$700 Million Google Data Centers To Open In China

Google data centers are known all over the world for their eco friendliness, so the word of three brand new data centers to open in China is a welcome piece of news in the industry.

Despite political tension between US and China, and some uncomfortable past experiences regarding search censorship and the infamous hacking incident, Google is bringing its ethical data center practices to Asia with $700 million total investment, said Google’s Asian-Pacific President Daniel Alegre.

If past experience of eco-friendly data centers is anything to go by the new center will be built according to the green standards Google has embraced in all of its data centers and offices since the beginning of the company.

This time around Google is piloting a unique cooling system to be used at the Taiwan data center. According to a Google spokesperson, the new method is based on nighttime cooling and thermal energy storage system. Large quantities of water will be cooled at night when the temperatures are at their lowest and power resources more readily available. Cool water will be stored in special insulated tanks where the low temperatures will be retained. In the daytime when temperatures rise and power is more costly, this cold water will be used to cool the data center.

In the past Google data centers became famous for using ‘free’ cooling techniques such as using the surrounding air and used toilet water to cool Google facilities.

The new data centers in China will provide users faster access to a variety of Google products and help meet the high demand for online services in the fastest growing new Internet user community in the world.

The opening of the $300 million Taiwan center is scheduled for the second half of 2013, with the other two centers to follow later.

With the construction of data centers in Hong Kong and Singapore already in progress, Google boasts a presence in 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Indonesia and Thailand. The Eastern expansion of the global giant can mean more business opportunities and better connectivity in that region.

Source