Google Plans Miami Data Center

Google (GOOG) is planning to expand its data center space in Miami, and is expected to lease an existing facility to convert into a data center. The lease is likely to be for "tens of thousands" of square feet of space, rather than the enormous footprints seen in instances where Google has built new data centers from the ground up.

An expansion by Google in Miami reflects a focus on strategic growth, as well as the mega-scalability seen in the company's recent U.S. data center projects. Miami is a key connectivity gateway to Latin American markets, and international expansion has been a major theme in Google's recent infrastructure growth. In late 2007 Google was known to be planning a data center expansion in Asia, and is also rumored to be scouting locations in Austria and Lithuania.

Google declined to comment on plans for its Miami data center footprint, continuing its policy of offering few details about its data center operations. "Google invests heavily in technical facilities around the world and is constantly on the look out for additional locations," a spokesman said. "However, for competitive reasons, we can't confirm or deny possible locations."

Google's recent data center growth in the U.S. has closely tracked the availability of cheap power and land. The company four major data center projects Google announced in the U.S. in 2007, including facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Iowa. Each of these data center projects will span hundreds of thousands of square feet of space.

Although Google has been building big in rural locations, it also continues to lease colocation space in major metropolitan markets to support its connectivity needs. In Miami, for example, Google has equipment in Terremark's NAP of the Americas that allows it to peer with dozens of networks to speed the delivery of its search results.

Google spent $2.4 billion on data center expansion in 2007, and spent $1.54 billion in the first half of 2008.