"The old phrase ""location, location, location"" particularly applies to data centers. That's because where a center is situated can play a significant role in its day-to-day functionality. For a company looking to construct a center, much thought goes into exactly where to build it. We decided to evaluate some different regions where centers are often built and address the advantages of each:
New York: The State of New York presents a lucrative spot to build a data center, according to Gigaom. That's because the state provides special tax exemptions for data centers. It's also a convenient space for centers because New York City is a business hot spot, and having a center close to the business mecca that is the Big Apple could prove advantageous for, say, a colocation provider.
Colorado: The relatively mild weather of Colorado makes it a perfect spot for data centers. Also, its location means the likelihood of it getting hit by a natural disaster is far lower than in regions along the coasts. To top that off, there's a large cohort of tech professionals in the state, so data center administrators should find that a new center is relatively easy to staff with industry experts.
The Arctic Circle: While this area may not have, say, the tech expert-heavy population of places like New York or Colorado, it makes up for that in terms of presenting the optimal climate for data center functionality. As Forbes pointed out, Facebook chose to build a center in the Arctic Circle back in 2011 due to the extraordinary energy savings they realized they'd reap. For Facebook, the move proved fortuitous, with a CNET visual tour of the facility revealing highly efficient servers and fans that circulate the naturally cool air from outside throughout the facility. Of course, not every company has the monetary resources of a massive enterprise like Facebook, and establishing a data center anywhere in the Arctic Circle would likely be cost-prohibitive for many businesses out there.
Iowa: These days, Iowa has been emerging as a new data center hot spot, which as readwrite pointed out is due both to the potential for harnessing wind power that Iowa presents as well as the receptiveness of Iowans to data centers. For these reasons, businesses like Google, Facebook and Microsoft have set up facilities in the state, and with these precedent-setting enterprises there, it's only a matter of time before Iowa's data center market becomes teeming with new activity.
Ultimately, nearly any location can be made conducive to sustainable data center operations. All it takes is time, patience and a willingness on the part of center administrators to work with the local environment and community."
