Microsoft Plans $500 Million Chicago Data Center

miller60 writes "Microsoft is planning a huge new data center in the Chicago area, as it continues to expand its Internet infrastructure in an effort to keep pace with Google in web-based services. The new facility in Northlake, Ill. may cost more than $500 million and is expected to span 440,000 square feet. Microsoft opened a 470,000 square foot data center in Quincy, Washington earlier this year, and is building a similar facility in San Antonio. Microsoft has also submitted plans for a $500 million data center campus in Dublin, Ireland."

Bad summary. Uses incorrect units.

[140Mandak262Jamuna (970587)]

Please describe how many LOC (libraries of congress) the data center will store. Also give the area in football fields and heights in statue of liberty and the energy consumption in number of homes that could be lit up.

Re:Bad summary. Uses incorrect units.

[Red Flayer (890720)]

FTA (emphasis mine):

Microsoft has been keenly focused on power costs in its data center site location efforts. While 5 cents per kilowatt hour is in the midrange of average state-by-state power costs, it is lower than rates found near many major data center markets such as California (9 cents per kWh) or northern New Jersey (11 center per kWh). Microsoft's data center in Quincy runs on hyrdro power that costs less than 2 centers per kilowatt hour

I don't know how many homes can be lit up by the planned power consumption, but their facility in Quincy WA has energy that costa six licks per kilowatt hour (if you don't recall, it takes three licks to get to a center. Since the cost of the IL facility is 250% that of the WA facility, we can calculate that the cost in the IL facility will be 7.5 licks per kWh.

Furthermore, we know that 5 good licks is an ol'-fashioned ass-whupping, so the power cost will be 1.5 ass-whuppings per kWh.

Sounds like Ballmer will need to work overtime, since he is only budgeted to dispense 1 ass-whupping per hour; the smart money right now would be investing in chair manufacturers.

Re:

[Junior J. Junior III (192702)]

Also, the cost should be given in A-Rods, not dollars.

Re:

[shdwtek (898320)]

And don't forget the measurement of how many Mp3's the data center can store.

Re:

[cayenne8 (626475)]

"And don't forget the measurement of how many Mp3's the data center can store."

Yeah, but, will it run on Linux?

Re:Bad summary. Uses incorrect units.

[Yetihehe (971185)]

No, but will it blend? Into landscape of course.

More work

[El Lobo (994537)]

Great, more work for the IT folk in Chicago. The Quincy data center has created employment for 1200 persons... Not a bad thing.

In related news...

[Billosaur (927319)]

Due to a shortage of skilled workers in Ireland, the Dublin data center will be partially staffed by leprechauns...

Upcoming challenge

[by Anonymous Coward]

The big challenge is going to be getting NetBEUI to work between all those locations.

Re:

[morgan_greywolf (835522)]

The big challenge is going to be getting NetBEUI to work between all those locations.

Errrmmmm...NetBEUI isn't routeab....oh, I get it, you were making a funny.

Here. Let me try:

Another big challenge will be trying to get Bob working on their desktops!

There, did I nail it?

Re:Upcoming challenge

[Barny (103770)]

Another big challenge will be trying to get Vista working on their desktops!

There we go, fixed ^_^

Oh and am I the first to say "imagine a Beowulf cluster o".... nm, windows can't do that.

Re:

[ByOhTek (1181381)]

Only because of the requirement of Beowulf clusters being based on an OSS Operating System. Ignoring that requirement, windows could handle it just fine.

Personally I don't see a technical reason for that requirement, so it strikes me as no more than a pointless marketing requirement, like you see when a recipie on the side of a box of food names ingrediants by their brand names, instead of just what type of they are. (i.e. 2 cups shredded craft cheddar, instead of 2 cups shredded cheddar, or 2 cups velvita

Re:

[CheeseTroll (696413)]

As is your sense of humor!

Re:Upcoming challenge

[aed (156746)]

Who said anything about Windows 2000??
It's going to be a Chicago datacenter... so you and your Windows 2000 are actually 5 years *ahead* :))

Re:

[ByOhTek (1181381)]

Ahh, reading that reminded me of something.

A successful individual compares his/her accomplishments to his/her goals.

An unsuccessful individual compares his/her accomplishments to his/her competitors.

The joke would have been funny if MS still used NetBEUI. But now, it's just old and lame.

Lessons learned in Chicago

[suso (153703)]

Just make sure you reinforce the concrete walls with titanium. ;-)

Re:Lessons learned in Chicago

[StarfishOne (756076)]

It will be protected by Itanium walls and a ChairLauncher which can launch at a rate of 40 standard Ballmers per minute.

Re:

[sledge_hmmer (1179603)]

I can't wait for the next Mission Impossible movie where Tom Cruise has to dodge the chairs as he breaks in to this data centre.

Impressive investment, but ...

[Mostly a lurker (634878)]

... will it run Linux?

If not, Microsoft is going to be hard pressed to match Google in performance, however much money they throw at the problem.

