April 29th, 2007 - News Article

Google to unveil facility's plans

By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer
4/29/2007  7:26 AM

Internet giant Google will announce plans for a major data center at Mid-America Industrial Park near Pryor on Wednesday, park officials said.

The data center, or "server farm," would most likely support Google's array of Internet services. Similar facilities operated by the company typically employ about 200 people.

Sanders Mitchell, administrator of MidAmerica, confirmed Google is coming and will announce the new server farm Wednesday but declined to give any further information because of confidentiality agreements.

"I'll have to let the company do the talking, but we're extremely excited to have them here," he said.

Google officials declined to comment, though earlier this month Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes confirmed the company was considering MidAmerica.

"We're evaluating this exciting opportunity but have not announced our decision or made final plans," he said in a prepared statement.

Though no information is available regarding Mountain View, Calif.-based Google's intentions for the site or the specific number of jobs involved, several recent moves indicate a data center.

In November, a Delaware limited liability company called Myall

LLC registered with the Oklahoma secretary of state. The Oklahoma Ordnance Works Authority then sold Myall 800 acres immediately south of the Gatorade plant under construction at the park.

Reyes said earlier this month he didn't know whether Myall made the purchase on behalf of Google.

Two weeks ago, Gov. Brad Henry approved House Bill 1038, a measure that would allow companies such as Google to keep secret the volume of electricity they use.

The authors of the bill, Rep. Ben Sherrer, D-Chouteau, and Sen. Sean Burrage, D-Claremore, said the bill wasn't specifically tailored to Google, but would apply to any companies that use high amounts of electricity.

The same week, the Grand River Dam Authority agreed to double the capacity of a planned MidAmerica Industrial Park substation being built at the request of an anonymous future tenant operating under the shell company Tathra LLC.

Shane Woolbright, executive director of Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma, told the Grand River Dam Authority that a new tenant would require as much as 15 megawatts of power -- equivalent to the use of a town the size of Skiatook.

Tathra deposited $3.5 million, the full cost of the substation, into an escrow account for GRDA. Indications in a previous Tulsa World article were that Tathra and Myall are tied to the same corporate parent.

Though the notoriously secretive company hasn't specified plans to expand its infrastructure and even keeps the number of server farms it controls a mystery, Google announced two other server farms this year, and two more may be in the works in addition to the one in Pryor.

In January, Google announced it would construct a $600 million Balance = 20.0 pts server farm on 215 acres in Lenoir, N.C., the Charlotte Observer reported. The center, currently under construction, is expected to employ 210 within four years.

To lure Google, North Carolina state and local officials approved tax changes and grants that could be worth as much as $260 million over the next 30 years, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Of that, $165 million would come from personal and real estate taxes Google would have otherwise owed Caldwell County and the city of Lenoir.

By April, Google announced another server farm in Goose Creek, a suburb of Charleston, S.C., The Post and Courier of Charleston reported. The $600 million center will be constructed on 520 acres and eventually employ 200.

Rhett Weiss, Google's senior team leader for global infrastructure, said the employees at Goose Creek will earn an average of $48,000 yearly plus stock or stock options, unlimited sick days, paternity leave for new fathers, free meals, a gym, basketball hoops and ping-pong tables.

South Carolina officials granted Google $4.8 million in tax breaks over 10 years if it creates 200 jobs, and changed laws so that the tech company will not be taxed on electricity and capital investment.

Some North Carolina officials subsequently decried Google's tactics for the Lenoir incentives, with Bill Stone, vice chairman of the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission, saying Google threatened to take the project to South Carolina if the deal wasn't acceptable, the Charlotte Observer reported.

With the announcement of the Goose Creek server farm, Stone and officials wondered if credible competition for Lenoir ever existed.

During the Goose Creek announcement, The Post and Courier reported Google applied for permits to build on 466 acres north of Columbia, S.C., though no announcement has been made.

And this week, the Iowa Senate approved an unspecified amount of tax incentives for Google in an attempt to lure a $600 million, 200-employee server farm to Council Bluffs, the AP reported.

Google hasn't yet announced a Council Bluffs facility, though the Omaha World-Herald reported the Council Bluffs Industrial Foundation has assembled and rezoned 180 acres of land, likely for Google.

Robert Evatt 581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com

About Google

What: Google Inc. operates the world's largest Internet search engine and, through its partnerships with America Online, Netscape and others, responds to more search queries than any other service online. It is one of the five most popular sites on the Internet.

The company also provides an array of other services, including online advertising, video, e-mail, image storage and a satellite mapping service.

History: Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporated the company Sept. 7, 1998.

The name: "Googol" is the mathematical term for a "1 followed by 100 zeros." Google's play on the term reflects its mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the Web.

Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.

Employees: 10,674 worldwide

Income: Google generates revenue primarily through online advertising and search services. In its latest annual report, the company had a net income of $3.077 billion on revenue of $10.604 billion.

Acquisitions: Google acquired online video company YouTube on Oct. 10 for $1.65 billion. It also acquired JobSpot in October and Adscape Media Inc. in March.

Google has also announced plans to purchase online advertising company DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion, though the Federal Trade Commission has not yet approved the move.

Web site: www.google.com

Sources: Google, Reuters

 Server farms at a glance

What's a server farm?: It's a cluster of dozens, hundreds or thousands of computers that process data for corporations. Google Inc. uses them for all its Internet activities, the best known of which is a search engine -- a site (www.google.com) that allows users to search the Internet for Web sites with specific words in them.

Server farms don't just hold computers. John Parsons, president of Perimeter Technology, an Oklahoma City-based information technology center with operations in Tulsa, said computers typically only take up 25 percent to 50 percent of the space.

The rest consists of battery backup systems, generators, communication equipment, network operations and offices.

Why Oklahoma?: Though Google officials aren't talking, Parsons said large data centers are expensive to construct and require large amounts of land, as well as massive amounts of water and electricity.

"The upfront costs on these can be extremely expensive," he said. "Oklahoma's land values are inexpensive compared to the rest of the country, and our cost of living keeps construction costs down."

How many server farms does Google have?: The exact figure is a tightly guarded secret, and the company doesn't even release the number of servers or configurations of its farms at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. That keeps the competition guessing about Google's capacity.

How much electricity do server farms require?: Parsons estimates that, for every 10,000 square feet of space, a server farm will require 1 megawatt of power to operate regularly. However, the need for backup systems can push energy needs up to 2 megawatts per 10,000 square feet.

Why do server farms need so much water?: To keep the computers cool. Parsons said industrial servers generate three to four times the heat of a PC, and they're packed in tight clusters. These clusters require external cooling sources, typically chillers that use water.

Why do large server farms employ relatively few people?: The facilities are largely automated, Parsons said.

There aren't many people needed, but they're well trained, so they'll be earning very good salaries, he said.

 

By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer

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