DPCs of Apple

Data center in Denmark

2020: Apple builds the world's largest wind turbines for data centers

At the beginning of September, 2020 it became known that Apple invests in construction of two world's largest land wind turbines. This solution will allow the company to approach 100% carbon neutrally to balance of all the business, a production supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030. Read more here.

Data center in Northern Carolina and Oregon, the USA

Apple which always very indifferently treated any public attacks or, on the contrary, laudatory odes did not begin to be silent this time and responded at the beginning of 2011 to the charges which are put forward from outside Greenpeace. The known international public organization considers that Apple along with Amazon and Microsoft for needs of own DPCs is used by the power sources posing a threat for the environment. All listed companies became the main persons involved in the report with the eloquent name How Clean Is Your Cloud? (Your how net cloud?).

The official comment of Apple concerns two DPCs under construction in Northern Carolina and Oregon, the USA. "Our server farm in Northern Carolina will consume 20 MW, and about 60% of this volume of energy will arrive from renewable energy sources" – Kristin Huguet, the press secretary of Apple noted. In this case it is about solar batteries and fuel elements, so large-scale installations of energy carriers of this sort in the USA still were not. For some time the DPC in Northern Carolina will become most "green" in the world.

Apple is going to bring into operation one more DPC in Oregon with for 100% renewable energy sources. The computer center will be located in the territory of a little less than 1 thousand sq.m. According to Wire which Jason Carr shared, the manager on economic development of the municipal district, Apple intends to develop in neighborhoods of Prinvil, the State of Oregon, construction of the largest DPC within its IT infrastructure. In this area the DPC builds also Facebook, presumably both objects will be comparable in terms of the scope of. Apple signed the agreement on selection of section of 160 acres with the city authorities.

In the report the Greenpeace calls DPC factories of the 21st century whose energy consumption is comparable from 180 thousand dwellings of separate families. "Amazon, Apple and Microsoft – the largest IT companies which regard as of paramount importance the cloud concept of calculations. Naturally they endure the period of rapid growth of business which is continuous integrated to construction of new DPCs. However power sources lag behind in the development, and giants are inevitably forced to operate actively the obsolete technologies causing a serious loss to the environment".

10 signs of the fact that Apple has the most serious intentions in "cloud".^[1]

• Lease of new capacities of DPC. According to messages, Apple just signed the agreement for a period of seven years on lease of 1022 sq.m of the areas of new DPC in Santa Clara at DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT) investment trust. It is expected that the new DPC will become operational in July-September, 2011. It will join other DPCs of Apple on the Western coast: in Newark (piece California) and in native Cupertino. Lease of new capacities shows that the company aims to expand the computing resources, preparing for a fast boom of "cloud".
• Purchase of the domain iCloud. Apple made one more major step forward in the cloud strategy in April, having purchased the domain iCloud.com from Xcerion, the Swedish supplier of SaaS storage, for the impressive amount of 4.5 mln. dollars. This purchase signals that Apple prepares for rivalry with Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player which are recently started by cloud services of storage and stream transfer of music. By hearsay, Apple prepares a cloud service of storage where it will be possible to hold music, photos and other digital content. Whether he will bear the name iCloud? Xcerion, meanwhile, changed the name of the domain and service to CloudMe.
• Mysteries of "lock". So far it is impossible to tell for certain whether there is a speech about iCloud, but the French blogger of Consomac detected the hidden "cloud" intention of Apple code-named "Castle" recently. He looked for references of Find My Mac, iCloud and MobileMe in OS and unexpectedly came across the lines saying: "Execute upgrade on Castle" and "Click OK to open "Settings of a system" and to execute upgrade with MobileMe on Castle". From these phrases the output arises that "Castle" is the code name of new service iCloud.
• New MobileMe. From kitchen of rumors also information reaches that Apple will rebuild the flagman cloud service of MobileMe. Whether it will include iCloud, it is unknown, but observers expect that new MobileMe can be provided already on WWDC 2011 starting on June 6. Also a talk goes that new MobileMe will include "box" for storage in a cloud, stream transfer of content and function which will allow to learn location of other users and to report the.
• End of discounts. One more sign of the fact that the cloud strategy of Apple continues to become stronger and that the new version of MobileMe on the way, is canceling of a 30-dollar discount for MobileMe and iWork at sale of new computers. The discount allowed to save 30 dollars from MobileMe cost (99 dollars) upon purchase together with the new Macintosh computer or any device with iOS. The same discount was offered the buying iWork. Recently information from Apple where it is said that "promotion actions "Purchase Mac filtered and save 30 dollars on iWork" and "Purchase Mac and save 30 dollars on MobileMe" stop since April 18. Resellers should remove all advertizing with this offer by the end of the specified working day". Canceling of discounts for MobileMe follows the termination of sales of this service in retail salons (it began to be on sale only online).
• Get acquainted: Kevin Timmons. Apple could persuade Kevin Timmons, the former CEO on services of DPCs of Microsoft, leave Redmond and head its own strategy in this area. Timmons is a recognized expert on a cloud and DPCs. In two years of work in Microsoft he directed construction of its powerful DPCs in Chicago and Dublin where infrastructure of cloud services and search of Bing is placed. Possibly, Apple will assign to Timmons the same tasks as aims to expand the capacities of DPCs and presence at a cloud.
• Specialists are required! Are still not quite sure of intentions of Apple? Well, look at the list of vacancies which is published by the company. In April Apple announced a vacancy of software developer for a cloud. The description of job responsibilities shows that the company needed the specialist to write software which "forms a basis" some it "the most remarkable new products and services". Ideally the candidate should have experience "design, implementations and supports of high-scalable applications and web services" and "will work in a tandem with teams of experts of a different profile to formulate and implement a number of the main reference platforms and the systems of the company".
• New DPC in Carolina. It is expected that in the coming months of Apple will open powerful DPC of 46,450 sq.m in Malden (piece. Sowing. Carolina) where itself will use 17,094 sq.m. This DPC which is already called iDataCenter will serve as the center of infrastructure Apple on East coast and will give it a powerful support in general. It is expected that the new DPC will become the center of all cloud services Apple.
• iTunes will become cloud? Nearly a year hearing about the cloud version of iTunes circulates, but so far it did not become a reality. Such modification of iTunes would allow users to store their musical and video libraries in a cloud - on servers of Apple, and not just the PCs or iPod - and to accept stream transfer on any Internet device. It would save them from need always to have at itself iPod. Such iTunes would become something like MobileMe for music - and the direct competitor of Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player. But the main issue sounds so: whether iCloud will become that cloud iTunes which waits for the industry?
• Agreements with firms of sound recording. Whether another for now Apple already aims to have authoritative labels in the portfolio will become cloud music service iCloud, iTunes or something absolutely (and in a cloud). Just reported to CNET that the company signed the license agreement about cloud sale of music with EMI Music and is on the threshold of similar transactions with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Warner Music is already her partner. It is expected that Apple will manage to conclude these bargains just to WWDC 2011, and then to it what it will be loud to announce at a conference.

