Top 5 Data Center Stories, Week of April 7th

ThermalStorage-Chicago

An example of a thermal energy storage tank at a Digital Realty Trust data center building in Chicago (seen in background).

For your weekend reading, here’s a recap of five noteworthy stories that appeared on Data Center Knowledge this past week. Enjoy!

Google Embraces Thermal Storage in Taiwan - Google has been a leader in adopting many strategies to improve data center energy efficiency. But that hasn’t included thermal storage – until now. Google said today that it would use a thermal storage system for the first time in its new data center in Taiwan. The Taiwan facility, set on 15 hectares of land in Changhua County, is one of three facilities announced by Google in September 2011 to boost the company’s Internet infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region.

Blockbuster Quarter for Data Center Stocks - It was a spectacular quarter for data center stocks, as investor interest in the growth of cloud computing spurred big gains for providers exhibiting leadership in cloud technologies. Leading players in the colocation and cloud sector saw their shares gain between 24 and 55 percent in the three months ending March 30th, as stock prices were broadly higher.

Major Data Centers Weather Tornadoes in Dallas - A series of tornadoes struck the Dallas metro area this afternoon, causing extensive damage and power outages. Early reports from Dallas-area providers suggest that there has been no major disruption in data center services in the area.Dallas is a major data center hub, hosting at least 40 facilities for companies offering hosting services, in addition to dozens of corporate data centers.

Savvis, Digital Realty Team on Hong Kong Facility - Digital Realty continues to forge partnerships with major service providers to build new data center facilities. Digital Realty and Savvis have formed a joint venture to acquire a 165,000 square foot (15,247 square meter) property in Hong Kong, the companies said Wednesday.

Google to Double Size of Oklahoma Data Center - Google announced an expansion of its data center in Pryor, Oklahoma that will add a second building at the campus. The company said the 130,000 square foot expansion will double its server capacity in Oklahoma and add 50 jobs, primarily for local residents.