Over the past decade, Ireland has become an international strategic hub for technology giants and it is now home to some of the largest data centres in Europe. Microsoft, IBM, Data Electronics and Amazon all have a base here. In September 2011, Google announced that it would be investing US$101.5 million (€75 million) in the acquisition, build out and fit out of a new data centre facility located outside our capital city. US firm, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) has also acquired a site in Dublin and has obtained planning permission for four linked data processing facilities. So what is it that makes Ireland an ideal location for such centres?
Part of the answer to this question seems to be our climate, with Google, Microsoft and DLR citing it as a significant factor in their decision to invest here. To understand why our climate is such a draw, it is first necessary to understand what a data centre is. In basic terms, a data centre is a specialised facility which houses computer servers and other technology used to run services delivered over the Internet, including cloud computing services. Such centres require vast amounts of power, not only to run the technology, but also to keep it from overheating. This is where our climate fits in. Our prevailing westerly winds can drive air into the data centres cooling down all the equipment inside, a technique known as “free-air cooling”. This obviates the need for air conditioning units and other cooling equipment, which apart from being costly in financial terms, are costly from an environmental perspective. Further, the multinationals can rest easy in the knowledge that data centres located in Ireland are unlikely to be affected by earthquakes, volcanoes or other natural disasters, which could cause significant damage to equipment and services.
Microsoft’s Dublin data centre, which opened in 2009, is the sixth largest data centre in the world and is the hub for online services and cloud computing across Microsoft. Water consumption in the environmentally friendly facility is reported to be 1% of that of traditional data centres and power consumption less than 50%. Head of Microsoft’s global infrastructure group, Arne Joofesberg, referred to Ireland as “one of the best places in the world to build a data centre” and described our climate as “one of the most environmentally sustainable.” As for Google, once its new facility is complete, it will rank as one of the most energy efficient centres in the world.
Our cool climate aside, Ireland also has the benefit of experience in constructing data centres. Such facilities must be specifically designed to withstand environmental hazards, fires, break-ins and so on and a high level of expertise is required in their design, construction and fit out. Other attractions no doubt include the availability of land in close proximity to our cities; competitive construction costs; our infrastructure network; our highly educated and skilled workforce; and our low rate of corporation tax and other tax incentives.
All in all, with talks of introducing the equivalent of an energy star rating for data centres, Ireland looks set to continue to be at the fore of the cloud computing industry. As John Herlihy, Director of Google Europe, recently put it, this is a “rare case where the Irish weather is a cause for praise.”
Contributed by David Cullen.
