Finance

Facebook’s Open Data Center

The data-center market, especially for web hosting, is one of the few truly hot markets in this recession. It also is one of the most secretive, mostly for security reasons and to keep competitors at bay. Thus, it is a little unusual for DPR Construction to be releasing the plans for two new Facebook data centers.

Photo: Courtesy Of DPR Construction

On April 7, Facebook announced it would release details of its server configurations, including mechanical and electrical plans for its 147,000-sq-ft data center in Prineville, Ore., to the open-source community. Built by DPR and Fortis Construction, the site is considered one of the most efficient data centers in the world.

The Facebook-launched open-source Open Compute Project (http://opencompute.org/) provides details, drawings and CAD files of the systems that helped the Prineville center achieve a power- usage effectiveness rating of 1.07. PUE measures how much energy is used by the servers compared to the facility’s systems. The ideal rating would be 1.00, indicating that all the facility’s energy is going to the servers. The industry average is about 1.50. DPR is working on another Facebook data center in Forest City, N.C..

Facebook has posted the specifications on its own pages, says Gavin Keith, national sales director for DPR. “The company believes it will help the entire industry by showcasing a more efficient way to design and build data centers,” says Keith.

For its part, Facebook thinks there’s plenty for the public to like about its plan to share.

Gary J. Tulacz had been, since 1993, senior editor in charge of ENR's Top Lists, which bring structure to the huge global construction industry through annual surveys and market analysis of its key segments and major players. The array of surveys rank companies, based both in the U.S. and outside, which perform general contracting, specialty contracting, engineering, architecture and environmental services, among other specialties.

The rankings, based on annual revenue from work at home and abroad, are further divided into specific market categories. Click here for descriptions and schedules of ENR Top List surveys and access to information on current and past listed firms.

Gary also created the ENR Top 100 Green Contractors and Design Firms rankings and the ENR quarterly Construction Industry Confidence Index that measures firm executives' market outlook.

This survey data is used by industry firms and other businesses, government agencies and academics also to gauge the health of the global construction market.

A graduate of Fordham College in New York City and the Fordham University School of Law, Gary previously wrote extensively on employee relations in such areas as labor and immigration law and employee drug testing.

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