Earlier this year, CenturyLink and IO announced a partnership to widen CenturyLink’s data center colocation service footprint by leveraging IO’s technology platform within its Phoenix data center. The agreement between the two organizations will make as much as 9 megawatts of critical power resources available to clients in the region.
EBay Awarded for Phoenix Data Center Cooling System
Two years ago, eBay joined with Dell to deploy 1,920 servers at its Phoenix data center. Both groups wanted data center sustainability to be a main focus of the project, and sought to find a solution that would be energy efficient and lower operating expenses at the facility.
To address these issues, Dell leveraged a green design for a new modular data center that could house eBay’s nearly 2,000 servers and still be environmentally friendly. The company utilized a fresh air cooling system installed on the roof of the modular facility, which enabled the structure to function at maximum computing capacity while maintaining the lowest possible wattage consumption.
Once the project was completed, eBay saw reduced energy use and was able to boost rack density within the space. The Phoenix data center benefited from year-round free air cooling, operating at 26 kilowatts per server cabinet. The modular facility boasted four times the rack density and half the building cost of a traditional brick-and-mortar data center, and also has a low 1.043 PUE rating.
Phoenix Provides Data Center Benefits
Through its partnership with Dell, eBay was able to overcome Phoenix’s climate, which could have posed considerable cooling problems as temperatures can top out in the 100 degree Fahrenheit range. The area’s environment also holds other benefits for data center projects, as it is known for being immune to many natural disasters. This aspect is especially advantageous for groups offering disaster recovery services and is one of the region’s attractive characteristics.
Another advantage of operating a Phoenix data center is the reliable and cost-effective power resources in the region. The kilowatt price-per-hour throughout Arizona is approximately seven cents, one of the lowest in the nation.
Additionally, the area has a robust fiber and cable infrastructure to provide best-in-class connectivity for data center services.
“[T]his hardware cable connectivity places Phoenix as a hub location in the routing of fiber from Los Angeles to Dallas, Denver, Chicago and then East Coast cities,” Commercial Executive stated. “Phoenix has relative close proximity to both Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which provides transportation and logistical access for organizations and their supply and value chain.”
The Arizona Data Center Coalition also noted that the state has considerable data center tax incentives for operators as well. These benefits include lowered personal property taxes and exemptions on sales tax for computing equipment.
