Today I realized that my understanding of how large data centers can get was significantly understated. This realization came as I reviewed Data Center Knowledge’s special report on the world’s largest data centers. I have previously used #5, Microsoft’s Chicago data center, as an example of one of the largest, but was shocked to realize that the largest is almost 60% bigger. Another interesting result is that seven of the top ten are colocation facilities. This is significant because it is often difficult to get colocation facilities to engage in energy efficiency programs, especially after they’re operational. The other three – and the only corporate data centers in the top 10 – are all Microsoft facilities. A number of the facilities (including the largest) are also buildings converted to data centers from other uses. Since these are not purpose-built data centers, my guess would be that they are probably not ideally designed in terms of efficiency.
I’m also disappointed to see that relatively few have energy use or even power capacity listed. In an environment where power is starting to dominate as the primary constraint on data center growth, wouldn’t it make sense to track a list of the largest data centers in terms of energy use?
Here are some other highlights from the report:
#10. SuperNAP (407,000 SF) – Number ten is notable mostly for its power consumption. At 250 MW capacity it boasts densities of up to 1,500 w/SF, made possible through advanced cooling using “a high-density T-SCIF (Thermal Separate Compartment in Facility) containment system to fully separate the hot and cold aisles.”
#7. i/o Data Centers Phoenix ONE (538,000 SF) – This one just seems to keep popping up, with “enormous rooftop array of solar panels that will eventually generate as much as 4.5 megawatts of power for the data center, and a thermal storage system that will allow i/o Data Centers to run chillers for its cooling systems at night when power rates are lower.”
#6. Microsoft’s Dublin Data Center (550,000 SF) – This one operates 100% of the time on outside air through the use of economizers and “Microsoft says it can run its server rooms at temperatures of up to 95 degrees F (35 degrees Celsius),” which should give it an efficiency advantage.
#5. Microsoft Chicago Data Center (700,000 SF) – A large portion of this data center consists of double-stacked 40-foot shipping containers that are each filled with up to 2,000 servers. Containers make the system highly scalable and efficient.
#1. Digital Realty Trust Lakeside Technology Center (1.1 M SF, 100+ MW of power) – In Chicago, this data center used to house the printing presses for the Yellow Book and the Sears Catalog. It was converted to telecom use in 1999 and is now 2nd largest power customer for Commonwealth Edison.
Some people might wonder why a bohemoth such as Google doesn’t show up on this list? Well, it seems that Google likes to focus on many data centers together on a campus, while Microsoft tends to go big, and the report only looks at individual buildings not campuses.
So how big are these? Let’s put it in perspective:
1.1 million square feet is equivalent to just over 19 football fields
250 MW is equivalent to the average power use of about 200,000 American homes
These numbers really speak to the massive amount of computing needed in modern society, but this is actually not where the majority of energy use from data centers come from. According to the US EPA’s 2007 report to Congress, only 38% of data center energy use in the US comes from “enterprise-class” data centers of greater than 5,000 SF. The remaining 62% is used in the smaller data centers, which means that these smaller data centers offer the largest overall chance for energy savings in this industry.
Tags: Data Center, Energy Efficiency, Energy Use, Opportunities, Power
