Visiting hot Finnish guys, or what is the secret to the success of Finnish design?
In recent years, leading global corporations have turned their attention to a small country of thousands of lakes. Microsoft announced the construction of a new data center in Finland after the acquisition of the Nokia mobile unit. Google is investing 450 million euros to expand its existing data center in Hamina, in addition to the 350 million already invested. The wave of “Finanomia” has reached Russia: the Internet giant Yandex has bought land for 1.5 million euros in the town of Mäntsälä for the construction of a new data center.
Data Center TelecityGroup Hiomo
Why Finland - a tasty morsel for investors in the data center industry? To whom if not to us, the company TelecityGroup, in the assets of which there are five successful Finnish data centers, know what the success formula is made of.
Item No. 1: Natural - Severe Finnish Climate
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According to expert estimates, free cooling (or natural cooling) in the data centers of the European neighbor is possible up to 300 days a year. As a result, significant cost reductions and “top-end” values ​​of the energy efficiency coefficient PUE are achieved. For example, in most Finnish data centers TelecityGroup PUE is within 1, 25-1.3. One of the factors that influenced this is the use of free cooling in the Hiomo, Viikinmäki and Hansa data centers. In the world, more than 50% of the energy consumed by data centers is spent on equipment cooling. I think the course of my thoughts is understandable, we draw conclusions ourselves.
In addition, Finland - the country of reservoirs. There are only 190,000 lakes, let alone rivers and the Saimaa Canal. For design engineering, this means extensive water cooling options. For example, sea water from the nearby Gulf of Finland is used to cool the Google data center. The company plans to build a wind power plant, which will allow the company to almost completely switch to the use of "green" energy by 2015.
Google data center in Hamina
(Source: Official Google Website )
Moreover, I note, Suomi is mostly located on the plain. By the way, according to estimates from the Data Center Risk Index study (2013), this is the safest country in the world in terms of natural disasters.
Item No. 2: Energy Saving– Cheap Electricity and Reliability of the Power System
Data centers account for about 1% of total world electricity consumption. Therefore, it becomes clear why energy prices are critical. As can be seen from the graph, Finnish electricity prices are among the lowest and most stable in Europe.
(Source: EU Commission. Quarterly Report on European Electricity Markets, Q2 / 2013 )
Great importance in Finland is given to green energy, energy efficiency and the use of innovative types of energy. In the data center, Uspenski managed to kill two birds with one stone: save on electricity and find the use of the “free” heat generated by the data center. It is fed to the local heating system and is used to heat nearby houses. The scale of the economy speaks for itself - 375 thousand euros per year.
Data Center TelecityGroup Uspenski is located in a bomb shelter under the Assumption Cathedral in Helsinki
Another vivid example is the data center in Kajaani, which uses electricity generated by a biofuel power station and three hydroelectric power plants.
Item 3: “hand in hand with business” - Active position of the state, leading to favorable market conditions
The Government of Finland has repeatedly stressed the importance of developing the data center industry. The state agency Invest in Finland declares that Finland wants to be the number one player in the domestic industry market. Ambitious? Yes. However, loud slogans are not said “to be witty”, but are confirmed by active actions of the state. For example, the government recently put forward a bill providing for the reduction of electricity tariffs for data centers. If the law is adopted, the cost of electricity will decrease from 1.703 EUR / kWh to 0.703 EUR / kWh. Another state initiative, the construction of a fiber-optic cable between Germany and Finland, which runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, is being actively discussed. The new submarine cable will allow to increase the data transmission speed several times and will make the neighboring country even more attractive for investors.
Speaking as a whole, the state maintains an active dialogue with representatives of the IT business: leading system integrators, data center operators and telecom companies. The result is already there. The Finnish IT sector is growing by leaps and bounds. Nokii has been replaced by many startups actively generating ideas. Take at least the general favorites of Angry Birds or last year’s sensation - Supercell. Cloud services are developing at a rapid pace. Of course, with the total volume of the information technology market, the demand for data center services is growing.
Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Rovio Marketing Director Peter Westerbaka during the Slush conference
(Source: Sluch 2013, Contributions by minnavaltari )
The following component of the success formula follows from the favorable situation with the EAST market.
Item 4: Knowledge and Skills - People
Nokia has raised more than one generation of IT professionals. After changes in the structure of the telecom giant, the IT-army went free-swimming across the expanses of Finland. Many IT gurus settled in Finnish data centers, bringing with them accumulated experience and know-how, which had a positive effect on the result. Competence, a serious approach to business, proactive customer service is a matter of pride in the data center industry. I note that in TelecityGroup up to 80% of employees directly serve customers whose interests are paramount.
The special component: pro-Russian, between East and West
The common border with Russia opens up new perspectives for Finland from the point of view of structural engineering. On the one hand, it means the convenience of logistics. You wanted to deliver the servers on your own transport? You're welcome! 5-6 hours drive from St. Petersburg - and you are there! Volumes do not allow - courier services are at your service! Would the customer's specialists want to come and install the equipment in the data center Telecitygroup rack on their own? - Welcome! We provide physical access to equipment 24/7 for authorized customer representatives.
On the other hand, a developed telecom infrastructure connecting Suomi with neighboring countries ensures minimal data transfer delays. The average ping from Moscow to Finnish TelecityGroup data centers is about 18 ms, to St. Petersburg - 2 times less. Thus, the location is convenient for both Russian companies and foreign corporations seeking to take their place under the sun in Russia and the CIS countries. The new project of a submarine cable connecting Finland and Germany will further strengthen the position of the country as a link between the East and the West.
