative office of Microsoft. Since the news was announced at the celebrations that Microsoft signed a framework agreement with the administration of the Irkutsk region on the full transition of all city and regional administrations to licensed Windows and Office, it could be taken lightly. Like, these are empty promises of Microsoft executives in exchange for real money. But Birger Stan is an engineer by training (he graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology). In theory, he should not throw words in the wind. This means that the project for the construction of a data center in Siberia is possible at least theoretically.
This sensational news, originally published inSiberian Kommersant , and yesterday translated into English , quickly got to Western journalists who instantly dug up additional information , having received a comment from the central office of Microsoft.
So, Birger Stan said that Microsoft is developing a project to build a data center in the Irkutsk region for 10 thousand servers. He explained the choice of location by the stability of energy supply. The region has extremely cheap energy, while such an object consumes about 50 MW of energy. Specialists from the central office confirm that the project is real, and an additional advantage of Siberia is the availability of free cooling of servers, which further reduces operating costs, because cooling accounts for a significant part of all energy costs in any data center.
As you know, in America, data centers are also being built in areas remote from civilization, close to large hydropower plants and nuclear power plants. Energy savings are greater than traffic costs. The assistant to the governor of the Irkutsk region, Andrei Gubov, explained to reporters that the administration is ready to allocate Microsoft land between Angarsk and Irkutsk. It is assumed that the data center will be connected to the Transtelecom fiber optic line.
In general, Microsoft has recently been actively investing in the construction of data centers (obviously, it is preparing to switch to the Live platform). They already have two in the USA, and recently they announced the construction of two more new ones - in Dublin, Ireland (100 thousand servers; $ 500 million investment) and Chicago, USA. The Siberian project is an order of magnitude smaller and one and a half orders of magnitude cheaper, but even with this in mind, experts doubt that a data center may be in demand in the Siberian region, even if all officials polls to Office Live.
An official comment from Microsoft has put everything in its place. They explained that the construction of a data center in Irkutsk is nothing more than one of the topics that was discussed during the discussion of the licensed software supply project. In general, Microsoft compiled a whole world map of suitability for the construction of data centers. There, absolutely the entire territory of the world is painted in a different color, taking into account 35 factors important for such an object (cost of energy, cost of water, etc.). If Siberia is in the green zone - this is a good reason for high-profile statements, so that Birger Stan practically did not deceive his Siberian friends in anything.
Business partners from Microsoft and the Irkutsk administration promised to return to this discussion in the future, after the completion of the transaction for the purchase of Windows and Office, and now, of course, no final decision has been made.
This sensational news, originally published inSiberian Kommersant , and yesterday translated into English , quickly got to Western journalists who instantly dug up additional information , having received a comment from the central office of Microsoft.
So, Birger Stan said that Microsoft is developing a project to build a data center in the Irkutsk region for 10 thousand servers. He explained the choice of location by the stability of energy supply. The region has extremely cheap energy, while such an object consumes about 50 MW of energy. Specialists from the central office confirm that the project is real, and an additional advantage of Siberia is the availability of free cooling of servers, which further reduces operating costs, because cooling accounts for a significant part of all energy costs in any data center.
As you know, in America, data centers are also being built in areas remote from civilization, close to large hydropower plants and nuclear power plants. Energy savings are greater than traffic costs. The assistant to the governor of the Irkutsk region, Andrei Gubov, explained to reporters that the administration is ready to allocate Microsoft land between Angarsk and Irkutsk. It is assumed that the data center will be connected to the Transtelecom fiber optic line.
In general, Microsoft has recently been actively investing in the construction of data centers (obviously, it is preparing to switch to the Live platform). They already have two in the USA, and recently they announced the construction of two more new ones - in Dublin, Ireland (100 thousand servers; $ 500 million investment) and Chicago, USA. The Siberian project is an order of magnitude smaller and one and a half orders of magnitude cheaper, but even with this in mind, experts doubt that a data center may be in demand in the Siberian region, even if all officials polls to Office Live.
An official comment from Microsoft has put everything in its place. They explained that the construction of a data center in Irkutsk is nothing more than one of the topics that was discussed during the discussion of the licensed software supply project. In general, Microsoft compiled a whole world map of suitability for the construction of data centers. There, absolutely the entire territory of the world is painted in a different color, taking into account 35 factors important for such an object (cost of energy, cost of water, etc.). If Siberia is in the green zone - this is a good reason for high-profile statements, so that Birger Stan practically did not deceive his Siberian friends in anything.
Business partners from Microsoft and the Irkutsk administration promised to return to this discussion in the future, after the completion of the transaction for the purchase of Windows and Office, and now, of course, no final decision has been made.