data center
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Microsoft details plans to slash water use at its data centers
It hopes to save up to 5.7 billion liters each year as part of plans to become 'water positive' by 2030.
Feds charge man with planning to blow up an Amazon data center
The FBI has charged a Texas man with planning to blow up an Amazon data center in Virginia and help 'kill' most of the internet.
Facebook used 86 percent renewable energy in 2019
In 2019, Facebook's operations used 86 percent renewable energy, up from just 35 percent in 2015.
Intel's latest acquisition is a $2 billion push into AI
Intel just spent approximately $2 billion to acquire Israel-based AI firm Habana Labs. The partnership will "turbo-charge" Intel's AI offerings for data centers, Intel said in a press release.
Google’s Curie undersea cable now connects the US and Chile
Curie, a 10,500-kilometer-long undersea cable, now connects Google data centers in the US and Chile. Today, Google announced that the fiber optic cable has been successfully installed and tested. It is expected to begin transmitting data in the second quarter of 2020, and Google is already working on a branch into Panama.
NordVPN admits to 'isolated' server breach in Finland
Virtual private network provider NordVPN has confirmed an attacker breached one of its servers, though the tangible impact of the breach seems to be pretty limited. There were no user activity logs on the server -- the company says it doesn't track, collect or share people's private data. There was also no way for the hacker to access usernames and passwords and nor could the attacker have decrypted VPN traffic to other servers.
Microsoft beats Amazon to open the first cloud data center in Africa
Microsoft has become the first major cloud provider to open a data center in South Africa. Its two new Azure facilities in Cape Town and Johannesburg have been in the works since 2017, and while they were originally slated to go live in 2018, their arrival still pips other big players to the post -- Amazon plans to open a data center there in 2020, while Huawei announced back in November its intention to deliver on the continent later this year.
Remember the GT Advanced sapphire facility? It's going to be a command center for Apple
CNBC reported today that the GT Advanced plant in Mesa, Arizona, originally tasked with the job of making sapphire for screens, buttons, and other bits and pieces of Apple gear, is now going to be taken over by the company that allegedly caused GT Advanced to go out of business -- Apple. Apple will be spending a cool US$2 billion to transform the factory into a data center that will act as a command center for the company's worldwide data network. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey took to Twitter to tout the investment and the jobs (about 150 full-time Apple employees, about 300-500 engineering and construction jobs) that will benefit the state. Ducey has had a good week, with his state playing host to Super Bowl XLIX yesterday and this announcement coming today. I'm pleased to announce #Apple is expanding to #AZ with a $2 billion investment in #Mesa. http://t.co/pfWI8pXALe #AZmeansBiz - Doug Ducey (@dougducey) February 2, 2015
Apple now using China Telecom servers to store customer data in China
Apple has reportedly begun storing data from iPhone users in China in data centers operated by "state-controlled China Telecom." Originally reported by the Wall Street Journal, the move comes amidst allegations from elements within the Chinese media which have claimed that the iPhone poses a security risk. Apple provided the following statement on the matter to the Journal: Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously. We have added China Telecom to our list of data center providers to increase bandwidth and improve performance for our customers in mainland China. Apple also makes a point of noting that the data itself will be encrypted and inaccessible to China Telecom. China is unquestionably a huge growth market for Apple and the company has acted extremely quickly any time there's even the slightest tinge of controversy over its products. For instance, when a Chinese state-run TV station in early July labeled the iPhone a security threat, Apple quickly responded with a post on its Chinese website refuting such claims and assuring customers that Apple isn't in cahoots with any government agencies to allow access to ostensibly protected devices via backdoors.
Apple's Reno data center prepares for update
Apple's data center near Reno, Nevada is getting an update according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. The paper is reporting that Apple has applied for new building permits for its Reno Technology Park campus. Apple submitted permit applications for two additional data cluster buildings as it ramps up yet another phase of development for the site. The new facilities will bring the number of data cluster buildings at the Apple campus to eight, including the initial 20,000 square-foot rapid deployment module that went live earlier this year as part of "Phase 1" development. Apple also completed an administrative building a few months ago as part of the data center's second phase of development, which is expected to wrap up by the end of summer as the location transitions to its third phase. While the news that Apple is expanding in the area is good news, the population of Reno is still waiting for the company to fulfill its promise to build a downtown facility. Part of Apple's negotiations for building the data center in the first place included the building of a downtown Reno facility in exchange for nearly US$89 million in tax incentives. Head over to the Reno Gazette-Journal for more information on the upcoming expansions to the Reno data center.