For those who read to the end:
As it turned out, the magic formula for success is quite simple: the benefits of nature and the uniqueness of the location, coupled with know-how (knowledge and skills) and cheap electricity.
Want to make sure with your own eyes? Tervetuloa or welcome!
Data Center TelecityGroup Hiomo
Why Finland - a tasty morsel for investors in the data center industry? To whom if not to us, the company TelecityGroup, in the assets of which there are five successful Finnish data centers, know what the success formula is made of.
Item No. 1: Natural - Severe Finnish Climate
')
According to expert estimates, free cooling (or natural cooling) in the data centers of the European neighbor is possible up to 300 days a year. As a result, significant cost reductions and “top-end” values ​​of the energy efficiency coefficient PUE are achieved. For example, in most Finnish data centers TelecityGroup PUE is within 1, 25-1.3. One of the factors that influenced this is the use of free cooling in the Hiomo, Viikinmäki and Hansa data centers. In the world, more than 50% of the energy consumed by data centers is spent on equipment cooling. I think the course of my thoughts is understandable, we draw conclusions ourselves.
In addition, Finland - the country of reservoirs. There are only 190,000 lakes, let alone rivers and the Saimaa Canal. For design engineering, this means extensive water cooling options. For example, sea water from the nearby Gulf of Finland is used to cool the Google data center. The company plans to build a wind power plant, which will allow the company to almost completely switch to the use of "green" energy by 2015.
Google data center in Hamina
(Source: Official Google Website )
Moreover, I note, Suomi is mostly located on the plain. By the way, according to estimates from the Data Center Risk Index study (2013), this is the safest country in the world in terms of natural disasters.
Item No. 2: Energy Saving– Cheap Electricity and Reliability of the Power System
Data centers account for about 1% of total world electricity consumption. Therefore, it becomes clear why energy prices are critical. As can be seen from the graph, Finnish electricity prices are among the lowest and most stable in Europe.
(Source: EU Commission. Quarterly Report on European Electricity Markets, Q2 / 2013 )
Great importance in Finland is given to green energy, energy efficiency and the use of innovative types of energy. In the data center, Uspenski managed to kill two birds with one stone: save on electricity and find the use of the “free” heat generated by the data center. It is fed to the local heating system and is used to heat nearby houses. The scale of the economy speaks for itself - 375 thousand euros per year.
Data Center TelecityGroup Uspenski is located in a bomb shelter under the Assumption Cathedral in Helsinki
Another vivid example is the data center in Kajaani, which uses electricity generated by a biofuel power station and three hydroelectric power plants.
Item 3: “hand in hand with business” - Active position of the state, leading to favorable market conditions
The Government of Finland has repeatedly stressed the importance of developing the data center industry. The state agency Invest in Finland declares that Finland wants to be the number one player in the domestic industry market. Ambitious? Yes. However, loud slogans are not said “to be witty”, but are confirmed by active actions of the state. For example, the government recently put forward a bill providing for the reduction of electricity tariffs for data centers. If the law is adopted, the cost of electricity will decrease from 1.703 EUR / kWh to 0.703 EUR / kWh. Another state initiative, the construction of a fiber-optic cable between Germany and Finland, which runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, is being actively discussed. The new submarine cable will allow to increase the data transmission speed several times and will make the neighboring country even more attractive for investors.
Speaking as a whole, the state maintains an active dialogue with representatives of the IT business: leading system integrators, data center operators and telecom companies. The result is already there. The Finnish IT sector is growing by leaps and bounds. Nokii has been replaced by many startups actively generating ideas. Take at least the general favorites of Angry Birds or last year’s sensation - Supercell. Cloud services are developing at a rapid pace. Of course, with the total volume of the information technology market, the demand for data center services is growing.
Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Rovio Marketing Director Peter Westerbaka during the Slush conference
(Source: Sluch 2013, Contributions by minnavaltari )
The following component of the success formula follows from the favorable situation with the EAST market.
Item 4: Knowledge and Skills - People
Nokia has raised more than one generation of IT professionals. After changes in the structure of the telecom giant, the IT-army went free-swimming across the expanses of Finland. Many IT gurus settled in Finnish data centers, bringing with them accumulated experience and know-how, which had a positive effect on the result. Competence, a serious approach to business, proactive customer service is a matter of pride in the data center industry. I note that in TelecityGroup up to 80% of employees directly serve customers whose interests are paramount.
The special component: pro-Russian, between East and West
The common border with Russia opens up new perspectives for Finland from the point of view of structural engineering. On the one hand, it means the convenience of logistics. You wanted to deliver the servers on your own transport? You're welcome! 5-6 hours drive from St. Petersburg - and you are there! Volumes do not allow - courier services are at your service! Would the customer's specialists want to come and install the equipment in the data center Telecitygroup rack on their own? - Welcome! We provide physical access to equipment 24/7 for authorized customer representatives.
On the other hand, a developed telecom infrastructure connecting Suomi with neighboring countries ensures minimal data transfer delays. The average ping from Moscow to Finnish TelecityGroup data centers is about 18 ms, to St. Petersburg - 2 times less. Thus, the location is convenient for both Russian companies and foreign corporations seeking to take their place under the sun in Russia and the CIS countries. The new project of a submarine cable connecting Finland and Germany will further strengthen the position of the country as a link between the East and the West.
For those who read to the end:
As it turned out, the magic formula for success is quite simple: the benefits of nature and the uniqueness of the location, coupled with know-how (knowledge and skills) and cheap electricity.
Want to make sure with your own eyes? Tervetuloa or welcome!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/214251/
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