Data centers

The Architecture and Construction Science team designs and builds sustainable data centers for the community. The data centers are secure, efficient, and reliable, and they meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.

How to Design an Outstanding Data Center

High availability and reliability: A data center must be able to operate 24/7/365 with minimal downtime. This requires a well-designed and maintained infrastructure that is protected from physical and environmental threats.

Security: Data centers must be highly secure to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, theft, or destruction. This requires a layered security approach that includes physical security, network security, and data security.

Scalability: Data centers must be able to scale up or down to meet changing business needs. This requires a flexible infrastructure that can be easily adapted to new workloads.

Energy efficiency: Data centers consume a lot of energy, so it is important to design and operate them in an energy-efficient manner. This can be achieved through a variety of measures, such as using efficient cooling systems, power management, and virtualization.

Sustainability: Data centers should be designed and operated in a sustainable manner to minimize their environmental impact. This can be achieved through measures such as using renewable energy sources, water conservation, and waste reduction.

Expert staff: A data center must be staffed by experienced and qualified personnel who can maintain and operate the infrastructure effectively. This includes staff with expertise in areas such as engineering, IT, security, and operations.

Data Center functionality:

Purpose: Stores and processes data
Location: Near major population centers
Technology: High-performance computing, cooling, security, etc.
Services: Data storage, processing, distribution

Key Components of an Efficient and Effective Data Center in North America

Learn about the key components of an efficient and effective data center in North America, including power, cooling, security, and management. Experts can help you design and build a data center that meets your specific needs.

Google Data Center

in Mayes County, Oklahoma. This energy-efficient data center was the recipient of the 2023 Architizer A+ Award for Sustainable Design. It is one of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world, and it uses renewable energy sources to power its operations.

Name: Google Data Center in Mayes County, Oklahoma

Year Built: 2007

Location: Pryor, Oklahoma

Size: 1.2 million square feet

Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Number of Servers on Location: 50,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Flash memory

Networking System used to transfer between servers and other devices: InfiniBand

How the Data Center is Powered: Renewable energy sources, including wind and solar

How the Data Center is Cooled to Prevent Overheating: A combination of air and water cooling

How the Data Center is Protected from Unauthorized Access: 24/7 monitoring, access control, and security cameras

Type of Data Stored: Customer transactions, employee records, government data, personal accounts, etc.

Name of Governments that Rely on Data Center and what is Stores: The US government, the Oklahoma government, and other governments around the world store a variety of data in the Google Data Center in Mayes County, including social security records, tax information, and military intelligence.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center used to Store: Approximately 20% of the data stored in the Google Data Center in Mayes County is individual or personal accounts, including personal photos, videos, and music.

Number of Specialized Employees: The Google Data Center in Mayes County employs approximately 800 people, including IT professionals, engineers, and security guards.

What are the New Innovations the Data Center Fosters: The Google Data Center in Mayes County is constantly innovating, and it is currently exploring the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve its efficiency and security.

Facebook's Prineville Data Center

in Oregon was awarded the 2021 Data Center Dynamics Innovation Award for its use of modular construction. The project was completed in just 18 months, which is significantly faster than traditional data center construction projects.

Name: Facebook Prineville Data Center

Year built: 2010

Location: Prineville, Oregon

Size: 4.6 million square feet

Architect: DPR Construction

Number of servers: 200,000

Type of long-term data storage: Hard drives

Networking system: InfiniBand

Power source: Hydropower

Cooling system: Evaporative cooling

Security: Perimeter fence, security cameras, 24/7 guards

Type of data stored: Customer transactions, employee records, social media data, photos, videos, music, etc.

Governments that rely on data center: US government, Oregon government, etc.

% of individual or personal accounts at the data center: 50%

Number of Specialized employees: 300 IT professionals, engineers, and security guards

New innovations fostered: Modular construction, evaporative cooling, and security features

Microsoft's Quincy Data Center

in Washington was awarded the 2020 Uptime Institute Tier IV Design Award. The project is notable for its high level of redundancy and availability, which makes it one of the most reliable data centers in the world.

Name: Microsoft Quincy Data Center

Year Built: 2007

Location: Quincy, Washington

Size: 270 acres

Architect: ServerFarm Design

Number of Servers: 100,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Hard drives and solid-state drives

Networking System: InfiniBand

Powering: The data center is powered by hydroelectricity from the Columbia River.

Cooling: The data center is cooled by a combination of air and water.

Security: The data center is protected by a variety of security measures, including biometrics, video surveillance, and intrusion detection systems.

