Microsoft to build data center in Siberia

According to Sten, a similar data-center in Ireland will cost $500 million to Microsoft. Microsoft and the Irkutsk region’s authorities inked Friday a framework agreement for deliveries of licensed software to the region. After the signing, Microsoft Rus CEO Birger Sten and an aide to Irkutsk region’s governor, Andrei Gubov, unveiled to reporters the plans of software giant in respect of the region. It emerged that Microsoft is willing to construct a data-center for 10,000 servers there. The budget hasn’t been calculated yet. According to Sten, a similar data-center for 100,000 servers in Ireland will cost roughly $500 million.

For this purpose, the region is ready to provide to Microsoft an allotment between Angarsk and Irkutsk, Gubov said. The data-center will be connected to Transtelecom fiber optic line. It will be a bank of data reserving the information. According to Sten, the Irkutsk region attracts Microsoft mostly because of its stable energy supply. The data-center of such capacity will consume roughly 50 MW, Gubov specified. The market players, however, don’t appear very optimistic about the project. They call it a fantasy, specifying that the region needs no storage for data of this extent. (Kommersant)