Gigaom checks out Apple NC data center's renewable-energy infrastructure
Images by Katie Fehrenbacher, Gigaom Apple's huge Maiden, NC, data center has recently become something else -- a net power provider of clean energy to Duke Energy. Gigaom's Katie Fehrenbacher took a look at Apple's new power-production facilities, which generate a total of 50 MW (megawatts) of electricity for a data center that uses about 40 MW of power. There's a 100-acre, 20 MW photovoltaic solar farm right next to Apple's data center, a second 20 MW solar farm about 15 miles away from the center, and a 10 MW fuel cell farm that's also adjacent to the data center. The solar farms use huge arrays of photovoltaic cells that tilt to follow the sun during the day. Grass was planted underneath the arrays, and Apple contracts with a local company to have sheep keep the grass neatly clipped (and presumably to fertilize it...). The fuel-cell farm is rather compact, and uses biogas to fuel the big cells. The fuel cells are manufactured and operated by Bloom Energy of Sunnyvale, Calif., and use a chemical reaction to convert the methane in biogas and oxygen in the air to create electricity, heat, water and CO2 as side products. All in all, Fehrenbacher's investigative report is a fascinating look at how Apple has chosen to dive into the world of clean energy production with enthusiasm.
Apple environmental head Lisa Jackson talks about making Apple more environmentally friendly
With Tim Cook at the helm, Apple has continuously demonstrated an increasing focus on ensuring that its operations are as environmentally sound as possible. A perfect example of Apple's commitment to clean up its act (pun partially intended) is its recent hire of Lisa Jackson as VP of Environmental Initiatives. Previously, Jackson served as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. News that Jackson would be joining the mix at Apple was first revealed by none other than Tim Cook who let the cat out of the bag during this year's All Things D Conference. When you get larger, you get more attention. It comes with the territory. We're doing incredible work in the environment for example. We've been focused on that for a long time ... eliminated toxins from all of our products, running data centers on 100 percent renewable energy, largest solar farm of any non-utility. Lisa Jackson is joining Apple ... she recently left the EPA and will be coordinating efforts across the company. She'll be reporting to me. Hardly a nominal position, Jackson means business and has every intention of increasing the green factor at Apple. Earlier this week, Jackson spoke at VERGE, a conference focused on increasing sustainability through technology. Gigaom has a great recap of her speech, and lest anyone think that Jackson will quietly toe the party line, think again. This quote, relayed by Gigaom, should put those types of reservations to rest. "Tim Cook didn't hire Lisa Jackson to be quiet and keep the status quo," Jackson said. "We understand our responsibility and we do care." The typically secretive company is eager to share its environmental initiatives. At the same time, Jackson clearly felt comfortable talking about the inherent challenges of her position and discussing just what she's focusing on at Apple. Jackson talked about the challenges of pushing and developing sustainability projects within Apple. One of them is the challenge of collecting solid data and being able to measure projects and their success rates. This includes Apple's method to calculate the energy use and carbon footprint of its operation and products, the manufacturing of its devices and the supply chain and customers' use of the products. Jackson pointed to the life cycle analysis that Steve Jobs publicized back in 2009 in an effort to change the company's image, as an example of Apple's attention to creating sustainability metrics and data. Jackson leads a team of 17 people and one of her group's tasks is to recruit employees who are willing to help with the company's sustainability projects. There is a group of such employees who called themselves Apple Earth, and Jackson said she joined that group on her second day at the company. "People are busy with their primary work, so it's about finding champions in areas where people are interested in," said Jackson. At one point, Jackson joked that the best way to ensure something at Apple gets done faster is to tell an engineer that it can't be done. If you want more details on the content of Jackson's speech, GreenBiz also has a nice recap over here. Even better, if you're eager to hear every detail from Jackson's 29-minute talk, the full video can be viewed below.
Apple wants to buy more land for Oregon data center
Apple is considering purchasing another 96 acres of land in Prineville, Ore., in hopes of expanding its data centers even further, The Oregonian reports. The assistant planning director for Crook County confirmed to the paper that a company code-named "Project Pillar" has expressed interest in buying the land -- and The Oregonian believes that "Project Pillar" is indeed Apple: The property awaiting transfer is covered by the same tax break agreement that Apple now operates under. And [Phil] Stenbeck said Pillar previously went by the code name Maverick -- that's the name Apple used last year when it paid US$5.6 million to buy 160 acres of Crook County land for its first Prineville data center... This time last year, Apple began construction of a 338,000-square-foot data center on the bluffs above Prineville, just down the highway from a similar facility owned by Facebook. Plans filed with Prineville show Apple contemplates a second data center of the same size -- 65 percent larger than the biggest Costco -- on the property it already owns. If Apple were to acquire the property, it would no doubt be used for data centers to power its ever-expanding selection of cloud services, including the iTunes Store, the company's App Stores, its mapping services and iCloud.
