Aerial photos offer overhead look at Apple's Oregon data center site

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Prying eyes have again taken to the skies to get a glimpse at what's next for Apple, this time visiting the location for the company's new data center in Prineville, Ore.

Oregon
Aerial shots of Apple's Oregon data center site captured by Wired.


Aerial photographs of Apple's new server farm were commissioned by Wired, showing just how close the facility is to an existing data center owned by social networking giant Facebook. The publication said it was "forced" to get aerial shots of the facility because Apple has not opened its doors to reporters.

The photos show the "tactical data center" that the company finished building earlier this year. To the south of that smaller building, Apple's 338,000-square-foot data center remains in construction.

Apple has plans to build a second data center of the same size, but there is currently no evidence that construction on that facility has begun.

Facebook also has two data centers in Prineville, and one of them has been operational for a year now, while the second center is in the final stages of completion.

Oregon
Aerial shots of Apple's Oregon data center site captured by Wired.


Companies like Apple and Facebook have chosen Prineville because local governments have offered incentives. Apple will pay the Prineville city and Crook County governments $150,000 a year in return for a 15-year property tax exemption, an dhas promised to employ a minimum of 35 people at the center who will be paid wages up to 150 percent higher than the Crook County average.

Wired previously commissioned aerial photographs of Apple's other major data center in Maiden, N.C., which currently helps power the company's online services, including iCloud and iTunes. The company has referred to its overhead photos as being captured from its "iSpy plane."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16


    Keep your friends close…




    Gosh dang it, they have snow. I want snow.

  • Reply 2 of 16
    It's sickening how Apple is getting away with grand theft with the property taxes on their Oregon data center. Oregon's property tax rate for the rest of us is .0056980%. Assuming a lowball appraised value on the center of $1 billion, which is what their N.C. center cost to build (but less than its appraisal value would be), Apple should be paying $5,698,000 in property taxes annually. And they got away with only having to pay $150,000 in exchange for creating a mere 35 jobs??? You have to be kidding me! The government officials who agreed to this criminal deal should be hung up by their thumbs.
  • Reply 3 of 16


    Originally Posted by popnfresh View Post

    It's sickening how Apple is getting away with grand theft with the property taxes on their Oregon data center¡


     


    Fixed that for you.

  • Reply 4 of 16


    Actually, the companies would probably locate data centers here in OR even without the incentives, because cheap hydro means their power costs are lower than they would be elsewhere.


     


    We have so much renewable-sourced power in particular that we're trying to get CA to buy it from us. Current CA law restricts purchase of renewables to CA-based companies, even though it would cost more for them to generate it than it would for OR-based firms.

  • Reply 5 of 16
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    popnfresh wrote: »
    It's sickening how Apple is getting away with grand theft with the property taxes on their Oregon data center. Oregon's property tax rate for the rest of us is .0056980%. Assuming a lowball appraised value on the center of $1 billion, which is what their N.C. center cost to build (but less than its appraisal value would be), Apple should be paying $5,698,000 in property taxes annually. And they got away with only having to pay $150,000 in exchange for creating a mere 35 jobs??? You have to be kidding me! The government officials who agreed to this criminal deal should be hung up by their thumbs.

    1) Where did you get a value for that property?

    2) Apple should be paying what is required by law. What you are asking for is that a company that could have easily set up no DC in that city, county, state to pay the same as someone who has a small piece of property. Do you complain when bulk items at CostCo cost you less per items than single serving item at 7-11? Did you consider that Apple would not have added any revenue to that city, county, state if they were required to pay the same property tax for someone with a $15,000 lot because they would have set up in a different state?
  • Reply 6 of 16
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by popnfresh View Post



    It's sickening how Apple is getting away with grand theft with the property taxes on their Oregon data center.


    You should be mad at your city, county, state elected officials who throw these tax breaks at companies. Why would any company offer to pay more in taxes? Do you offer to pay mope when you go to the store or do your taxes?


     


    Quote:


    Assuming a lowball appraised value on the center of $1 billion, which is what their N.C. center cost to build (but less than its appraisal value would be), Apple should be paying $5,698,000 in property taxes annually. 



