05 July 2019

Mesa LalaPaLooza: All The Hype That's Fit-to-Print > Data Hub


Let's take one more dive into all the hoopla-hype pitched-out from the constant Jive-Talk by Mesa Mayor John Giles and city officials 
It is time for a TIME OUT.
Here's the most recent low-key report on all of Google's Data Centers with no over-the-top exaggeration, even though a press release from the City of Mesa News Room took pains to issue a carefully-worded announcement immediately after last Thursday's public meeting stating it was not a done deal. That's quite a different slant from Giles stating "In terms of a financial deal, this is home run. This is a great day."
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Google’s Western US Data Center Capacity Is Swelling Up
If all goes to plan, it will have gone from one campus in 2018 to four in 2020.
In recent years, the Alphabet subsidiary has been investing heavily to expand its computing infrastructure around the world. It’s been spending billions every quarter on network and data center construction to support its products for regular internet users – things like Search, Maps, YouTube, and Gmail – but even more so to scale the Google Cloud platform that provides computing services to enterprises.
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A good portion of that spend has gone to build up its footprint in the western US, where the company is planning to go from one major data center location (in Oregon) about one year ago to four by the end of 2020.
Historically, the bulk of Google’s US computing
infrastructure has been concentrated in the Midwest and in the South, but the company’s pursuit of a greater share of the cloud market (dominated by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure) appears to be driving a need for more capacity in the west.
This April, Google announced plans to build data centers to support a new cloud availability region in Salt Lake City, and last July it announced the launch of a Los Angeles region. The Nevada data center will also host a new availability region for Google Cloud.
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Related: Cloud Giants Continue Pouring Billions Into Data Centers
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Google doesn’t expect to finish the first phase if the Mesa data center until 2025, according to a report by AZ Central.
What's omitted from the Data Center Knowledge report two days ago is this tentative and conditional statement:
"Google is considering acquiring property in Mesa, AZ., and while we do not have a confirmed timeline for development for the site, we want to ensure that we have the option to further grow should our business demand it ."
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The Las Vegas and Salt Lake builds are part of a $13 billion investment in new US offices and data centers the company announced earlier this year.
Google suggested that customers will be able to distribute their workloads across up to four regions in the west, once Las Vegas and Salt Lake come online (it expects to launch both next year).
Each new infrastructure region is also meant to target industries that are concentrated in its corresponding population center –
  • 1 gaming and entertainment in Las Vegas
  • 2 Hollywood in L.A.
  • 3 healthcare, IT, and financial services in Salt Lake
  • 4 _____________________________ in Mesa???
BLOGGER NOTE: The question still up-in-the-air is exactly what industries might get targeted in this "small town outside Phoenix" that's not targeted for Salt Lake City??
Reference: https://www.datacenterknowledge.com 
BRIEF                
Mesa, AZ lands $1B Google data center
Published July 3, 2019

Dive Brief:
Google will bring a new $1 billion data center to Mesa, AZ after the city council approved the move in a vote Monday, according to the Arizona Republic
The data center will be built on 187 acres of farmland in the Elliot Road Technology Corridor, which already has five existing or planned data centers. Construction is expected to begin within five years, with the first part of the data center projected to be in place by 2025. 

As part of the agreement, Google will get a $16 million break in property taxes over 25 years.
Dive Insight:
Google’s arrival boosts Mesa's reputation as a hub for data centers, which tech giants are increasingly building outside of the traditional base of Silicon Valley. Mesa is also home to a 1.3 million-square-foot Apple data center, open since 2016, and has used the facilities to build out its Technology Corridor. The development is growing across Arizona, with Microsoft recently purchasing three plots of land there for new data facilities. 
It’s unclear how many jobs the data center will create, since most operations at those facilities are automated, though construction will create new jobs. Even with the tax break, the city’s economic development director estimates the project will bring in nearly $157 million in revenue, according to the East Valley Tribune, including $10,000 in annual rent.
That led Mayor John Giles to declare the deal a "home run."
Bringing in data centers is also a way to potentially attract tech giants to relocate more operations there. Google has touted its "major expansion" in data centers as a way to spread its investments outside of California; in February, the company announced $13 billion in data center investments across 14 states. As cities look to attract big tech firms away from the coasts, Mesa’s recruitment could pose as a model on how best to bring in the industry. 
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