MICROSOFT formally opened its $500 million (€341 million) Dublin “mega-data centre” yesterday, the first such facility outside the US, as the world’s largest software maker fights for a bigger slice of the online market.
The new 28,100 sq m facility will enable Microsoft to offer cloud computing services, where the software runs in the data centre rather than on customers’ computers, to European customers.
Last October the company announced Windows Azure, a platform for businesses to create their own cloud-based applications, while next month’s launch of Windows 7 will include a set of online software tools called Windows Live Essentials.
“This facility will become the infrastructural hub for online services and cloud computing,” said Paul Rellis, Microsoft Ireland’s general manager.
Microsoft chose Grange Castle, south Dublin, to locate the data centre, known internally as DB 3, because of its “geological stability”, proximity to high-speed fibre optic communications networks and affordable energy rates.
One of the largest costs associated with data centres, which consist of dense racks of computer servers in climate-controlled rooms, is cooling the large amount of heat generated by the servers.
The Irish centre is able to make use of ambient air to cool the facility. As a result, executives said Dublin has “free cooling” almost 100 per cent of the time and the data centre is the most energy-efficient Microsoft has ever built.
“We love the Irish weather,” said Microsoft International president Jean-Philippe Courtois. “The cool climate of Dublin was a very important consideration for us.”
He said very few companies in the world could afford to build these data centres “which is why Microsoft is moving ahead with cloud computing”.
The centre has multiple electricity and communications feeds to ensure that services will be available during a power cut. Diesel generators enable the centre to run independently for six days before it needs to be refuelled.
Security at the centre is extremely tight with a biometric scan of a staff member’s hand required to gain access to the server rooms.
Two server rooms of 1,300sq m have been opened and Microsoft said it is pressing ahead with phase two of the Dublin project which will double the capacity next year. Mr Courtois said the opening of the centre was a “big day for Microsoft and I hope a big day for Ireland”.