    But that's not what it cost to build.


    Thats what it cost to purchase the land, clear it, landscape it, add some roads, put some buildings on it, add the infrastructure to the buildings, populate the buildings with equipment, etc.

  • Reply 7 of 16
    strobestrobe Posts: 369member


    It's sickening that because Apple built something, you deserve a cut for breathing

  • Reply 8 of 16


    I'd like to know where Facebook is getting all this money to build data centers.  The stock has been the pits since the IPO and shareholders have gotten shafted.

  • Reply 9 of 16
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    I'd like to know where Facebook is getting all this money to build data centers.  The stock has been the pits since the IPO and shareholders have gotten shafted.



    They did just have an IPO and got ~$5 billion.


    Facebook has not sold many (any?) shares since the IPO so stock price is irrelevant.

  • Reply 10 of 16
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I'd like to know where Facebook is getting all this money to build data centers.  The stock has been the pits since the IPO and shareholders have gotten shafted.

    Maybe Apple's decision to build their DC next to FB in Oregon is so they can buy FB's DC once it goes belly up.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    Maybe Apple's decision to build their DC next to FB in Oregon is so they can buy FB's DC once it goes belly up.


     


    From what I've heard, Facebook is primarily a male culture kind of place so their data centre will likely be over-powered over-sized and not as power-efficient as Apple's.  It's probably just a giant room of Dell boxes running Windows XP or something.  

  • Reply 12 of 16
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    gazoobee wrote: »
    From what I've heard, Facebook is primarily a male culture kind of place so their data centre will likely be over-powered over-sized and not as power-efficient as Apple's.  It's probably just a giant room of Dell boxes running Windows XP or something.  

    Perhaps, but all the networking would have to be set up and there is really only one good way to do that. Apple could get rid of these Dell servers for their servers with ease.

    Anyway, I was just making a joke. FB seems to be holding its own even though I don't understand how there business model is sustainable.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    gazoobee wrote: »
    From what I've heard, Facebook is primarily a male culture kind of place so their data centre will likely be over-powered over-sized and not as power-efficient as Apple's.  It's probably just a giant room of Dell boxes running Windows XP or something.  

    FB does take journalists on tours:
    http://gigaom.com/cleantech/a-rare-look-inside-facebooks-oregon-data-center-photos-video/

    Data center servers depreciate a lot anyway, they need to be replaced pretty often. I forget where I heard it, but three years was supposedly a pretty common figure. FB's infrastructure and systems seem pretty efficient.

    solipsismx wrote: »
    Perhaps, but all the networking would have to be set up and there is really only one good way to do that. Apple could get rid of these Dell servers for their servers with ease.
    Anyway, I was just making a joke. FB seems to be holding its own even though I don't understand how there business model is sustainable.

    I agree they're in a vulnerable position. What they're netting isn't a whole lot.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    gazoobee wrote: »
    From what I've heard, Facebook is primarily a male culture kind of place so their data centre will likely be over-powered over-sized and not as power-efficient as Apple's.  It's probably just a giant room of Dell boxes running Windows XP or something.  

    They have released some schematics of their servers. Why don't look it up to learn how wrong you are?

    Btw, how many female senior executives does Apple have?
  • Reply 15 of 16
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    stelligent wrote: »
    Btw, how many female senior executives does Apple have?

    Actually, I don't think that's the issue. I think the reference was to the macho Tim Allen style of "more power" rather than which bathroom the executives use.

    It is true that Apple has a much more environmentally conscious culture than most companies - which is the way I read the statement.
  • Reply 16 of 16

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post





    Actually, I don't think that's the issue. I think the reference was to the macho Tim Allen style of "more power" rather than which bathroom the executives use.

    It is true that Apple has a much more environmentally conscious culture than most companies - which is the way I read the statement.




    More than most companies? That's a strong statement. Certainly, they are more up front about their material sourcing and manufacturing policies and methods than many consumer products companies.


     


    But you want to compare Apple and Google, for example, I would say Google might well come out of it looking somewhat more exemplary. If nothing else, they have invested in "renewable" sources of energy earlier, more extensively and more directly.

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