Google Confirms $600M South Carolina Data Center

miller60 writes "Google continues its furious data center building program in the Carolinas. Today the company announced a $600 million data center in Berkeley County, South Carolina. Google has already begun construction on a $600 million data center project in Lenoir, North Carolina, and is in the permitting process on another huge project in Richland County, South Carolina. Google's appetite for large tracts of land and cheap power are driving the site location process. Similar huge projects in central Washington are already transforming the tiny town of Quincy, where real estate prices have spiked, with open land fetching as much as 10 times its previous value."

Maps

[needacoolnickname (716083)]

Any of these sites on Google Maps?

Re:

[garcia (6573)]

Use My Maps [google.com] and plot it for everyone else.

That or use custom KML(Z)s with it already plotted.

Re:Maps

[by Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't look like it. I live about a mile from the site. I just looked on Google Maps and Google Earth and I see where it is but the maps do not show that the ground has been broken yet. Trust me, the construction began months ago. They have already cleared a lot of the woods. That doesn't show up yet. As someone in the IT field living just down the street, we are glad that Google is coming... but we do not kid ourselves either. I told a co-worker the other day that an intellectual company like Google does not locate their data center int the state that is 50th in education for the local talent pool. It may have been underplayed but it was said that they are under no obligation to hire from the local economy. Either way. I personally welcome our new Google overlords here in Goose Creek. My advice? Not matter what the locals say, do not eat the grits. I have lived here since 1977 and those things are disgusting. Stick with oatmeal... ya'll.

Re:

[WhatAmIDoingHere (742870)]

I live in New England and would kill for some QUALITY grits up here.

Also, Google Earth isn't updated daily, the images of my house show the car in the driveway of the people who lived here before the people who lived here lived here.

Re:Maps

[NitsujTPU (19263)]

I thought that liking hot grits was central to the Slashdot experience.

It's like they say, Slashdot has changed.

Re:Maps

[ezratrumpet (937206)]

South Carolina education is a little deceptive. The schools in the Myrtle Beach area are extraordinary, with high teacher pay, excellent resources, and strong student achievement. Cross the county line, and you find one of the most underfunded and outdated school districts in the United States.

If you're looking for smart, capable people in South Carolina (or California, or Idaho, or wherever), you'll find smart, capable people - as long as compensation is strong.

Most of Google's hires may be from out of state, but they will quickly become South Carolinians through property purchase, taxation, and spending their money within the local service economy.

Teaching them to love Lowcountry shrimp boil will take a few weeks; teaching them to say "y'all" as a pronoun will take a few months; teaching them to refer to all soft drinks as "Coke" takes one to two years. But now I'm offtopic.....

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[packeteer (566398)]

And it will take generations for them to catch onto boiled peanuts.

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[superpulpsicle (533373)]

This is not necessarily a 100% draw for experienced talents. Moving to a region with only a small handful of companies leave you at the mercy of the company (google in this case). If you were out in NY or CA packed with jobs, you can always find the next thing when things don't work out. In south carolina you don't have that option. People do not work 10+ years at companies anymore.

You will likely take a paycut since the area is cheaper. After that, you will lose value if you try to move out of SC. I

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[FooAtWFU (699187)]

If grits are disgusting, you're eating them wrong. You need good hominy grits (I don't care for the yellow kind) that you cook, serve, and let solidify to about the consistency of mashed potatoes.... In fact, come to think of that, you can treat them fairly similarly to mashed potatoes in many respects... DON'T drown them in butter or syrup or salt them to death. That IS disgusting. Just a little little bit of butter, mmmaybe a sprinkling of raisins, and you have a good munchy substance to fill you up with

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[DerekLyons (302214)]

Doesn't look like it. I live about a mile from the site. I just looked on Google Maps and Google Earth and I see where it is but the maps do not show that the ground has been broken yet. Trust me, the construction began months ago.

I don't think you or the OP AC realise that Google [Earth|Maps] data is updated on a _very_ irregular basis with an emphasis on large metropolitan areas. (Which Charleston isn't.) Data can be as much as six years out of date.

.... at a geometric rate....

[tiltowait (306189)]

Makes you wonder if this (Business)Week's cover story is right, Is Google Too Powerful? [businessweek.com]

No matter how cheap...

[RESPAWN (153636)]

Does anybody notice that despite the fact that land an power is cheap in Arkansas and Mississippi, they still haven't opened data centers there? :)

I would love for them to open one in the Little Rock area. I wonder if I could convince them somehow...

If it lasts

[dorpus (636554)]

Will it be one of those weird corporate mega-projects that will get shut down as soon as its built? The corporation had no intention of using the facility, it was just building something for the sake of pleasing investors, getting tax breaks. This is routine business in IT -- Silicon Valley was full of billion-dollar empty campuses when I lived there.

How about building a data center at Swamp Castle

[mamono (706685)]

Don't like her? What's wrong with her. She's beautiful, she's rich, she's got huge ... tracts of land.

