Tech & Biz

Microsoft plans to build data center in West Des Moines, Iowa

by PlanMyGreen | August 21, 2008 at 06:29 pm

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With the recent announcement by Google to build a data center in Council Bluffs, Microsoft has decided to follow suit and construct a state of the art data center in West Des Moines, Iowa. For those unfamiliar with the area, Des Moines and the surrounding suburbs are home to over 500,000 residents. Located nearly in the center of the United States, large finance and insurance corporations have long called Des Moines home due to tax incentives, a large pool of talented employees and relatively stable and low cost of living.

With this announcement, Des Moines is proving itself to be a great place for businesses to relocate and keep the cost of doing business to a minimum. Even with recent record flooding, Iowa has continued to grow and outpace other parts of the country.

Though, not much information is available on the technologies behind the claims of a highly efficient and environmentally friendly project, it is reassuring to see this is a priority for Microsoft.

Gov. Chet Culver welcomed Microsoft to Iowa today, with the announcement that the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant will build a $500 million data center in West Des Moines.

The "next generation" data center will employ 50-75 workers who will earn about $70,000 annually, said Michael Manos, Microsoft¹s general manager of data center services. The project will be located on 42 acres southwest of the Booneville Road at the intersection of Xavier Road.

Design and construction of a data farm typically takes 12-18 months, Manos said. The project could take longer because the West Des Moines center will represent Microsoft's "next generation" of highly efficient data farm, he said.

Culver called it one of the most "modern facilities in the world" with its focus on energy efficiency.