Google sends 'Duke of Data Centers' to Land of Oz?
Down Under with Project Will Power
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Google has apparently dispatched its self-styled "Duke of Data Centers" to the land of Oz, as it considers whether Australia is worthy of Project Will Power.
Over the past few weeks, according to Australian IT, a small team of American Googlers arrived Down Under for "high-level discussions" with local data center providers, and sources say these meetings were led by a man named Simon Tusha, who likes to call himself "Google's Duke of Data Centers."
When we asked Google's US Chocolate Factory whether the company is considering its very own Australian data center, it answered without answering. "Fast, innovative products are crucial for our users and require significant computing power," a company spokesman told us. "As a result, Google invests heavily in technical facilities around the world and is constantly on the look out for additional locations. However, we don't comment on possible sites or locations."
But in speaking with Australian IT, an Oz-based spokesman at least indicated the company is mulling things over. "While we're investing in our Australian operations, we haven't made any decisions about whether we'll locate a data centre here," he said.
At last count, Google is operating or constructing 36 data centers across the globe, but you won't find one Down Under:
Google's Worldwide Data Centers
According to Australian IT, this has caused some Aussie businesses to forgo marriage with Gmail and other cloudy Google apps. Routing data to Google servers overseas can spike bandwidth costs.
Thanks to something called Project Will Power, it's now the norm for Google to construct its data centers by piecing together intermodal shipping containers pre-packed with servers and cooling equipment. With this modular setup, Google can construct the building blocks for each center at a central location and then ship them around the world as needed.
Word has also leaked that the company is building its own servers and its own Ethernet switches.
In February, Google admitted to building an underwater comms cable between the US and Japan. And in 2009, it plans to open a 250-person office in Sydney. ®
COMMENTS
answered without answering
Google responded with a reply, but not an answer.
Slippery slope.
So Google are transporting people to Australia now? They'll be reducing their salary costs by reintroducing slavery next. After that they'll build an Empire and take over the world.......oh, wait......
BYO infrastructure
I guess they are going to build their own trans-Pacific pipe then? We can't even get reliable ADSL at 1536kbps and we are right in the middle of Sydney's CBD.
I don't know if anyone has told Google yet, but our infrastructure here is still not fibre-to-the-door, and isn't likely to be for the next 1,000 years thanks to our main telcos sweet little monopoly on the infrastructure, plus the fact the our Government still thinks fibre is what you get from sheep, not what you get teh pr0n from YouToobs on.
Oh, and another thing - is it Google going to get a get-out-of-firewall card for Our Glorious And Wise Government's proposed Even Greater Than China's Great Firewal of Australia?
Paris, because how are we going to Googe for Paris behind the Firewall To End All Firewalls?
And anon. becuase I don't want a visit from the Telstra Stasi!
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