LinkedIn’s Data Center Proves That Efficiency Can be Energy Efficient
Over the last year, LinkedIn’s growth has led to increase in their need for storage and processing. In fact, their need grew by 34 percent, which is huge, considering their current data centers worldwide. They have one domestic and three international. Additionally, work is being done on the more than 6,450 services that comprise the Singapore data center prior to it going live in the beginning of 2016.
Because of the demand from LinkedIn users, the Production Engineering Operations team foreseen a growing demand and acted upon it. Despite projecting a need, they realized they wanted to protect the environment. After much deliberation, it was decided that the third domestic data center for the site would be in Hillsboro, Oregon, which is located just outside of Portland.
Portrayal of Portland has always been of hipsters sitting around in coffee shops with plaid caps. However, there’s more to the city. It’s actually a bustling area in terms of economic growth, in particular in technology. The city is a next-generation technology hub, and LinkedIn is joining right in with their most advanced and efficient data center, and with one of the most advanced and efficient data centers in the world.
The city is fast becoming a next-generation technology hub. Our newest data center in a nearby suburb will be one of the most advanced and efficient data centers in the world, and it will be opening early 2016.
Green power is available at this location, which was one of the main factors in selecting a spot for a new data center. LinkedIn also took into consideration network diversity, power quality, environmental impact and expansion capabilities. Talent in the area was also a factor. For all of these reasons, LinkedIn feels this is the right location to create a center for environmentally friendly services. Not to mention, the two other locations within the U.S. are in Virginia and Texas. This caused a realization of the need for a data center on the west coast. The site allows the center to be able to acquire their own sustainable sources. They’ll be able to discover new options for renewable energy from the ground. Free cooling is available at the location 200 days of the year, which is a start to their goal of using 100-percent renewable energy.
