Data Center Locations
The importance of site selection
The right site can make a project, the wrong one break it. By Mark Larard, director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Data Center Advisory Group
The dynamics of how to site a data center are constantly evolving as the combined expectations of real estate and technology grind and pull in multiple (and often obtuse) directions. Most organizations have some view as to what their aims and objectives might be, and rarely is there a completely blank piece of paper at the outset.
For example, a data center might be a means to emphasize (or create) a corporate message or identity. This could be through the selection of a geographic location, or through a particular environmental or design strategy.
Every case, however, will take cost eff ectiveness into account. Are there fi nancial limitations? What are the parameters and might this dictate a certain route?
Taxation should also be included as a key (and early stage) determinant, as frequently some tax regimes are not conducive for certain types of storage or transactions. You also have to ask what the purpose of the data center is. This alone can dictate location, style, design, timescale and budget, and in many ways if the data center is not fi t for purpose (and future proofed), the project should never commence.
Markets and jurisdictions around the world have diff erent expectations and dynamics. Land prices and use restrictions in certain Asian cities, for example, mean that data centers may be built in multi-storey offi ce buildings (alongside staff areas), while in most other areas of the world this would be a complete non starter.
In Europe more and more data center operations are colocated in order to share economies of scale but at the same time to refl ect the shortage of land and power and maximize speed-to-market advantages and zoning restrictions.
In North America the huge resources and scale mean that enterprise - or stand-alone - data centers still hold the dominant sway, but for how much longer?
Whatever the drivers, power is the fundamental strand which runs through all data center projects. Securing power and knowing that it is resilient and can be backed up in the event of an emergency is what created this industry. The ability to be able to store and transfer information between locations is also essential and the knowledge
Mark Larard, Jones Lang LaSalle
that there are multiple fi ber solutions adds to the level of security.
We have seen regional searches undertaken for data center development sites which have considered 36 diff erent research categories, and more than 180 research headings. Others have a very clear size, scope and location already mapped out. Meeting these factors and inevitable timescale are equally as challenging.
Clearly every organization has a diff erent approach to selecting the site of their data center, whatever size or form it will take. No business, however, will appreciate a decision taken where corners have been cut to save time or money if the subsequent data center does not do what it was designed to do.
In American parlance the data center industry is termed ‘Mission Critical Solutions’ and as such security, stability and resilience are usually three of the most important factors in any data center site selection.
8
www.datacenterdynamics.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56