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Apple buys Data Center ($45M-$50M)

Heres an image from Appleinsider.com
 

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... let's see that's 10 000 squaremeters ... That's a lot ...

Whether it mean an iTunes Movie Store or just room for general expension it should mean a good thing for those of us who use Apple online services.

Faster .Mac anyone?
 
I'd be surprised if this datacentre was for handling iTMS content. IIRC, bandwidth on that scale within the US is very, very expensive - a lot of places (inc. Google, Amazon, Akamai, who host a lot of Apple stuff) use datacentres in Ireland as it works out cheaper to serve from there.

Don't forget that a data centres don't just provide links to the outside world, it could be just a massive backup facility incase one infinite loop gets **** on or something.

I could be wrong though, it may be that only Europe use Ireland's bandwidth.
 
My guess

What would Apple need a data center this big for...

Here is my guess. They realize that given the hacking communities obbsession with putting OS X on non-Apple Intels, and their success at it, Apple would rather sell OS X as an operating system for any PC. Maybe that is what Jobs is gonna announce tomorrow...or April 1st. Anyways, given Microsoft's thunder stealing attempt at a media event, Jobs should trump them and announce just that.
 
ccperkdog said:
What would Apple need a data center this big for...

Here is my guess. They realize that given the hacking communities obbsession with putting OS X on non-Apple Intels, and their success at it, Apple would rather sell OS X as an operating system for any PC. Maybe that is what Jobs is gonna announce tomorrow...or April 1st. Anyways, given Microsoft's thunder stealing attempt at a media event, Jobs should trump them and announce just that.
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Just a lil thought on the microsoft tangent...
The Orgami project has been up for wayy longer than the apple invites were out. I think apple knew about MS's project and are delibratley one-upping them.
 
As someone already stated, this deal has been in the works for some time now, at least a few months. And it is no coincidence that this San Jose paper printed this story today. This is all planned.

How about this theory:

Apple signed a short-term, exclusive deal months ago with the a few tv networks to "test" out the selling of TV shows on iTunes. This was a test run so-to-speak in order to see what the demand (and sales) were like. At the same time they began looking to buy a large data center.

As expected, sales of videos and video ipods have been high, and Apple now feels confident and is ready to sell feature films as well. They'll need a lot of bandwidth which explains the data center as well.

What I am hoping for is the announcement of high quality shows or movies, which may also play on a brand new widescreen iPod. (or iPad)
 
Probie said:
I live in Newark. The building they bought is less than half a mile away from my school. Tomorrow after school, I will go to it, take pictures of the exterior and try to worm my way inside, if possible. Anyhting that I shoul look for in particular?
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The place doesn't look gated or anything, I think you should get into the parking lot no problem. Get plenty of exterior pictures, as I doubt you'll find any way inside.
 
xsnightclub said:
Do you answer your own qestions often?

Well, I guess you do.
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Do you post snarky responses to tongue in cheek comments often?

Well, I guess you do.

Anxiously waiting for the next article about Apple's office furniture buying habits...:rolleyes:
 
macidiot said:
Apple could very well just be buying this for internal data warehousing. For example to meet sarb-ox requirements.
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:confused:
And how does data warehousing and SOX come together. SOX is about processes, documentation and sign-offs. Not data storage. Just confused.
 
KaiMac said:
Coming from the data-center business, $45 million for a Tier IV data center is pennies on the dollar. This is a great pickup for Apple and will probably be used for a combination of web services and internal applications/hosting. At 107,000 sq feet for $45 Million dollars means they paid approximately $467.00 per sq foot for an N+1 redundant data center in prime real estate area of Newark / NY. Compared to what MCI paid to build this thing, that is a steal. ...
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It's probably a decent deal, but I'm not sure I'd agree it's a steal. Building a 100,000 sq. ft. tier IV datacenter from the gruond up on similar real estate (Newark California, not NJ/NYC) would probably run around $130-$150 mil, including network infrastructure. So $50 mil sounds great, until you factor in the inevitable retrofit costs to get the server density up to modern standards. This thing is 5 years old, which is a bit long in the tooth. To get any sort of decent power/cooling/network/space density out of it for 2006-era (i.e. HOT) CPU's, I betcha they have to sink another 50-80 mil into it over the next few years. Still less than a new place maybe, but then you have to remember they're located uncomfortably close to the San Andreas. Not a lot of execs want to explain why they built their crown jewel on a fault line, so I'm sure MCI was happy to sell.

