World’s Largest Data Center: 350 E. Cermak

[scandal 951]

Cermak is just an amazing building, its gothic architecture not the least of the reasons why.

A key reason for its singular hub status is proximity to CME matching engine.

The CME is moving its matching engine to a new location in Aurora which will certainly cause a change in the ecology at Cermak, but given how much peering goes on there it should remain a premiere location for years to come. Interestingly, 3 Chicago locations made the top 10 list and none in NJ. I think that's because they didn't count multi-building campuses like NY2/NY4.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/special-report-the-worlds-largest-data-centers/

Special Report: The World’s Largest Data Centers

April 11th, 2010 : Rich Miller

The mega-data center has become a staple of our global technology infrastructure, serving as the backbone of the digital economy. The growth of the Internet is driving an enormous appetite for network capacity and data storage, creating a new class of data centers that can scale along with the Internet.

So who has the world’s largest data center?

We’ve seen a lot of huge data centers in our travels, and have identified 10 that we believe are the largest found anywhere. These data fortresses range between 400,000 and 1.1 million square feet.

We should note that there are many apples vs. oranges comparisons in the data center world. For this list, we’ve considered single-building facilities that are dedicated to data center use. We have not included multi-facility campuses or mixed-use buildings where data center space co-exists with large amounts of third-party office space (i.e. big-city carrier hotels). We also have not included facilities that are not yet open for business. For more on who’s not included and links to other huge data complexes, see our More Worthy Contenders addendum.

Here’s our list of the Ten Largest Data Centers, with links to more information about each facility:

* 10. The SuperNAP, Las Vegas (Switch Communications)

* 9A and 9B. Microsoft Data Centers in Quincy Washington and San Antonio

* 8. CH1, Elk Grove Village, Ill. (DuPont Fabros)

* 7. Phoenix ONE, Phoenix (i/o Data Centers)

* 6. Microsoft Dublin (Microsoft)

* 5. Container Data Center, Chicago (Microsoft)

* 4. NGD Europe, Newport Wales (Next Generation Data)

* 3. The NAP of the Americas, Miami (Terremark)

* 2. Metro Technology Center, Atlanta (Quality Technology)

* 1. 350 East Cermak / Lakeside Technology Center (Digital Realty)

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/special-report-the-worlds-largest-data-centers/worlds-largest-data-center-350-e-cermak/

World’s Largest Data Center: 350 E. Cermak

April 13th, 2010 : Rich Miller

And the number one entry in our list of the world’s largest data centers …

1. 350 EAST CERMAK, CHICAGO, 1.1 MILLION SQUARE FEET

An aerial view of 350 East Cermak, the 1.1 million square foot data center facility in Chicago.

The Lakeside Technology Center (350 East Cermak) is a 1.1 million square foot multi-tenant data center hub owned by Digital Realty Trust. Originally developed by the R.R. Donnelley Co. to house the printing presses for the Yellow Book and Sears Catalog, 350 East Cermak was converted to telecom use in 1999, and today it is one of the world’s largest carrier hotels and the nerve center for Chicago’s commodity markets, housing data centers for financial firms attracted by the wealth of peering and connectivity providers among the 70 tenants.

The industrial strength infrastructure includes four fiber vaults and three electric power feeds, which provide the building with more than 100 megawatts of power. 350 East Cermak is currently the second-largest power customer for Commonwealth Edison, trailing only Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Grid power is supported by more than 50 generators throughout the building, which are fueled by multiple 30,000 gallon tanks of diesel fuel.

One of the most distinctive features of the facility is its cooling system, which is supported by an 8.5 million gallon tank of a refrigerated brine-like liquid (seen at left in the top photo). The huge tank serves as thermal energy storage for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), including the nearby McCormick Place Exposition Center and Hyatt Regency Hotel as well as 350 East Cermak. Thermal energy storage can reduce costs by running chillers during off-peak hours when power rates are lower.

For more information, see Chicago’s Data Fortress for the Digital Economy. Here are some additional images:

This hallway provides a glimpse of the Gothic architecture that provides a sense of atmosphere not seen at most data center buildings.

The building may have its exterior flourishes, but underneath it's industrial-strength infrastructure. This view of one of the four main risers provides a sense of the power and fiber infrastructure.

[Ban Hammer 14,297]

amazingly, nsa isn't on the list.

[rsn 135]

Note that there are, possibly, other data centers worthy of this list (and possibly even #1) that are not mentioned due to lack of publicly available information. For example, Google is extremely secretive regarding their data centers. The new Apple data center also is not mentioned as it is not yet functional.