Top 5 Data Center Stories, Week of Sept. 10

Google’s Energy Story: High Efficiency, Huge Scale - Google used about 2.26 million megawatt hours of electricity to run its operations in 2010, generating a carbon footprint of 1.46 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the company said today in its most thorough disclosure yet of its impact on the power grid and the environment. Google also outlined the steps it takes to remain carbon neutral, including investments in renewable energy and a comprehensive series of carbon offsets. Google’s disclosure also reflects a larger challenge – how to translate its huge energy use into terms that reflect the company’s efforts to be efficient and sustainable.

Will Changes at Yahoo Impact Hosting Operations? - Carol Bartz is out as the CEO at Yahoo. Does that mean anything for the company’s data center and hosting operations? I doubt that IT infrastructure is at the top of the “to do” list for interim CEO Timothy Morse and the Yahoo board. But there are several ways in which the changes in Yahoo’s executive suite could have implications – at least in the short term – for Yahoo’s hosting operations and data center network.

Report: Microsoft Expanding Dublin Data Center - Microsoft has no comment on reports that the company is planning an expansion of its huge data center in Dublin, Ireland, which serves as the central hub supporting its cloud computing services across Europe. The Sunday Business Post reported that Microsoft “is planning a multi-million Euro investment in an expansion of its $500 million data center in Dublin.” The paper said plans call for building a 120,000 square foot single-story data center alongside the existing 303,000 square foot facility.

Sea-Cooled Data Center Heats Homes in Helsinki - An innovative data center design in Helsinki that incorporates sea-water cooling and district heating is scaling up and out. Helsinki Energy and IT service provider Academica are building a data center for global IT outsourcer Atos that builds upon a design the two companies developed in a cavern underneath Helsinki’s historic Uspenski Cathedral.

San Diego Data Center Provider Rides Out Power Outage - San Diego’s leading data center service provider AIS said its facilities remained online during a massive power outage Thursday that affected much of Southern California. The massive outage has been largely resolved as of Friday morning, local officials said. “All of our data centers are up, and on generator power,” said Tim Caulfield, CEO of American Internet Services (AIS), which operates three data centers in San Diego. “There have been no issues, and no impact on customer services.”