Iceland
is promoting itself as the best place for data centers and what makes Iceland
perfect are its climate, geographical proximity and the availability of energy
resources. Recently Verne Global has opened a large data center powered by renewable resources and Iceland
government hopes similar facilities will follow. Verne Global opened its
data centre in Iceland
in October 2011. The investment in the first phase of the data centre is
estimated at around ISK 20 bn., and the total investment for this project is
estimated at ISK 80 bn. articulated in four phases. Iceland placement between Europe and the U.S. means that companies in the U.S. can run
their Web services for both continents in one location, potentially saving
money. Iceland
has abundant hydropower and geothermal power (100% clean power); it can offer
data center services for the same price or less than Web services powered by
fossil fuel-based grids in other locations. Gartner
estimates that data centers account for around 0.5% of all global carbon
emissions. The electricity cost in Iceland is about four cents per
kilowatt hour, and customers can get 20-year fixed price contracts. The U.S. average is
about 10 cents per kilowatt hour.
The
data center industry has been and will continue to be highly dependent on
power, both to power the servers and cool the environment. The greatest expense data centers face is power and most
of that is used to chill the racks of servers. Worldwide, data center energy use increased 56% from
2005 to 2010, according to a report from Stanford's Jonathan Koomey, which was
commissioned by The New York Times. Maximum safe operating temperature for data
center equipment is 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). The latest
high-density circuits, one rack of computer servers (19 inches wide and about
six feet tall) can emit as much heat as multiple kitchen ovens. Without massive
air conditioning to remove the heat, the servers will happily cook themselves
to death. And power for those air conditioners is not free. In Iceland the highest temperature ever recorded in
Iceland
is 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius). The average daily high in July
in Iceland's
capital of Reykjavík is a non-sweltering 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees
Celsius). Air conditioning in Iceland
is a matter of just opening the windows.
Iceland
remote and secure location is an attractive option for data centers specializing
in disaster recovery back-up. Its mid-Atlantic location makes Iceland an ideal base for companies with
business in both North America and Europe. Iceland is currently connected to neighboring
Greenland,
Scotland
and
Denmark through
submarine lines that then connect to larger markets in Europe and
North America. The three undersea cables offer a total
throughput of eight trillion bits (or about 37 Blu-Ray discs worth of data) per
second to both Europe and
North America. A
fourth is due to come on-stream in 2012 and, it is claimed, will have the
lowest latency across the
Atlantic. It's a
2,734-mile cable system that Iceland IT players have described as
game-changing. The new cable system called the Emerald Express is set to link
Iceland to the
United
States,
Canada,
Ireland, the
United Kingdom and mainland
Europe.
Natural calamities like volcano eruptions and earthquakes
are the disadvantages. Iceland
sits atop an active volcanic rift and In 2008 Iceland was hit by an earthquake
measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. Volcano and
earthquake activity is well-mapped, and data centers and power plants are
located strategically with those risks in mind. But data center
operators can build their data centers with these concerns in mind and part of the data center
design and operations include mitigating any environmental impacts to protect
the data center campus. Another disadvantage is IT talent pool in Iceland
is not that large, and it is not easy to shift existing data center personnel
to Iceland.
Existing employees may not be interested to move there and this might increase
cost for the data center operators as they have to install Remote
Infrastructure Management Technologies. Iceland is still recovering from
the Global Financial crisis three years ago as it is one of the biggest
causalities of the crisis and financing is still a problem in the country.
Infrastructure for the supply chain is also a cause of concern in Iceland.
With renewable energy and clean energy factors becoming significant
factors for internet, eCommerce and other technology companies Iceland
may become a crucial location for their data center strategy. Customers of
these companies want to use the services that are environmentally conscious. Iceland
government is also supporting the data centers market with the necessary policy
support and infrastructure support. Low power costs, cool climate and low cost
of infrastructure like land & buildings are the attractions for the data
centers to locate to Iceland.
But Iceland is facing stiff competition from Scotland lately as it had some
success attracting data centers, touting cold air and green electricity derived
from wind and water power.