Re:Impressive investment, but ...

[digThisXL (252109)]

hard pressed to match Google in performance, however much money they throw at the problem.

...or how many chairs, for that matter.

Re:Impressive investment, but ...

[ByOhTek (1181381)]

Depends on the task.

For low-thread/process count tasks (unlikely here), I see a lot better performance out of Windows than Linux.

And I've seen better performance out of FreeBSD and VMS across the board, than out of Linux.

YMMV, but general roll-up statements like the one you made are rarely true. In the end, the ideal OS is very task dependant.

Why Chicago?

[UnknowingFool (672806)]

What was the reasoning behind Chicago? I'm not saying that Chicago is a bad choice but it would seem to me that there are better choices. The reason I would not put Chicago on top of the list of places is infrastructure. During the last few summer, Chicago was one of the cities that experienced rolling black outs because their electric grid couldn't handle the load. Also Chicago has hard winters which could cause disruptions during those months. And then you have the initial cost of building in Chicago. Land in Chicago, like most cities, isn't cheap. I don't know much about Google's data centers but their centers seem to have several things in common: cheap land and abundant electricity.

Re:

[suso (153703)]

I would say moving it a bit further south to Indianapolis would be a much better choice. Power is cheaper and there are quite a few big pipes going through Indy.

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[Otter (3800)]

San Antonio also seems like an odd location: blazing hot and a river that (admittedly I've only seen it in pictures) doesn't look like it generates Columbia-level hydropower.

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[Chabil Ha' (875116)]

Obviously you've never actually been to San Antonio. Yes, the summers are hot, but that's just the summer. The rest of the year enjoys perfect temperatures. If you go west of San Antonio you will notice several wind powered electricity farms up on the bluffs that I-10 courses through. The areas far west of San Antonio benefit from an abundance of continuous wind. Fortunately, it isn't so within San Antonio and the immediate area. It is quite an interesting sight, so yes, we do have electricity.

Re:Why Chicago?

[Billosaur (927319)]

San Antonio was no doubt chosen because it is remote, and unlikely to be exposed to a major natural disaster (flood, earthquake, hurricane, etc.). They are probably thinking of diversifying their data centers as much as possible, to guard against them becoming easy targets for physical destruction.

Re:

[MiniMike (234881)]

Pizza. Can't get good pizza in Indy, not like in Chicago. Rolling Blackout? Get a deep dish. Stuck in 8 feet of snow? Get some pepperoni on it, but eat quick because you won't be stuck long. Plenty of reasons to put it in Chicago.

Re:

[JamJam (785046)]

Then again, by population Chicago is America's 3rd largest city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population [wikipedia.org] Being close to that many people/corporations means that the service MSFT provides should be enhanced in regards to data latency. Maybe they're focusing more on providing real-time data environments.

Re:

[BobMcD (601576)]

From what I understand of Illinois, they're also looking at licensing issues, union issues, and a whole host of odd-ball regulations up there...

Re:

[EmperorKagato (689705)]

Union? where? Like the union that is still protesting at the Hilton for over 5 years?

Re:Why Chicago?

[Red Flayer (890720)]

Insightful? Please, RTFA.

Power in Northlake costs $0.05 per kWh.

Even Google's cheapest (by power cost) datacenter, their Columbia River facility on a hydro grid, costs roughly 25 cents per watt/year -- or about $.028 per kWh. Yes, slightly more than half the power cost of the Northlake facility.

However, if you think about it, there are benefits to diversified data center locations. They reduce the impact of regional disturbances such as storms (or, as you point out, power outages). They also distribute the demand for qualified labor, which keeps labor costs down.

Here's [techdirt.com] a link with some info about power costs affecting datacenter locations, with some other useful links included

Also please note that the cost of the land is one of the most minor costs of building a datacenter.

Re:

[CheeseTroll (696413)]

Well, there's very little threat of earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, or flooding (unless they're building it in the basement of a bldg in the Loop, that is!).

I think you're really overstating Chicago's rolling blackout 'problem'. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only blackouts I'm aware of were caused by thunderstorms, and that happens anywhere that trees coexist with overhead power lines.

And winter? Bah. Free AC for the servers for 6 months out of the year.

Land prices are tricky. Some pla

Re:Why Chicago?

[Richard W.M. Jones (591125)]

During the last few summer, Chicago was one of the cities that experienced rolling black outs

Perhaps Microsoft are trying to replicate their desktop experience for their hosted products?

Re:

[miller60 (554835)]

While some folks are chasing power and space, many data center builders still follow the business customers. That's why there's been a data center building boom in the Chicago area in the past two years. The biggest driver has been demand from financial companies associated with futures trading in Chicago, which store lots of data and have seen strong growth in high-speed trading. Essentially, companies that can execute program trades faster than their competitor have an advantage. As low latency network te

Because Chicago Rulez

[slyborg (524607)]

From TFA:

"Microsoft has been keenly focused on power costs in its data center site location efforts. While 5 cents per kilowatt hour is in the midrange of average state-by-state power costs, it is lower than rates found near many major data center markets such as California (9 cents per kWh) or northern New Jersey (11 center per kWh)." Commonwealth Edison also generates around most of its power from nuclear reactors, making the location carbon friendly on that basis.

