Maiden
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New construction at Apple's North Carolina data center poses for aerial photographs
Photos courtesy of Wired reveal that Apple's new "tactical" data center at its Maiden, North Carolina facility is well on its way to completion. Captured with the help of a decidedly low-tech airplane -- a 1949 Piper PA-11 Cub Special, if you must know -- the shots feature what appear to be the facade of the $1.9 million, 21,000 square-foot structure that was outed last month. The images also show glimpses of a second 20-megawatt photovoltaic array and what may be the foundations of the complex's planned 4.8-megawatt biofuel cell plant, which will convert biogas into electricity. With Apple's upcoming Reno project getting the rubber stamp of approval, it doesn't seem like the company will run out of construction projects any time soon. Click on through to the source link for the full set of pictures and analysis.
Apple plans second North Carolina data center, avoids the 'Deep River Blues'
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina if you're an Apple data center. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the folks in Cupertino have filed plans with Catawba County officials for a second 21,000 square foot "tactical" data center that will house 11 rooms and carry a $1.9 million price tag. Mechanical permits outline the need for 22 air conditioners and 14 humidifiers alongside fans and heaters for the building that will nestle up to the existing construction. This is, of course, on the same site that will be home to two 20 megawatt photovolatic arrays and a hydrogen fuel cell facility when all is said and done. Here's to hoping the alternative energy-powered construction catches with other tech giants, too. Lookin' at you, Facebook.
Apple building new, smaller data center in North Carolina
We all know about Apple's mega data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The center, with its solar farm and fuel cells, has been a popular topic of discussion here on TUAW since the groundbreaking years ago. Now the Hickory Daily Record is reporting that Apple's building a smaller "tactical" data center on the Maiden site. The new center is tiny -- just 21,030 square feet -- compared to the monstrous 500,000 square foot facility next door. The 11-room facility is apparently not designed for permanent occupancy, as it has only one unisex bathroom. Even though the site currently has very tight security measures, the new building is equipped with "man trap" security doors requiring clearance after entering the first door but before being allowed to go into the main building space. It's surrounded by an 8-foot chain-link security fence as well. The building services chief for Catawba County, NC, Rick Frady, said that the building was described as a stand-alone metal building with a concrete pad. The US$1,885,129 structure is the second on the site; architectural diagrams show a third data center building planned for the site.
How Apple's North Carolina data center got built
This week GigaOM took an extensive look at North Carolina and its many data centers. The fourth and final installment in this series focuses on Apple's new data center in Maiden, North Carolina and covers some of the early negotiations between Catawba county officials and the Cupertino company. Interestingly enough, Apple almost walked away from Maiden when the Catawba County Economic Development group tried to get the company to build its data center in a small mill building. You can read more about this background discussion on GigaOM's website and catch all four articles in the series here.
Road trip! Visiting Apple's North Carolina data center
Looking for an exciting geek adventure this summer? You may want to follow in the footsteps of GigaOM's Katie Fehrenbacher, who recently took a one-day road trip to visit the sites of some of the world's largest data centers. These facilities, all of which are located in a small area of North Carolina, include Apple's new Maiden data center as well as facilities belonging to Google and Facebook. Fehrenbacher started her trip in Maiden, NC, which she refers to as a "sleepy, and economically depressed, outpost." The town of 3,000 won't see a large number of permanent jobs from the work, since data centers are usually quite lean in terms of staff. Fehrenbacher did manage to wrangle up a lunch of "black-eyed peas, fried okra, and baked beans" at one of the few open businesses in town, Scottie's Bar-B-Que (sounds like Katie's a vegetarian). The Maiden data center is getting a 20-megawatt solar farm and 4.8 megawatts worth of biogas-fueled fuel cells to provide clean electricity at the facility; according to Fehrenbacher, the only sign of the solar farm at this time is a grid of hundreds of poles upon which the photovoltaic arrays will sit, and signs for Holder Construction (which is building the farm) and the Project Dolphin Solar Farm (the data center was known as Project Dolphin). You won't get to see much on your driving vacation of the North Carolina data centers. All of the locations are hidden behind massive fences and are well-guarded. But at least you can stop in at Scottie's and get some barbecue... If you're too busy to hop in the car, at least take a look at a 2012 satellite image of the plant on Google Maps.
Daily Update for May 24, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
North Carolina approves Apple's plans for 4.8-megawatt fuel cell facility
Things are looking green around Apple's Maiden, North Carolina data center, and it's not just due to the fact that it's springtime. The North Carolina Utilities Commission has approved (PDF) Apple's plans to construct and operate a 4.8-megawatt fuel cell facility at the data center, providing green power for at least a portion of the electricity needs of the huge location. As noted previously on TUAW, Apple will be using natural gas-powered fuel cells called Bloom Boxes to generate electricity and exhaust CO2 and water to the environment with no combustion byproducts. The natural gas will come from a local pipeline provider; that gas will be offset by purchases of biogas from another provider, keeping the power as green as possible. The installation will be the nation's biggest private fuel cell energy project. Apple already uses some of the Bloom Boxes at the Cupertino campus; manufacturer Bloom Energy is located in nearby Sunnyvale, CA. The approval of the fuel cell power plant at the Maiden facility follows a similar approval last week when Apple got the OK to build a 20-megawatt photovoltaic solar facility.
