Exclusive: First data center buildings up at Apple's Reno iCloud facility
Just over a month after the initial structures began rising at Apple's iCloud data center site near Reno, Nev., two vast data center buildings now appear to be fully enclosed as work continues on the project.
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center
Apple's facility, now under construction at the Reno Technology Park, is the company's fourth major U.S. server installation. It is designed to support users of Apple's iTunes, iBookstore, App Store and iCloud services.
These views of the site, taken from an Amtrak California Zephyr train headed from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago, Ill., reflect one reason why Apple chose the site: parallel to the first U.S. Intercontinental Railway built in the 1860s, America later built what would become Interstate 80, and along that right of way, multiple carriers have laid fibre optic data lines.
Readily available highway and rail capacity facilitated the development of a large industrial park just south of the RTP site, including multiple power plants that create more than enough local power.
That plentiful electricity, along with redundant data pipes, the dry climate, naturally occurring sources of clean water from underground aquifers, inexpensive land (with lots of sun to power a solar array), favorable construction costs and local tax incentives have made the Reno site Apple's largest land acquisition.
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center in July
In early July, the site was just beginning to erect the framework of its first permanent, large new data centers (shown above from the highway). Today, just five weeks later, multiple vast structures are now enclosed (below, from the parallel railroad tracks; both views are from the southwest).
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center today
From the other direction, the rapid pace of construction is also evident. Below are the first structures from July viewed from the southeast, and what the same site looks like today, and again from more of a distance.
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center in July
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center today (optical zoom)
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center today (iPhone 5 HDR)
Apple's construction contractors have so far been laying the necessary groundwork for building one of the world's greenest data centers.
AppleInsider has previously detailed the massive scope of site preparation, the sophisticated water technology being installed and the site's high speed data conduits.
After the company's initial jump start in construction that created a 21,000-square-foot pilot test facility, the site didn't offer many obvious signs of new construction apart from ongoing dirt movement by a fleet of huge trucks.
Two months ago month, the site completed the initial segments of the drainage work serving the large area that will be used to build permanent data center facilities.
Apple also added new air ducting to the initial structure, which formerly blew exhaust heat out window-like panes on each side of the building. The new exhaust hoods (shown below) first appeared in June.
Apple has 345 acres of land surrounding the new buildings, nearly twice the area of its Prineville, Oregon project also now under construction. The Reno site will allow for vast expansion of both data center buildings and supporting structures, including solar fields.
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center
Apple's facility, now under construction at the Reno Technology Park, is the company's fourth major U.S. server installation. It is designed to support users of Apple's iTunes, iBookstore, App Store and iCloud services.
These views of the site, taken from an Amtrak California Zephyr train headed from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago, Ill., reflect one reason why Apple chose the site: parallel to the first U.S. Intercontinental Railway built in the 1860s, America later built what would become Interstate 80, and along that right of way, multiple carriers have laid fibre optic data lines.
Readily available highway and rail capacity facilitated the development of a large industrial park just south of the RTP site, including multiple power plants that create more than enough local power.
That plentiful electricity, along with redundant data pipes, the dry climate, naturally occurring sources of clean water from underground aquifers, inexpensive land (with lots of sun to power a solar array), favorable construction costs and local tax incentives have made the Reno site Apple's largest land acquisition.
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center in July
In early July, the site was just beginning to erect the framework of its first permanent, large new data centers (shown above from the highway). Today, just five weeks later, multiple vast structures are now enclosed (below, from the parallel railroad tracks; both views are from the southwest).
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center today
From the other direction, the rapid pace of construction is also evident. Below are the first structures from July viewed from the southeast, and what the same site looks like today, and again from more of a distance.
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center in July
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center today (optical zoom)
Apple's Reno iCloud Data Center today (iPhone 5 HDR)
Apple's construction contractors have so far been laying the necessary groundwork for building one of the world's greenest data centers.
AppleInsider has previously detailed the massive scope of site preparation, the sophisticated water technology being installed and the site's high speed data conduits.
After the company's initial jump start in construction that created a 21,000-square-foot pilot test facility, the site didn't offer many obvious signs of new construction apart from ongoing dirt movement by a fleet of huge trucks.
$16 million of construction
In May, Apple filed permits outlining more than $16 million of contraction, including $4 million in general infrastructure improvements, a $4.6 million, 38,000 square foot administration building with a "loading dock and staging area," and over $6.8 million for two "data processing cluster buildings" described as totaling 50,570 square feet.Two months ago month, the site completed the initial segments of the drainage work serving the large area that will be used to build permanent data center facilities.
Apple also added new air ducting to the initial structure, which formerly blew exhaust heat out window-like panes on each side of the building. The new exhaust hoods (shown below) first appeared in June.
