The Facebook Data Center FAQ. (Page 3)

We continue with the Facebook Data Center FAQ (or Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Facebook’s Data Centers).

How Much Does Facebook Spend on Its Data Centers?

Facebook has invested billions in the infrastructure that powers its social network, which now serves about 1.13 billion daily active users around the globe, most of them (84.5 percent) outside of the US and Canada. It also spends huge amounts of money every year to operate these facilities.

The company doesn’t say how much it spends on data centers exactly, but some of the numbers usually make it into public filings. The data center it is building in Fort Worth, Texas, for example, is expected to cost about $500,000 initially, but as Facebook expands on the site, its investment may reach as much as $1 billion. It is expected to invest about $250 million in the initial build-out of its data center in Los Lunas, New Mexico.

Facebook reported $2.52 billion in capital expenditures on data centers, servers, network infrastructure, and office buildings in 2015. That number was $1.83 billion in 2014, and $1.36 billion in 2013.

It owned about $3.63 billion in “network equipment” as of the end of 2015 — up from $3.02 billion in 2014.

In 2015, Facebook spent $480 million more on operational expenses related to its data centers and technical infrastructure than it did in 2014, according to an SEC filing. The company told regulators it expected this expense to grow further in 2016 as it continues expanding its data center capacity.

What Does it Look Like Inside A Facebook Data Center?

Hot aisles in a data hall at Facebook’s Altoona data center.

Entrance to a hot aisle in a data hall at Facebook’s Altoona, Iowa, data center.

A technician at work in a data hall at Facebook’s Altoona, Iowa, data center.

Building Distribution Frame room at Facebook’s Altoona data center.

Here’s a photo tour of the Facebook data center in Lulea, Sweden. And here’s a video tour of the same facility, produced by Bloomberg:

NEXT: How Efficient Are Facebook’s Data Centers?

The Facebook Data Center FAQ | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4