Google plans in Asia
Over the past three months, the number of Internet users in Asia has grown equivalent to the whole population of Canada. According to Joe Cava, vice president of data centers at Google, these impressive growth rates are the main reason why the company is interested in a physical presence in the region.
More than half of the world's population and almost half of all people using the Internet live in Asia. Every day in the Asia-Pacific region, more new users connect to the Internet than in any other country in the world. To be closer, it makes sense for Google to locate its data centers here, especially considering that most of the people who have not yet used the Internet also live here. In addition, the development of cloud technologies increases the importance of proximity to potential customers. The absence of delays in accessing cloud data and good bandwidth can only be ensured by local presence.
During his speech at the Singapore Datacenter Dynamics Converged 2014 conference, Joe Kawa also shared information about using machine learning to further improve the impressive values of energy efficiency in Google data centers. The machine learning system processes large amounts of information and applies pattern recognition to increase energy efficiency in real time with great accuracy. The algorithm tracks the total IT load, air temperature, and the level of use of mechanical and cooling equipment. Within a few months, a similar system will be launched in a data center in Singapore.
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In 2013, Google launched two data centers in the Asia-Pacific region located in Jurong West in Singapore and in Changhua County in Taiwan. Although the centers are designed and built at about the same time, their design and characteristics are very different. Due to the lack of land in the city-state, the data center in Singapore is built on a small area of 2.45 hectares, while the data center in Taiwan is located on more than 15 hectares.
Explaining Singapore’s choice for building a data center, Joe Cava mentions a number of factors, such as network neutrality, business climate, and privacy. According to these parameters, Singapore ranks the top in Asia. The data centers of such well-known companies as Microsoft, Amazon, SoftLayer, NTT, Tata Communications and others already work here.
A hot and humid environment is not a problem, other Google data centers have already passed this test. For example, a data center in South Carolina becomes hot and humid in summer. Google knows how to build data centers for a warm climate, if this was provided for by the project from the very beginning.
But despite all the enthusiasm for Singapore, Kava admitted that it would have been much easier to build with a large plot of land. Building on a small space is a logistical challenge for the company. Restrictions of the land and the rules of excavation forced Google to make a data center in Singapore high-rise. This is the first multi-storey data center for Google, and when it was built, the construction method was rethought to make the appropriate design changes.
The data center in Singapore is cooled with NEWater, a Singapore-based Putility Utilities Board, which purifies drinking water from wastewater.
Built to be the most efficient and environmentally friendly in Asia, Google's data center in Taiwan uses night-time cooling and a heat storage system, which reduces energy consumption by 50% compared to previous solutions. The system cools the water at night at lower temperatures, stores water in insulated tanks and pumps it throughout the facility for cooling during the day. Such systems reduce costs by allowing companies to use air conditioning systems at night at lower electricity rates and stored cooling energy during the day when tariffs are high. According to Joe Cava, these ideas are not revolutionary, but Google used them for their data centers for the first time.
Google has already invested about 600 million dollars in a project in Taiwan and plans to develop it further. The third stage of investment may start in early 2015. Over time, the project may become the largest cloud-based data center in the Asia-Pacific region.
But even for a company of the size of Google, not everything is so serene. In December last year, Google revised its plans for building a data center in Hong Kong, citing the cost of work and the complexity of acquiring a large plot of land. Google said that despite the enormous potential and opportunities of Hong Kong, the company decided to stop work on the project and focus on regions whose presence can provide economies of scale.
Rumors about a possible abandonment of the project appeared a long time ago, since a 2.7 hectare piece of land provided by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation for building a Google data center remained empty for almost 2 years after the groundbreaking ceremony. A hint of lack of space seems far-fetched, given that Singapore’s data center is located on a 2.45 hectare site, so there is a prevailing opinion that Google abandoned the project for political or some other reasons, one of which is increased Chinese censorship. Be that as it may, the land was returned in accordance with the provisions of the contract.
Will Google build new data centers in the region? As Joe Kawa reported last month, there is currently no. According to him, instead, Google will focus on the development of its investments in the region, including long-term investments in Singapore in the amount of 120 million US dollars (152.6 million Singapore dollars).
