Cloud Computing San Antonio Texas a Data Center Hub

Transcription

1 Michelle M. Vega Professor James West LTEC /026 December 6, 2014 Cloud Computing San Antonio Texas a Data Center Hub In a the quiet well kept subdivision of Westover Hills in San Antonio one will find some of the largest data centers in Texas. Each data center is housed in a nondescript building. There is no indication of what transpires behind the beautiful glass windows, no large parking lots filled with cars or neon company signs to tell passers by of what occurs within the building. This city, my city, San Antonio, Texas is also known as Military City USA. Dubbed so as it is home to several large military installations including the jewel of the US Air Force, Randolph AFB and Military South Fort Sam Houston, the largest medical military training installation in the country. Just like myself neighbors are left to wonder what are these large facilities, top secret government offices? They are well appointed buildings without any or very few employees, and lots of security. So what is going on in there they are data centers. San Antonio is home some big name data centers Microsoft Inc., Lowe s, Valero Energy Corporation, CryusOne, Stream Data Centers and RackSpace Hosting to name a few. Why is San Antonio a data center hub? What does San Antonio have that other cities do not? San Antonio has land, cheap energy, tax incentives, a large talent pool and some of the most seismically stable soil in the United States. All of which make it an undeniable choice to be a data center hub. NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!1

2 Each data center is quite large Microsoft alone has more than 700,000 square feet, 24 acres, of data center space on its San Antonio campus which is located in Westover Hills. Westover Hills, is not just home to the Microsofts data center but 5 other data centers as well they include: Valero Energy, home-improvement chain Lowe's, Frost Bank, Christus Health, and Chevron Corp. Additionally Sentry Gateway is breaking ground on its newest development which is also located in the heart of this booming area for data centers. Last but not least, a few miles away from these data centers you will find the National Security Administration's Texas Cryptology and Data Center, the largest NSA facility outside of the Washington area, according to San Antonio Express-News files; which makes this location that much more desirable. There is no question that data centers require an abundance of land but they also require an abundance of energy and telecommunications infrastructure. San Antonio has several locations within the city limits that meet those requirements. As mentioned before the Westover Hills area of the city is home to six of these large centers. The reason for the areas popularity is its proximity to a substantial and reliable power grid and the areas telecommunications infrastructure. The area is an energy / fiber optic sweet spot that until recently had been undeveloped. Home only to Sea World of Texas and a booming housing market, there had been large areas of land that were untouched by developers and was ripe for the picking. To help companies along with their decision to choose San Antonio for their data center sites, state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville. authorized legislation in the summer of 2013 to provide a sales tax-exemption for new data centers of at least 100,000 square feet, with a total capital investment of $200 million or more over a five-year period. The bill, which went into effect Sept. 1, of 2014 NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!2

3 received broad support from companies with a local interest, including Amazon.com, CyrusOne, Microsoft, Rackspace Hosting and Zachry Industrial. With plenty of land for building the data centers turned to the stability of the area in regard to natural disasters. San Antonio is far away enough from the Texas coast line to not have to worry about hurricanes and is home to one of the most seismically stable landscapes in the United States. Mukul Krishna, a senior global director for digital media with Frost & Sullivan, stated, Aside from the lack of environmental hazards here, the city's growing population and workforce, low cost of living, affordable land and existing tech culture make it an attractive place to build new data centers. Lots of land, check! Stable soil, check! Now to think about the energy it takes to run a large data center. San Antonio is home CPS Energy. CPS Energy is the nation s largest municipally owned utility providing both electric and natural gas service to the San Antonio metropolitan area. An independent board of trustees governs CPS Energy. The annual average electric rates for industrial users in San Antonio are competitive when compared to other utilities across the state and nation. In addition, in 2010, San Antonio residential bills ranked lowest when compared to the 20 largest U.S. cities. (Electric & Gas - San Antonio EDF) As we know Data Centers require large amounts of energy, especially those who want to be green. Very few cities have embraced the clean energy economy like San Antonio and its mayor, Julian Castro, writes Janous. In addition, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has demonstrated its commitment to a more sustainable energy future by establishing The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (SERI) under the leadership of Dr. Les Shephard, formerly of Sandia National Lab. (Verge) Data centers provide critical computing functions vital to the daily operation of top U.S. NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!3