Re:How about building a data center at Swamp Castl

[smitty_one_each (243267)]

Let's not bicker and argue over who should carbon offset who.

So much cruft

[andy314159pi (787550)]

It sounds like the expansion of the internet is making these search engines use alot more hardware and energy to make all of the content searchable. If only we could automate methods of removing some of the cruft from being included in the search domain then the whole process would be more efficient. I'm mostly referring to the seemingly endless amount of automatically generated content and just plain bizarre content that searches always turn up.

We're not all hillbillies here...

[dr_strang (32799)]

It's SO refreshing to see stereotypes painted with such a broad brush.

I for one am excited to see how this works out. I will definitely send them my resume. South Carolina is a fantastic place to work and live, and with more high-tech jobs like this coming to the state and the area, it can only get better.

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[syrion (744778)]

I'm also a bit confused by the idea that this is motivated by real estate prices. The Lenoir data center makes no sense in that context. North Carolina is the tenth most populous state, and good chunks of it aren't actually places you can live. (The western third of the state is all wrinkly.)

Re:

[fessor eli (977181)]

That particular location is close to one of the nation's unique cities, Charleston, and is actually a fairly progressive part of the state. Of course, that's "progressive" compared to the rest of the state. (I grew up in another county.) Google will have to decide to get involved in improving the education system if they want long-term growth there, like Toyota has done in my now-home state, Kentucky. Otherwise, they will be importing every employee from elsewhere, and will eventually have trouble drawing t

Re:

[dr_strang (32799)]

I don't think this stereotyped dearth of intelligent and motivated people is a reality. I've lived and worked in Charleston for a long time in the technology sector and I've worked with and known many smart, creative and motivated people. There's a large software company here and a lot of advanced industry in the area as well. Just because the DC is in Berkeley County doesn't mean you have to live in a trailer out in the boondocks (but you can if you like)... It's right next to Charleston County as well as

Re:

[couchslug (175151)]

Many SC companies draw on the large retired/separated military population. Charleston AFB will be a steady source of people.
Good companies can cherry-pick employees from many such sources in SC.

Re:

[dr_strang (32799)]

Wow, that was a pretty awesome troll.

Not just the cost of the power

[drew_92123 (213321)]

keep in in that it's not just how much the power costs, but how much is available in the area... some areas simply don't have an extra 40MW to spare... Here in Quincy they will be pulling around 200MW within 3-5 years...

How much does "power" cost?

[NotQuiteReal (608241)]

At what point does it make sense to "make your own power"?

Seriously, I have done no research, and I know there is an economy of scale issue, but if you really need lots of power, in one location, surely it must become cost effective at some point to build your own generator.

With no transmission loss, right-of-way issues, delivery infrastructure, etc. there has to be some break-even-point. Wouldn't the entire output of a 200MW plant be cheaper if it was just for a single on-site consumer?

Discuss amongst yourselves, thank you.

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[rm999 (775449)]

"delivery infrastructure"

What about the delivery infrastructure of coal shipments? I think the last thing Google wants to do is get into the power plant business.

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[uab21 (951482)]

500MW will cost you about one billion dollars (can you hear the pinky?). 200MW is likely not half the cost, so we are talking several hundred million dollars. Up front. Not including fuel and maintenance costs. There are some customers that have smaller generating capacity on site, but they generally have need for more than power, say for example, chemical refineries that can use the waste heat or steam, pressure for pumping a pipeline, or other uses.

Re:How much does "power" cost?

[ScentCone (795499)]

At what point does it make sense to "make your own power"?

Umm... at what point does it ever make sense to build a datacenter that doesn't have the ability to run off its own power? South Carolina can experience some grid-pummeling weather, sometimes. If Google plans on having that facility up 24x7, there will be a small fleet of diesel generators and a small ocean of fuel sitting right there to keep it afloat in a pinch. Especially when what they're really up to isn't growing for more search, but growing to host web-based business apps and other stuff that they'll be telling people they can really depend on.

Now, just because you CAN run off your own power doesn't mean you want to do it for long, since it's very maintenance intensive.

Its called a co-lo

[tacokill (531275)]

What you are talking about is a co-lo power station. Lots of plants have these. 3M in Austin, TX comes to mind as does TI in Dallas and Sherman, TX. I am quite certain Lockheed in Ft Worth has one as well. Basically -- they are pretty common.

Most the co-los I am familiar with are in the 10-20MW range. I've never seen one larger so I am guessing that is the point where "it makes sense".

How many people does this require in the area?

[AtlanticCarbon (760109)]

Can someone explain to me what a data center really is? I just imagine a bunch of servers. How many people does this require to be present? It must be a lot to drive up housing prices but I'm curious what all these people do.

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, basically a data center is just a large bunch of servers organized nicely in racks with reliable power, cooling, and connectivity.

Obviously a few people are needed to maintain a data center, but in a good organization with standardized hardware, OS, and software platforms, and disciplined backup/restore procedures, remarkably few.

Dude, let it go

[UbuntuDupe (970646)]

Berkeley County, South Carolina?