Anyway, 100,000 sq. ft. is pretty big by datacenter standards. Even if they don't get great server density out of it, it's still a ton of space. If the plan is for iTMS or .Mac expansion or a new video business, they could outfit it with a couple of petabytes of storage and a thousand servers to run all of the above, and still have 80,000 sq. ft. left to play with. I'm guessing this acquisition has more to do with Apple's continued growth and need to consolidate numerous smaller facilities than it does one specfic new service offering.
 
whee900 said:
One thing: online services
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Congrats Sherlock ;)

The widescreen dpi is pathetic right now; if Apple wants to sell videos, or ever wants to set up a Mac Mini media center that can REPLACE DVDs or REPLACE subscription cable they'll need a center like this to store some really big files...
 
Probie said:
I live in Newark. The building they bought is less than half a mile away from my school. Tomorrow after school, I will go to it, take pictures of the exterior and try to worm my way inside, if possible. Anyhting that I shoul look for in particular?
Click to expand...


Probie, go tonight! Muhaha! A little adventure with some buds? Wish I was with you! Look for uhhh lots of movement and security guards that look sociable ; ) Seriously do it! :cool: :eek: :) :D
 
wishnias said:
MCI WorldCom eh? call me an unrealistic optimist if you must, but my powers of totally unfounded speculation tell me that, in addition to iTMS expansion, this will be the new home of the iPhone iNetwork service!! Apple could just buy space on someone's network and offer service right? If I'm way off on that fill me in, not sure how the cell networks work.
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Oh thatsa spicy MEATBALL!
 
MarcelV said:
:confused:
And how does data warehousing and SOX come together. SOX is about processes, documentation and sign-offs. Not data storage. Just confused.
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SOX rules also result in requirements for reporting and auditing. You have to be able to produce answers to questions on financial data that can be up to 7-10 years old. So once SOX became a reality, many companies immediately started looking at how they were going to retain their financial records (and supporting information) for much longer periods of time. That goes directly to storage requirements, not to mention figuring out how to maintain legacy systems for longer stretches, etc.
 
boncellis said:
There can be little doubt that the iTMS would greatly benefit from upgraded and increased capacity available through a facility such as this, but my interest was piqued by the enormity of the new digs. I realize that the iTMS is going to continue to grow and include more options from different television networks, record labels and perhaps film studios, but how rapid would such growth have to be to necessitate the purchase of a Tier IV Data Center?

It could be that the situation and/or price was too good for Apple to pass up, but it seems like there is something more at work here. For all the talk of Apple partnering with various companies, Apple has not repeatedly shown that, in many instances, it can implement its own model and compete directly with an entity that was not previously considered a rival.

Call it a funny feeling, but I see a conflict with a group like Google on the horizon. Apple will always be a superior hardware manufacturer, but its success in providing services once thought beyond its capability cannot be denied. Though new projects are always subject to cost effective constraints, the iTMS cannot be, in my estimation, the ultimate embodiment of Apple's reach into the daily rituals of consumers' lives.
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Thank you Zandor Bot 292.
 
EricNau said:
"The more “mission critical” the application is, the more redundancy, robustness, and security required. Data centers can be classified by Tiers, with Tier 1 being the most basic and inexpensive, and Tier 4 being the most robust and costly. According to definitions from the Uptime Institute and the latest draft of TIA/EIA-942 (Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers), a Tier 1 data center is not required to have redundant power and cooling infrastructures. It needs only a lock for security and can tolerate up to 28.8 hours of downtime per year. In contrast, a Tier 4 data center must have redundant systems for power and cooling, with multiple distribution paths that are active and fault tolerant. Furthermore, access should be controlled with biometric readers and single-person entryways, gaseous fire suppression is required, the cabling infrastructure should have a redundant backbone, and the facility can permit no more than 0.4 hours of downtime per year.

Tier 1 or 2 is usually sufficient for enterprise data centers that primarily serve users within a corporation. Financial data centers are typically Tier 3 or 4 because they are critical to our economic stability and, therefore, must meet higher standards set by our government. Public data centers that provide disaster recovery / backup services are also built to higher standards."

Link to Article
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Well written overview.
 
MarcelV said:
:confused:
And how does data warehousing and SOX come together. SOX is about processes, documentation and sign-offs. Not data storage. Just confused.
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You have to store the info about the processes, documentation and signoffs. Oh, and there might be an email about a process, document or signoff.

SOX is about data storage (and search and retrieval), very big time....
 
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