Facebook building $1.5 billion data center in Altoona, Iowa
Facebook has already set up shop in North Carolina and Oregon, but it's heading to Iowa for its next -- and biggest -- data center. According to the Des Moines Register, the town of Altoona will be home to a 1.4-million-square-foot facility (code-named Catapult), and it will reportedly be the "most technologically advanced center in the world." Why Altoona, you ask? The city is already home to several data hubs, as its fiber-optic cable system, access to power and water utilities and affordable land are big draws for companies. Facebook will complete project Catapult in two $500 million phases, though the entire cost will reportedly ring in at $1.5 billion. The social network is also seeking wind energy production tax credits, which is no doubt connected to its Open Compute Project for promoting energy efficiency. That's all we know so far; suffice to say a center this big won't be built overnight.
Facebook launches real-time graphs to highlight its data center efficiency
Curious as to the effect that your poking wars are having on the planet? Facebook is outing power and water usage data for its Oregon and North Carolina data centers to show off its sustainability chops. The information is updated in near-real time, and the company will add its Swedish facility to the charts as soon as it's built. The stats for the Forest City, NC plant show a very efficient power usage effectiveness ratio of 1.09 -- thanks, in part, to that balmy (North) Carolina air.
Construction begins on Reno iCloud facility
Apple's iCloud service is expanding rapidly, and the company is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure to support it. Recent stories have pointed to the massive photovoltaic array powering the Maiden, NC, data center, and last October Apple broke ground for a data center near Prineville, Ore. Now AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has completed construction of a small "tactical" structure at a data center site near Reno, Nev. The headline of the AppleInsider post is somewhat misleading (not to mention grammatically questionable), crowing that "Apple's initial iCloud facility in Reno already ready to go online." The tactical structure houses cooling, security and support equipment, and doesn't house any massive banks of servers or other infrastructure needed to house iCloud data. Similar structures are onsite at the Maiden data center and one has also been built on the Prineville site. Support buildings such as the one completed at the Reno data center are usually pre-fabricated and quick to build, housing compressors for chiller equipment used to dissipate the heat generated by banks of servers and storage devices in the primary data centers. There's still a lot of work to be done at the Reno site before it is fully operational.
Apple says it now gets 75 percent of its total energy from renewable sources
Based on the latest reports, the company once chided for making too large an impact on Mother Earth is now claiming that a full 75 percent of its energy is being sourced from renewables. Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, informed Reuters this week that all of its data centers -- including the gargantuan facility in Maiden, North Carolina -- are now fully powered by renewable energy from onsite and local sources, while three-fourths of the energy used by the whole company is pulled from green sources. For those wondering, that includes solar, wind, hydro and geothermal, and the 75 percent mark is a stark 40 percent uptick from just two years ago. As for what the future holds? According to Apple: "We won't stop working until we achieve 100 percent throughout Apple." Alrighty then.
Apple plans to double capacity of NC fuel cells
The first phase of Apple's fuel cell project at the Maiden, NC data center began testing in October of 2012, and the company is already looking at doubling the capacity of the plant. The plant is fueled by filtered landfill gas (AKA "directed biogas"), a fuel that is considered a renewable energy resource by North Carolina's green energy regulations. Apple filed paperwork in November with the North Carolina Utilities Commission to bring the plant from 4.8 megawatts of power to a total of 10 megawatts. Any excess energy generated by the fuel cells and the huge (covering 250 acres eventually) solar farm on the site will be sold to Duke Energy. Apple is planning on using similar green power initiatives at all three of its newest data centers.
Apple breaks ground for new Oregon data center
After spending the last few months putting together the paperwork and plans for its upcoming Oregon-based data center, Apple has finally broken ground on the project. The company will be transforming 160 acres of area near Prineville, Ore., into two big state-of-the-art data centers, and construction has started just recently. The initial cost of development was only $68 million, though as construction and upkeep go on, the expected cost of the structure is expected to run up to nearly a billion dollars. Not that Apple can't afford it -- the data center will help run associated services like iCloud, iTunes and all of the other various moneymakers the company from Cupertino has going. And of course, Apple picked up plenty of tax bonuses for building in Oregon: The local economy is booming, especially since Facebook has built facilities very close by. Presumably, the center should finally be up and running at some point next year.
Daily Update for October 19, 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