They're building a new facility on the opposite coast, just cover up the fact that they never realized they were talking to the government of the wrong Berkeley the whole time?

Guys: just give up. It's not worth spending hundreds of millions of dollars to avoid saying, "oops, we goofed".

Perfect timing!

[superflippy (442879)]

I live in Richland County, SC and will be selling my house in the next couple of months. So if you want to work for Google and really like to plan ahead I can get you a good deal on a nice 3BR before the prices go up!

Google: SC and OR; Microsoft: Quincy, WA

[steveha (103154)]

The summary leaves me scratching my head because the Quincey project is a Microsoft data center, nothing to do with Google. Google is building a data center in The Dalles, Oregon, right on the Columbia River.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?com mand=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001262 [computerworld.com]

Quincy is near enough to the Columbia to have cheap hydro power, but I just looked at the map and it's not right on the Columbia like The Dalles. I wonder if Google will use water from the Columbia to help cool their data center; and I wonder what the plan is for the Quincy data center. (Ordinary air conditioning? That part of Washington is cold in the winter but hot in the summer.)

steveha

Re:

[SnowZero (92219)]

A river can still help though; They could use river water in evaporative cooling towers, just like many nuclear plants do today.

Nucular in SC

[gatzke (2977)]

In SC, we have the highest percentage of electricity supplied from nuclear (nucular?) power, so I have heard.

This may help protect us from a rise in oil prices, I hope.

And we are building more reactors at existing sites. Not only are we a dumping ground for nuclear waste, we also have tons of power available, and our beaches are nice too...

Re:Nice locations

[FooAtWFU (699187)]

Google Maps says it's 558 miles / 8 hours 10 minutes from Berkeley County SC to Washington, DC. By way of comparison, it's just 7 hours 32 minutes from Tampa, Florida. I would not call it "close". Come now. You're in Tennessee? You should know this part of the country better than THAT. Especially if you want to comment on it. Sure, it's five or six hours closer to DC than you, but...

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[doormat (63648)]

Yea, but you're forgetting how close Quincy is to The Gorge [hob.com].

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[d3ik (798966)]

Yes, what better place to build a data center than TORNADO ALLEY.

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[ShaunC (203807)]

Yes, what better place to build a data center than TORNADO ALLEY.

Who says a data center has to be above ground?

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[kestasjk (933987)]

Common sense? Have you seen the size of Google's datacenter warehouses, the amount of electricity and heat dissipation they need?

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[d3ik (798966)]

ShaunC said "If you want cheap tracts of land and cheap electricity, you build a data center in Oklahoma or Kansas".

And if you look it up [wikipedia.org], "Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri are entirely within Tornado Alley"...

I don't know what's more irritating, the clowns arguing about something that they missed the premise of in the first place or the people who are arguing with someone who has been to the DISA [disa.mil] data center in OKC.

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[Emperor Cezar (106515)]

They still have to get people to work there. "Hey, come work for google, in the middle of BFE".

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[irc.goatse.cx troll (593289)]

Not that many people actually. Couple of on site hands, no reason anybody else has to show up. It's a datacenter, not an office complex.

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[Curtman (556920)]

Open land and cheap power, yeah, that's it.

No kidding. If it was really about open land and cheap power there would be up here [google.ca]. Surrounded by empty land and hydro electric power. With the added bonus of being much cooler especially in winter.

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[dr_strang (32799)]

It's pretty obvious you didn't bother to look at a map before you posted this. Or any statistics or BEC information either.

Bzzzt!

Re:Nice locations

[rayzat (733303)]

My bet it has more to do with states that offer massive tax breaks to businesses for moving in. I know North Carolina is famous for it, especially with the new Dell facility in Greensboro and Lenovo in RTP. The Dell deal was so good the state could have employed everyone hired by Dell for 11 years with the tax breaks and loans.

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[couchslug (175151)]

" "Cheap power" is becoming more scarce with no entity will escape the harsh reality. "

Which is why locating in states with nuclear power might have appeal.

Found via Googling, of course!

http://www.nei.org/documents/states_sc.pdf [nei.org]

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_gla nce/states/statessc.html [doe.gov]

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[Belial6 (794905)]

Peak oil.... That's the philosophy that has me worried. After all, I reached my peak entertainment spending last year. That must mean that we are about to run out of entertainment. Oh, what a sad sad world it is going to be....

Reuse

[symbolset (646467)]

Remember, those electrons are 100% recycled, and none of them were harmed in the lighting of those pixels.

Re:Resistance is futile

[SirTalon42 (751509)]

I'm pretty sure I remember reading an article on Slashdot a while back that Google was beginning to run out of space with their current infrastructure (though I think that was several data center announcements ago). Remember that Google pretty much makes their own copy of the internet, as well as having a crap load of data about every single site out there, has to store all the gmail email, all their adsense/adwords data for every customer, and most likely they store all that information in multiple places. Oh yes, can't forget about storing all the videos from youtube/google video, thats probably a LOT of data there, plus its most likely a massive amount of bandwidth as well.