Apple has 345 acres of land surrounding the new buildings, nearly twice the area of its Prineville, Oregon project also now under construction. The Reno site will allow for vast expansion of both data center buildings and supporting structures, including solar fields.
Comments
It's a bigger surprise that Reno has an Apple retail store.
Flooding from where? There's no river nearby, this is up in fairly high elevation and its not in any flood plain that I know of. I would think that Apple would know if they are building in a known flood zone ahead of time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drblank
Flooding from where? There's no river nearby, this is up in fairly high elevation and its not in any flood plain that I know of. I would think that Apple would know if they are building in a known flood zone ahead of time.
The Truckee River is just the other side of I-80 about 500m away, but they are probably well prepared with proper drainage infrastructure.
http://goo.gl/maps/4U1oP
I bet the civil engineering report is available through local government.
At the moment these centres look to some as hollow promises. But it is not like Apple to work without a plan. Some hobbies Apple will let loose as a genius child to watch in play. More likely in this expensive expedition, when Apple is ready to unleash its plan of action, the world will stand in wonder. There are a few who will watch with understanding, whilst lying behind the Muses, Aghast and Defeat.
I wonder if part of Apple's evolving philosophy of secrecy and this long wait for its centres to wake has been the company's patience to devise a method for all its original works that thwarts the copycat's goal, once and for all. The results could be so astounding as to render a plague on the houses of the likes of Google and Samsung.
Crikey, mikhl, you sound like John the Baptist prophesying the coming of............!
Quote:
Originally Posted by drblank
Flooding from where? There's no river nearby
With that out of my system, I'm sure Apple has planned for any relevant environmental issues before breaking ground. They're no dummies.
Apologies for the misspelling of you pseud de plume.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WelshDog
Is it just me or does this land parcel look like it's in a low spot terrain wise? Like may be prone to flooding during some freakish weather event?
Apple also build a 40 foot wide drainage moat around the entire facility it was in some of the first articles about this center. I would seriously doubt with that big of a drainage moat this center will ever flood.
Look at the picts in this article of the Dam sized drainage moats around this data center and you will see what i mean.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/07/08/exclusive-first-large-structures-going-up-at-apples-reno-icloud-data-center
Wall Street says Amazon's AWS cloud service is quite profitable for Amazon, even more so than their Kindle franchise. Why doesn't Apple just take a bundle of reserve cash and blow the doors off Amazon's cloud services? It seems to me Apple is just walking away from a buffet, leaving full trays of food on the table for rival companies to feast on.
If Lake Tahoe overflows, goodbye to Apple's Reno data center. Just kidding. There are a couple of rivers near Reno, but the yearly precipitation is next to zero.
Please. Those are photos of AREA 51.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Constable Odo
Apple could spend enough money on server farms more than many companies are worth. Netflix relies on Amazon's servers. Apple wouldn't have to rely on anyone's servers if they wanted it to be so.
Unless you control the complete network end to end, including the last mile, they are still depending on other companies. I would like to see Apple run fiber to urban/suburban customers like Google is beginning to do in selected cities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tzeshan
Is this the reason Digital Power Group says an iPhone uses as much energy as a refrigerator?
I saw that on the evening news, What bunch of horse***t. An iPhone comes with a 5W charger. Even if you were using up the iPhone battery as fast as it could recharge it would take 200 hours to use 1 KW hour. So an iPhone is supposed to use 361 KW hours per year? Impossible. They are supposedly calculating the network, wifi, etc in their estimate but I think it is not possible to accurately assess that usage because the networks are used for so many other devices and many people like me barely use any data on their cell phone.
They might as well add in the electricity used to manufacture the device which is probably more than the amount of electricity that the iPhone itself uses in 3 years.
Just for kicks I did a calculation that a Tesla uses about 2,000 KW hours per year (based on 15,000 miles). Oh, I forgot to add in the amount of energy required for street lights, traffic signals, pot hole repair, policing, line striping and street cleaning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tzeshan
Is this the reason Digital Power Group says an iPhone uses as much energy as a refrigerator?
No, the reason is that no one gives a s**t about the Digital Power Group so they put some stuff out about the iPhone to get some web chat going. It's an industry standard practice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doctor David
I bet the civil engineering report is available through local government.
It's not my land, it's not my Data Centers. Apple is supposed to be told ahead of time whether or not if it's a flood zone. That's required by law. I think the area in question is at 4500 feet and I don't see any river near by. Yeah, in other parts of Reno, but i think this one isn't. A natural or even terrorists event can happen ANYWHERE. Why do you think Apple is putting up data centers in various parts of the country (world for that matter)? I wonder what would happen to their air conditioning bills if they built these plants underground vs above ground.
The end of the world is coming soon. What are they thinking? Every one sell your houses and live n data centers. Quick the mainframe will shield you from the icky stuff.