Greenpeace activists protest Apple by blocking train tracks
Greenpeace activists tried to stop Apple's coal consumption at its source by blocking train tracks that Duke Energy uses to ship coal to Apple's Maiden, North Carolina data center. Activists targeted the Marshall Steam Station in Catawba county, according to a report in Charlotte's WCNC. Protestors locked themselves to the train tracks, posted a sign that read "Save Our Mountain Clean The Cloud" and branded train cars with Apple's logo. Greenpeace International IT analyst Casey Harrell said, "Apple should be more transparent about its coal problem, and take steps to start solving it, as other tech companies have." Police were called in to disband the protest and remove the signs. The protesters will be charged with trespassing.
A video aerial view of Apple's NC data center
Apple's 500,000 square foot, US$1 billion data center in Maiden, North Carolina has been in operation for a while, and there's a huge 20 Megawatt solar power generation facility that's now under construction nearby. While Steve Jobs showed off the above photo of the interior of the facility at WWDC 2011 last year, it really doesn't show you how big the facility really is. Just to give you an idea of the scale and scope of the facilities that host iCloud and other Apple services, the good folks at Five 9s Digital went up in a small airplane this month to shoot the video that is embedded below for your viewing enjoyment. [via Dvice.com]
Apple's North Carolina data center now visible on Google Earth
Apple's humongous data center in North Carolina is now visible on Google Earth and Google Maps satellite view. You can see the entire building and two roads leading in and out of the compound. Oddly, there is no space for on-site employee parking, at least not yet. An eagle-eyed reader picked out at least one parking lot on the south side of the building for about 80 cars. There may be more. The high-res image of the nearly completed compound just happened to appear the same day Apple confirmed its iCloud service would be unveiled at WWDC next week. Is this timing merely coincidental, or did Apple persuade Google to withhold its latest satellite imagery until Tuesday's press release was released?
Local TV station visits Apple's data center
A Fox affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina took a closer look at Apple's new data center in the town of Maiden. The news story and accompanying video is rife with speculation about the intended usage of this 500,000 square-foot building. Once you get past the references for Apple's supposed "Netflix-Killer" video streaming service, a rumor kicked off by analyst Peter Misek of Jefferies and Company, the video has some shots of the data center and pithy facts about the land Apple occupies. The short video takes a quick tour of the land around the center and the extensive amount of property that Apple owns. Besides the 180 acres on which the data center sits, the Cupertino company also owns 70 acres right across the street. The data center only takes up one-third of the 180 acre plot, and with over 190 combined acres of land available, some are speculating Apple may be looking to build an East Coast campus. Locals are certainly enthusiastic about this rumored opportunity. "I'm ready to get the phone call and to proceed with building anything they want," said Scott Millar, President of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation. Read on to watch the video from the Charlotte news team. [Via Apple 2.0/Fortune]
Kingdom Heroes marches into closed beta on May 18th
Fantasy MMOs may be a dime -- or less -- a dozen, so there's something special about a game that sets the action in a historical period instead. It's always a side bonus to learn something educational in MMOs, if only to use as ammunition when you want a loved one to pony up cash for another month's subscription ("But I'm learning, mom!") Players looking to stomp around ancient China will have their chance on May 18th, when Kingdom Heroes smashes into closed beta. Kingdom Heroes is striving to hit a sweet spot with engrossing PvP, topping the usual buffet of choices with a few choice gems, such as ship battles, siege engines and customizable armies. Four classes -- warrior, conjurer, tactician and fencer -- and four body types (hm, do you want to be a "maiden" or a "beauty"?) are the tip of the customization Kingdom Heroes sports. The game is set in the era of the Three Kingdoms, and players will choose which kingdom and dynasty to fight for and (repeatedly) die in their name. An ancient Chinese secret no longer, gamers can get their mitts on Kingdom Heroes by signing up for the beta and counting down the days until closed beta on May 18!
Around Azeroth: Meet the Maiden
Lolzengers of One on Nordrassil sends us this shot of Karazhan's own Maiden of Virtue, not quite at her best moment. (For those of you who are wondering, her best is usually when she's mercilessly devouring innocent groups of raiders.) But in defeat she looks so peaceful... like the loot pinata she was clearly meant to be.Have you ventured into any new corners of the World of Warcraft lately? Send your stories and screenshots to aroundazeroth@wow.com -- your image may be featured in the next Around Azeroth! %Gallery-1816%
