First Phase of Apple's New Reno, Nevada Data Center Ready to Open

[machpost]

it's actually a meth lab

Image

I think Gustavo Fring has an office in that building.

 

[cxny]

Polllos Hermanos?

 

[Daalseth]

LOL, and what kind of job would one likely have at an Apple data center? Watching blinking lights and replacing failed components? Exciting ...

Kinda like working at a Casino..

 

[bbeagle]

LOL, and what kind of job would one likely have at an Apple data center? Watching blinking lights and replacing failed components? Exciting ...

Once you enter the workforce, you'll find out that every type of job will be reduced to boring, unexciting tedious work. Something is broken, here I can fix it in one line of code... but now I have to write up cost/analysis reports, documents justifying the change, deploy process paperwork, get approvals, code reviews.... that 1 minute change just took 2 days of tedious paperwork. Is the process broken? Hell yes, but that's how big business works.

 

[samcraig]

I thought somehow, it was going to be a lot bigger than that!

What are you talking about - this is the perfect size for a data center. Apple knows what they were doing. Any bigger and people would have to walk to far. Oh no. This is the perfect size. Other companies can waste their time making larger data centers. But no one NEEDS a bigger data center. And with data centers being built of so many different sizes - it's only going to cause data center fragmentation!

 

[rickdollar]

Who's gonna run the place? Coyotes?

 

[JHankwitz]

Is in the middle of a desert? Sounds a bit counterproductive if it is.

What makes it counterproductive? Lots of innexpensive land and sunshine looks ideal to me. Computer servers don't need a lot of lakes, trees, or wildlife to be happy. They just need power, a maintenance crew, and an air-conditioned building.

 

[Daalseth]

Even though I live in the Southern part of the state I think you are a little misinformed about what the geography of Reno and the surrounding area really looks like.

You were saying....
Image

That's Tahoe. Carson City, Fallon, Yerington, where I have family, are mostly like the picture in the article.

 

[rmwebs]

The next two need to be in Europe and Asia. Then you'll have a real cloud Apple

 

[makingdots]

Funny story about that. When this was announced my family said "Now you can get a job with Apple, move to Nevada, and be close to us". Hmmm... Let's see. Nevada or stay where I am on Vancouver Island. Trees, whales, seals, sea breeze, and wonderful scenery or...Nevada. Dust, sand, sagebrush, and rocks. Wow, tough call there. Sorry, but somehow I'm just not interested in moving. Even though it is Apple, no. Just no.

They don't need lots of people running the data center. It's not a manufacturing facility so even if you do, you're probably not qualified for it and it's a boring job.

 

[JHankwitz]

I thought somehow, it was going to be a lot bigger than that! But at least it runs off 100% renewable energy, right?

Read the article again. This is like a prototype building to assist in working out the bugs in that location before spending billions on the final design and project.

Lots of sunshine for power, but that comes at significant cost. Solar power comes at a premium price, along with the need for a human maintenance crew. Total long-term cost of solar is 2 to 4 times that of coal, gas, oil or nuclear. Those costs will be passed onto us users.

 

[Nightarchaon]

 

[Thunderhawks]

It's not a particularly attractive area of countryside is it?

Only 1 hour 1/2 drive to anything

 

[hagjohn]

Why would you build a data center on a fault line?

http://earthquaketrack.com/us-nv-reno/recent

 

[Nunyabinez]

That's Tahoe. Carson City, Fallon, Yerington, where I have family, are mostly like the picture in the article.

I grew up in Reno (actually Sparks, but they are really one city) and yes, much of the countryside looks like that. But why is everyone so confused about the meaning of the word "Desert?" While it is true that many deserts are hot, that is not what makes them a desert. It is the humidity and lack of rain fall. If I had the choice between being in Reno during the Summer or being in San Antonio, I would much rather be in Reno (thinking only of the weather.) Reno is very dry, it can get hot, but is not frequently much over a 100, and it can get very cold in Winter. There are lots of reasons that a data center makes sense in Reno, not the least of which is the lack of business taxes.

 

[henrystar]

Looks more like a military base. Just stuck out in the middle of no where?

Wouldn't it be fun to work there?

 

[Tiger8]

But also higher cooling costs no?

Desert seems like a counter intuitive location.

I'm sure a bunch of highly paid consultants and employees evaluated multiple locations and discovered that it makese sense to put it right there.

 

[testcard]

I'm sure a bunch of highly paid consultants and employees evaluated multiple locations and discovered that it makese sense to put it right there.

Using Maps no doubt.

 

[whooleytoo]

I feel bad for the person that was sent out to the middle of nowhere with a big lens and one assignment: drive through the desert until you find a nondescript warehouse-type building, photograph it, then turn around and drive back to civilization.

And even he feels bad for the people who have to stay and work there!

I'm just kidding, I actually really like barren landscapes like that. I'd much prefer to be outside looking at that landscape then inside and watching rows of blinking lights and staring at screens waiting for problems to show up...

 

[TMar]

Is in the middle of a desert? Sounds a bit counterproductive if it is.

When cooling is such an issue I don't understand the location?

Yeah, and they don't have a ski resort in Dubai. There are insulation solutions that are very effective.

 

[Rot'nApple]

I bet that building represents Jony Ive's new "Flat Design"!

I'M KIDDING!, I'M KIDDING!....
/
/
/

 

[Schmitty11]

Looks like it'll be a secret testing facility (who's very existence will be denied) for the testing of new "exciting" products.

 

[evil0ne]

That's Tahoe. Carson City, Fallon, Yerington, where I have family, are mostly like the picture in the article.

Exactly, you said "EVERYWHERE in that part on Nevada looks like that." Carson City is at the base of Tahoe, this aerial shot should give you some perspective.

 

[Laird Knox]

Is in the middle of a desert? Sounds a bit counterproductive if it is.

When cooling is such an issue I don't understand the location?

But also higher cooling costs no?

Desert seems like a counter intuitive location.

That's what I was thinking... If it takes an air conditioner the size of a sea container to keep 5 Engine Dyno's cool, what does a giant data center in the middle of the desert require for cooling!

Seems like a rather challenging place to keep hundreds of rack mounted machines cool in the summer.

Heat is not the defining feature of a desert. True the two often go hand in hand but the arid conditions in Nevada are due to the towering mountains to the west. As the humid air moves in from offshore it is forced up to the cooler altitudes where the water condenses and causes rain. By the time it gets over several ranges the air is very dry and consequently Nevada receives very little rain. It is known as a shadow desert and is also why the Pacific northwest receives so much rain.

 

[Ralf The Dog]

Warehouse 14.

I am sure, if you were to put in some underground radiators for a heat pump system, cooling would be quite cheap.