This time it’s Oregon’s Turn
In December of last year we posted a blog article about the silent boom in the data center industry.
Although somewhat prescient, we have to confess it was probably just dumb luck with a little bit of industry knowledge thrown in . (If only we could manage a stock portfolio with this type of precision and foresight we’d be stock brokers and not data center people.)
It’s happening again- only this time Oregon is being featured as THE state to build a Data center.
Fortune Data Centers out of San Jose, CA has chosen Hillsboro, Oregon for several reasons.
1- Cool Air- a cooler climate makes using fresh air the preferred method for cooling servers- which translates into big savings on power.
2- No Sales Tax- and No Business Property Tax within their zoning area- this means big savings for the capital intensive business of building and filling up data centers with expensive IT equipment.
3- IT Talent- Hillsboro, Oregon is a cousin to the famed Silicon Valley and has a ready supply of skilled IT workers due to a high concentration of technology companies. It’s been coined the “Silicon Forest”.
4- Connectivity- There’s no shortage of network connectivity- The multiple undersea cable connections make the area rich in trans-Pacific fiber.
We at SolutionPro consider this to be a positive for our business and clients here in Boise, Idaho. Why?
1- Cool Air- We too have a cooler climate with 4 true seasons and we are blessed with a pronounced nocturnal cooling cycle most months of the year. This means that any future data center facilities in Boise could take advantage of the same power savings.
2- Connectivity- While it’s true that connectivity historically has cost more in Boise- Some of our best routes out of Boise are to the Portland and Seattle Metro markets. Southern routes to Silicon Valley have typically been cost-prohibitive. So we view the expansion of larger Data Center players from the Silicon Valley into the Portland market as a plus for us in the form of another potential connectivity route to the California markets via Portland. Plus you can’t ignore the fact that larger players moving into Portland makes more potential overflow into the Boise market too.
3- Proximity- Boise Idaho is only a 1-hour plane ride from Portland and less than an 8-hour drive. Boise and Portland are very closely connected economic markets. Big players looking for second-site redundancy will find Boise as a viable option.
Material for this post was compiled from Data Center Knowledge. Read the full Data Center Knowledge post.
Questions about SolutionPro’s Data Center Facility or Services? Ask one of our knowledgeable account execs.