More than half of the world's population and almost half of all people using the Internet live in Asia. Every day in the Asia-Pacific region, more new users connect to the Internet than in any other country in the world. To be closer, it makes sense for Google to locate its data centers here, especially considering that most of the people who have not yet used the Internet also live here. In addition, the development of cloud technologies increases the importance of proximity to potential customers. The absence of delays in accessing cloud data and good bandwidth can only be ensured by local presence.
During his speech at the Singapore Datacenter Dynamics Converged 2014 conference, Joe Kawa also shared information about using machine learning to further improve the impressive values of energy efficiency in Google data centers. The machine learning system processes large amounts of information and applies pattern recognition to increase energy efficiency in real time with great accuracy. The algorithm tracks the total IT load, air temperature, and the level of use of mechanical and cooling equipment. Within a few months, a similar system will be launched in a data center in Singapore.
Multi-storey data center in Singapore
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In 2013, Google launched two data centers in the Asia-Pacific region located in Jurong West in Singapore and in Changhua County in Taiwan. Although the centers are designed and built at about the same time, their design and characteristics are very different. Due to the lack of land in the city-state, the data center in Singapore is built on a small area of 2.45 hectares, while the data center in Taiwan is located on more than 15 hectares.
Explaining Singapore’s choice for building a data center, Joe Cava mentions a number of factors, such as network neutrality, business climate, and privacy. According to these parameters, Singapore ranks the top in Asia. The data centers of such well-known companies as Microsoft, Amazon, SoftLayer, NTT, Tata Communications and others already work here.
A hot and humid environment is not a problem, other Google data centers have already passed this test. For example, a data center in South Carolina becomes hot and humid in summer. Google knows how to build data centers for a warm climate, if this was provided for by the project from the very beginning.
But despite all the enthusiasm for Singapore, Kava admitted that it would have been much easier to build with a large plot of land. Building on a small space is a logistical challenge for the company. Restrictions of the land and the rules of excavation forced Google to make a data center in Singapore high-rise. This is the first multi-storey data center for Google, and when it was built, the construction method was rethought to make the appropriate design changes.
The data center in Singapore is cooled with NEWater, a Singapore-based Putility Utilities Board, which purifies drinking water from wastewater.
Environmental Data Center in Taiwan
Built to be the most efficient and environmentally friendly in Asia, Google's data center in Taiwan uses night-time cooling and a heat storage system, which reduces energy consumption by 50% compared to previous solutions. The system cools the water at night at lower temperatures, stores water in insulated tanks and pumps it throughout the facility for cooling during the day. Such systems reduce costs by allowing companies to use air conditioning systems at night at lower electricity rates and stored cooling energy during the day when tariffs are high. According to Joe Cava, these ideas are not revolutionary, but Google used them for their data centers for the first time.
Google has already invested about 600 million dollars in a project in Taiwan and plans to develop it further. The third stage of investment may start in early 2015. Over time, the project may become the largest cloud-based data center in the Asia-Pacific region.
Out of Hong Kong
But even for a company of the size of Google, not everything is so serene. In December last year, Google revised its plans for building a data center in Hong Kong, citing the cost of work and the complexity of acquiring a large plot of land. Google said that despite the enormous potential and opportunities of Hong Kong, the company decided to stop work on the project and focus on regions whose presence can provide economies of scale.
Rumors about a possible abandonment of the project appeared a long time ago, since a 2.7 hectare piece of land provided by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation for building a Google data center remained empty for almost 2 years after the groundbreaking ceremony. A hint of lack of space seems far-fetched, given that Singapore’s data center is located on a 2.45 hectare site, so there is a prevailing opinion that Google abandoned the project for political or some other reasons, one of which is increased Chinese censorship. Be that as it may, the land was returned in accordance with the provisions of the contract.
Will Google build new data centers in the region? As Joe Kawa reported last month, there is currently no. According to him, instead, Google will focus on the development of its investments in the region, including long-term investments in Singapore in the amount of 120 million US dollars (152.6 million Singapore dollars).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/243797/
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