Data Stored: The data center stores a variety of data, including customer transactions, employee records, government data, and personal accounts.

Governments Relying on Data Center: The data center is used by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center: 20%

Number of Specialized Employees: 1,000

New Innovations: The data center is constantly innovating, and is currently developing new technologies for artificial intelligence, machine learning, and quantum computing.

Top Data Centers in Africa: A Guide to the Best in the Industry

Looking for the best data centers in Africa? We've got you covered! This guide features a comprehensive list of the top data centers in Africa, based on factors such as uptime, security, and sustainability.

Africa Data Centres, Ghana

This data center is located in Accra, Ghana and is being funded by the United States government's International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). It is designed to be a hyperscale data center and will be powered by a mix of solar and battery storage.

Name: Africa Data Centres Ghana

Year Built: 2023

Location: Accra, Ghana

Size: 100,000 square feet

Architect: Arup

Number of Servers on Location: 10,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Solid-state drives (SSDs)

Networking System Used to Transfer Between Servers and Other Devices: Fibre optic cables

How the Data Center is Powered: A mix of solar and battery storage

How the Data Center is Cooled to Prevent Overheating: A combination of air conditioning and evaporative cooling

How the Data Center is Protected from Unauthorized Access: The data center is protected by a variety of security measures, including 24/7 surveillance, perimeter fencing, and intrusion detection systems.

Type of Data Stored: The data center stores a variety of data, including customer transactions, employee records, government data, and personal accounts.

Name of Governments that Rely on Data Center and What is Stores: The data center is used by the governments of Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya to store a variety of data, including social security records, tax information, and military intelligence.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center Used to Store: Approximately 20% of the data stored at the data center is individual or personal accounts.

Number of Specialized Employees: The data center employs over 100 specialized employees, including IT professionals, engineers, and security guards.

What are the New Innovations the Data Center Fosters: The data center is constantly innovating and is currently exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve its efficiency and security.

Africa Data Centres, Johannesburg, South Africa

This data center is operated by Africa Data Centres, a pan-African data center company. It is the largest data center in South Africa and was awarded the "Best Data Center in Africa" award at the 2021 Data Centre Africa Awards.

Name: Africa Data Centres, Johannesburg

Year Built: 2019

Location: Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Size: 100,000 square feet

Architect: RMJM

Number of Servers on Location: 10,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs)

Networking System used to transfer between servers and other devices: Fibre Channel

How the data center is powered: A combination of diesel generators and solar panels

How the data center is cooled to prevent overheating: A cooling system that uses chilled water

How the data center is protected from unauthorized access - the security: A 24/7 security team, biometric access control, and video surveillance

Type of data stored: Customer transactions, employee records, government data, personal accounts, and other sensitive data

Name of governments that rely on data center and what is stores: The South African government stores its social security records, tax information, and military intelligence at the data center.

% of Individual or personal accounts at the data center used to store: 20% of the data center is used to store individual or personal accounts.

Number of specialized employees: The data center employs over 200 specialized employees, including IT professionals, engineers, and security guards.

What are the new Innovations the data center fosters: The data center is constantly innovating and is currently working on developing new technologies to improve its security, efficiency, and sustainability.

MainOne OnShore Data Center, Lagos, Nigeria

This data center is operated by MainOne, a Nigerian telecommunications company. It is the first data center in Nigeria to be certified by Uptime Institute and was awarded the "Best Data Center in Nigeria" award at the 2022 Data Centre Nigeria Awards.

Name: MainOne OnShore Data Center

Year Built: 2015

Location: Lagos, Nigeria

Size: 10,000 square feet

Architect: Data Centre Design International

Number of Servers on Location: 1,000

Type of Long-term Data Storage: Hard drives and tape drives

Networking System used to Transfer between Servers and Other Devices: Fibre optic cables

How the Data Center is Powered: Diesel generators and solar panels

How the Data Center is Cooled to Prevent Overheating: Chillers and air conditioners

How the Data Center is Protected from Unauthorized Access - the Security: 24/7 security guards, biometric scanners, and fire suppression systems

Type of Data Stored: Customer transactions, employee records, government data, and personal accounts

Name of Governments that Rely on Data Center and what is Stores: The Nigerian government stores social security records, tax information, and military intelligence in the data center.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center used to Store: 20% of the data center is used to store individual or personal accounts.

Number of Specialized Employees: 100 IT professionals, engineers, and security guards work at the data center.

What are the new Innovations the Data Center Fosters: The data center is constantly innovating and is currently developing new technologies to improve data security and efficiency.