Data center in Meydena

For the data center the Apple company paid for section almost in 50 times more of the average market price. Section in 40 hundred parts in the town of Meyden was purchased at the American of pair for $1.7 million^[1]

Land for data center of Apple bought by the company at the American pair in Northern Carolina is purchased at the price which exceeds average market almost by 50 times. Apple paid $1.7 million for section.

According to Bloomberg, a ground of 40 hundred parts together with the house Donnie and Donnie and Kathy Fulbright belonged. This earth was required to Apple for construction of the data center for $1 billion. However Fulbraytov pair did not want to sell the house in which it lived 34 years. They rejected offers of Apple, but nevertheless agreed to payment in the amount of $1.7 million.

"They suggested ourselves to set the price of this section that we also made" — Katy Fulbright noted. On received from the producer of electronics money the married couple built to itself the new house more than 400 square meters on section of the sizes about 20 hectares.

As analysts note, the Apple company was ready to overpay for the necessary earth somewhat quicker to construct the new data center of 46.5 thousand square meters necessary for it for support of the digital entertaining services intended for owners of iPod, iPhone and iPad devices.

Apple for the first time announced the intention to construct data center in the small town of Meyden in the State of North Carolina in June, 2009, and in August construction began. Now construction of a construction is well under way and approaches the end — should complete it by the end of 2010.

It is expected that after start of new data center of Apple will give the chance to users to watch video and to listen to music in streaming mode using cloud services. Besides, additional servers can be used for broadcast of video to users of new generation of set-top boxes of Apple TV.

Representatives of the company promise that in data center 50 people will constantly work, and about 250 more people will employ for support of work of this construction and its protection.

Data center in Prinvilla

In February, 2012 it became known that Apple purchased in Prinvilla (Oregon, the USA) the land plot of the sizes of 160 acres and worth $5.6 million where the new DPC will also be built. Prinvill has a temperate climate, the analyst of Gabriel Consulting Group Dan Olds and therefore the earth in this city represents special value for construction of data centers said. At the same time the earth costs rather not much, and the state district power plant on the river Colombia generates the electric power much. Google and Amazon also have data centers in Oregon.

2011: Greenpeace called Apple the 'dirtiest' cloud vendor

The Greenpeace company published in the spring of 2011 the report 'Your data are how dirty?' (How dirty is your data?) with the analysis of level of environmental friendliness of data centers of the leading suppliers of cloud services.

Assessment of environmental friendliness of the leading cloud suppliers is the cornerstone of the report: Akamai, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo. Specialists of Greenpeace estimated the following parameters: index of use of 'net' energy, intensity of use of coal, transparency, placement of infrastructure and strategy in the solution of environmental problems of data centers.

In general, it is difficult to call results of the carried-out Greenpeace of the analysis encouraging. The best indicators by the index of use of net energy were reached by Yahoo companies (55.9%) and Google (36.4%). The worst results – at Apple (6.7%) and HP (9.9%). On the level of intensity of use of coal, besides, conducts Apple (54.5%) and Facebook (53.2%). The best results – at Yahoo (18.3%) and Amazon (28.5%).

As for such indicators as transparency, placement of infrastructure and strategy in environmental friendliness, here specialists of Greenpeace ranged cloud suppliers on levels: from A to F. At the same time on one indicator any supplier could not receive assessment of A. On transparency level only the Akamai company, on location of data centers – Yahoo, on strategy in environmental friendliness – Google and IBM could receive assessment of B.

The worst figures of transparency – at Amazon, Google and Twitter. On location of data centers the worst results at Apple, Facebook and Twitter. On strategy in environmental friendliness – at Twitter.

However the 36-page report of Greenpeace, in addition to information on ecological progress and failures of the leading cloud suppliers, contains also data on the current situation in the field of environmental friendliness of data centers. Greenpeace criticizes the PUE and DCiE standards, widespread in the industry, as the efficiency of use of energy resources in IT absolutely not necessarily means environmental friendliness of IT. Besides, the report contains recommendations of sources of renewable energy, placement of data centers, ensuring ecological transparency of activity of the IT companies, etc.

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