Sources of Electricity Supplied Percentage of Total for the 12 months ending September 30,2006

Biomass power 1%
Coal-fired power 4%
Hydro Power 0%
Natural gas-fired power 0%
Nuclear power 92%
Oil-fired power 0%
Solar power 0%
Wind power 0%
Other resources 0%
Unknown resources purchased from other companies 3%
TOTAL 100%

As noted in some other comments, Chicago also is :

(a) 3rd largest metro area in the US and largest in the Midwest
(b) a major rail hub - much fiber was laid on railroad rights of way in the go-go 90s
(c) notoriously corrupt, so it's likely Microsoft will receive massive tax subsidies that will reduce its costs

And I've lived in Chicago all my life and can't identify any "rolling blackouts" recently. ComEd had infrastructure problems with ancient cabling in the city proper 10-12 years ago during a very hot summer (as do many older cities). The main issue Chicagoans have with ComEd is with its recently raised residential rates, which were jacked up 20% despite record profits for ComEd and its parent, Exelon. This is thanks to the notoriously corrupt politics of the great state of Illinois as a whole.

Re:

[EmperorKagato (689705)]

It would have been better if they actually built a datacenter in Chicago.

• The MTC is at Clark / Lake blue line station downtown Chicago
• Everything south of the loop is cheap as far south as Bronzeville to Hyde Park
• Chicago rarely becomes immobile due to a winter storm: 2006's harsh winter storms brought the suburbs to a halt yet Chicago streets and expressways were drivable
• Chicago is the transportation hub and networking hub of the Midwest

Suspicious...

[KenshoDude (1001993)]

440,000 square feet? Anyone else surprised that these data centers aren't 640K square feet?

Re:

[schwit1 (797399)]

440k ought to be enough for anyone.

More Likely

[Trailwalker (648636)]

an effort to keep pace with Google in web-based services.

More likely, needed to handle the DRM and spyware in Vista.

Maybe Chicago isn't the wisest choice

[Huntr (951770)]

Data thieves don't [slashdot.org] screw around in Chicago [theregister.co.uk] and MS isn't exactly synonymous with "security."

Chicago?

[chinton (151403)]

I thought they released that in 1995?!?

Re:

[jimbo3123 (320148)]

For those youngsters on here, Windows 95 was codenamed Chicago before its release.

Servers, check! Services, not so check.

[miffo.swe (547642)]

Now if they just could have any useful services. Competing with google will take much more than increasing bandwidth and processing power. Current services that try their utmost to tie into the desktop just plain sucks. It should be the other way around.

Re:

[timeOday (582209)]

Are all these datacenters just for Microsoft's own use? I agree, I don't see why their online presence, such as it is, would require so many half-billion dollar datacenters.

$500 million?

[Lxy (80823)]

Does that include the cost of Windows licenses?

Re:

[Grandiloquence (1180099)]

Yes, but it doesn't include the construction costs.

High Tech version of the Cold War?

[Iphtashu Fitz (263795)]

Dunno why but this strange thought just popped into my head...

The Cold War of the second half of the 20th century was ultimately won by the US because the USSR couldn't keep up with the financial strain of building and maintaining such a huge military. The US basically outspent the USSR.

I wonder if we're seeing a similar thing happening between Google & MS. Back in the 80's & 90's MS was on top of the world and in control of virtually everything computer related. Their focus, however, wasn't on internet technologies until the late 90's when the first internet bubble hit. Google, on the other hand, started in the heyday of the bubble and focused entirely on the internet. Now MS is pouring tons of cash into internet projects in an effort to compete against Google since they see Google as their biggest competitive threat. MS has to deal with a dominant OS, Office products, MSN, and other products/services that they've built and acquired over the years, on top of their internet offerings. Google, on the other hand, is just focusing on the internet. I wonder if MS will eventually find that it has overextended itself by investing too much in competing with Google, and if that will end up eventually hurting them financially in a manner similar to the way the USSR went bankrupt trying to keep up with the US. It may not happen for many years, but I wonder if that's what we'll eventually see.

Re:

[Scumbumbo (521718)]

With income of just over $14 billion for the fiscal year ended July 2007, Microsoft will make back a $500 million dollar investment in a bit less than two weeks. Compared to most businesses, this investment is a bit like buying new mops for the janitorial staff.

I wonder

[ILongForDarkness (1134931)]

Are these datacentres going to be cube shaped, ala the Borg?

Re:

[EmperorKagato (689705)]

It's near an expressway fork: I-88(Southwest, I-294, I-290

There's a Portillos near by; I don't think anyone will be starving.