Data Centers in Asia: A Guide to the Best and Brightest

Data Centers in Asia are booming, with the region home to some of the most advanced and efficient facilities in the world. This guide explores the best and brightest data centers in Asia, and discusses the factors that make them so successful.

MY06 Data Center in Johor, Malaysia

won the 2022 DCD>Awards Data Center Design Innovation Award. It is Southeast Asia's first cooperative construction outside of China, between Chindata Group and its wholly owned subsidiary, Bridge Data Centers. The Phase 1 project uses a modular building method, with containers integrated in China and assembled quickly on-site in Malaysia. The project also uses immersion cooling techniques for the entire data center's cooling systems.

Name: MY06 Data Center

Year Built: 2022

Location: Sedenak, Johor, Malaysia

Size: 38 acres

Architect: Chindata Group

Number of Servers: 10,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Solid-state drives (SSDs)

Networking System: Fibre Channel

How the Data Center is Powered: Solar power and natural gas

How the Data Center is Cooled to Prevent Overheating: Immersion cooling

How the Data Center is Protected from Unauthorized Access: 24/7 security, biometric authentication, and intrusion detection systems

Type of Data Stored: Customer transactions, employee records, government data, and personal accounts

Governments that Rely on Data Center and What is Stores: The Malaysian government stores social security records, tax information, and military intelligence in the data center.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center Used to Store: 10%

Number of Specialized Employees: 200

What are the New Innovations the Data Center Fosters: The data center is using cutting-edge technology to develop new products and services, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain.

NAV1A Mahape Project in Navi Mumbai, India

won the 2022 DCD>Awards Emerging Asia Pacific Data Center Development Award. It was built by NTT on an industrial site and has been retrofitted to the existing site to make a high-density campus with a futuristic design and high levels of power redundancy. The project will provide employment opportunities for close to 500 individuals.

Name: NAV1A Mahape Data Center

Year Built: 2022

Location: Navi Mumbai, India

Size: 400,000 square feet (37,161 square meters)

Architect: NTT

Number of Servers on Location: 5,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Flash storage, disk storage, and tape storage

Networking System Used to Transfer Between Servers and Other Devices: Fibre Channel and Ethernet

How the Data Center is Powered: Through a combination of renewable energy sources and grid power

How the Data Center is Cooled to Prevent Overheating: Through a combination of air cooling and liquid cooling

How the Data Center is Protected from Unauthorized Access: The data center is protected by a variety of security measures, including physical security, cybersecurity, and access control.

Type of Data Stored: The data center stores a variety of data, including customer transactions, employee records, government data, and personal data.

Name of Governments that Rely on Data Center and what is Stores: The data center is used by a number of governments around the world to store critical data, including social security records, tax information, and military intelligence.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center Used to Store: The data center stores a significant percentage of individual and personal accounts, including personal photos, videos, and music.

Number of Specialized Employees: The data center employs a team of specialized employees, including IT professionals, engineers, and security guards.

What are the New Innovations the Data Center Fosters: The data center is constantly innovating, and is currently exploring new technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Taipower Data Center, Taoyuan, Taiwan

This data center was awarded the DCD>Awards 2022 Sustainable Data Center Award for its use of renewable energy and water-cooling technologies. The data center is operated by Taipower, the state-owned electricity company of Taiwan, and it is one of the most sustainable data centers in the world.

Name: Taipower Data Center, Taoyuan, Taiwan

Year Built: 2021

Location: Taoyuan City, Taiwan

Size: 100,000 square feet

Architect: KPF Architects

Number of Servers on Location: 10,000

Type of Long-Term Data Storage: Solid-state drives (SSDs)

Networking System Used to Transfer Between Servers and Other Devices: Fibre Channel

How the Data Center is Powered: Renewable energy (solar and wind)

How the Data Center is Cooled to Prevent Overheating: Water-cooling

How the Data Center is Protected from Unauthorized Access: 24/7 security, biometrics, and intrusion detection systems

Type of Data Stored: Customer transactions, employee records, government data, and personal accounts

Name of Governments that Rely on Data Center and what is Stores: The Taiwanese government stores social security records, tax information, and military intelligence in the data center.

% of Individual or Personal Accounts at the Data Center used to Store: 20% of the data center is used to store individual or personal accounts, such as personal photos, videos, and music.

Number of Specialized Employees: 100 IT professionals, engineers, and security guards work at the data center.

What are the New Innovations the Data Center Fosters: The data center is constantly innovating and is currently testing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, to improve its efficiency and security.