4 economic, scientific, educational and technological organizations not to mention individual users in homes across the world. These data centers consume large amounts of energy to run and maintain their computer systems, servers, and associated high-performance components it is estimated that data centers take up to 3% of all U.S. electricity. With such a large amount of energy consumption it is no wonder that San Antonio s low energy rates and commitment to green technology is so attractive to developers and companies thinking of moving here. The data center relationship is broader than just land and energy, it about building a connection with the community. These companies have invested in San Antonio providing jobs, consistent revenues for CPS Energy, and educational opportunities. Microsoft has agreed to invest $250 million in real and personal property between 2016 and 2021; as well as committing to contributing $1 million to the University of Texas at San Antonio for a research and development project. The research is part of Microsoft s focus is on distributed power. Microsofts vision is to break new ground in integrating cloud computing and distributed energy generation. The company hopes to place data centers alongside sources of renewable energy, creating data plants than operate with no connection to the utility power grid, using methane or other gases from landfills and water treatment plants. Microsoft is also researching the use of data center racks with on-board fuel cells, and even a distributed network of in-home data furnaces that use server exhaust to heat living spaces. That big vision will start to take shape at UTSA. The multi-disciplinary research will focus on new distributed energy technology that reduces energy consumption and emissions, improves reliability and contributes to a sustainable energy future. Microsoft will contribute $1 million to UTSA s Sustainable Energy Research NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!4

5 Institute (SERI) support the project. As part of this research, UTSA students will work hand-inhand with Microsoft researchers to look into new fast-start generation energy technologies such as micro-turbines to replace the diesel generators that are used during times of peak demand and grid outages, said Janous. Working with the local educational community Microsoft is not only working towards a greener future they are helping shape the minds of the next workforce. UTSA is not the only educational facility benefiting from the data center boom. These data centers have put San Antonio in the spotlight as a Tech City with that distinction young adults and students have taken notice. They want the training and education that will lead them to lucrative careers. Most of the area colleges and universities are offering course work to prepare students for tech jobs. The tech giant, Rackspace began in San Antonio by 3 Trinity University students. It employs over 5,700 individuals with offices around the world and a $1.5 billion in annual revenue. Rackspace is leading the efforts to educate the population of San Antonio. Rackspace has opened an academy who's mission is to provide the advanced technology training you need to become a top entry level Open Cloud Technologist. It is a wonderful opportunity for the citizens of San Antonio to start a career in a great field at a low cost. Additionally Rackspace has committed itself to innovation and helping others with start up businesses. Rackspace has a Tech initiative named Geekdom. Geekdom is a collaborative co-working space where Entrepreneurs, Technologists, Developers, Makers & Creatives help each other build businesses and innovate new ideas in a fun and creative environment. I think at this point it is fair to say that San Antonio is a strong player in the tech community. NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!5

6 Cloud computing is not in the cloud, it is firmly grounded in the soil of San Antonio, Texas. The success of the cloud resides in the strength of the data center, and the strength of the data center resides in its employees and the communities that help to power, maintain and build them. San Antonio is not only the cradle of Texas liberty, it is a military and tech city with a vibrant culture. Bienvenidos a San Antonio, your files are already here! NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!6

7 References CPS Energy works for You. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2014, from Electric & Gas - San Antonio EDF. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from Energy 101: Energy Efficient Data Centers. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from energy.gov/videos/energy-101-energy-efficient-data-centers Geekdom (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from Miller, R. (2009, June 9). Lowe's Chooses San Antonio for Data Center Data Center Knowledge. Retrieved December 3, 2014, from archives/2006/06/29/lowes-chooses-san-antonio-for-data-center/ Morton, N. (2014, March 5). Data centers expanding on West Side. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from West-Side php North Chamber of Commerce Editor. (2014, March 21). Westover Hills North SA Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved December 7, 2014, from westover-hills/ Welcome to the Open Cloud Academy! (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from opencloudacademy.rackspace.com Vaughan, V. (2012, February 2). CPS to build new main data center. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from Verge, J. (2014, April 16). Microsoft Sees Data Centers Transforming the Power Grid. Retrieved December 7, 2014, from expands-san-antonio-microsoft-sees-data-centers-transforming-power-grid/ NETWORK SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION - FINAL PROJECT VEGA!7