HP Acquires EYP Mission Critical Facilities

HP has signed a definitive agreement to acquire EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc. (EYP MCF), one of the leading data center design and engineering firms. HP said the acquisition will help its customers equip their data centers for improved energy efficiency and high-density environments. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

EYP MCF is headquartered in New York and has approximately 350 employees with 13 offices in the United States and the U.K. The company has designed hundreds of technology-intensive mission critical facilities. EYP MCF’s expertise in green data center design and energy efficiency was a driver in the deal, as it aligns with HP’s extensive power and cooling solutions, such as Dynamic Smart Cooling.

“The data center is the foundation of IT for enterprises, an essential building block for driving business growth and adapting to changing business objectives,” said John McCain, senior vice president and general manager, HP Services. “Acquiring EYP Mission Critical Facilities boosts HP’s ability to help customers transform their data centers and build dynamic computing environments from the ground up.”

Google Data Centers: $3,000 A Square Foot?

Google appears to be spending nearly $3,000 a square foot on its new data center project in North Carolina, about three times the going rate for developing most premium data center space. Google’s investment exceeds that of the largest data center developers, who typically spend about $1,000 per square foot on their facilities.

The heavy investment reinforces the importance of Google’s data centers in the company’s ambitions. The Google data centers serve as the platform for the company’s web-based services and advertising products. Google (GOOG) sees its data centers as its business edge, and is seeking to extend its competitive advantage with an extraordinary level of investment.

An in-depth analysis of Google’s data center spending hasn’t been possible until now, as the company doesn’t disclose the square footage of individual facilities. This is part of a broader strategy of secrecy about Google’s data center operations, which has stoked speculation about the scope of the facilities and the equipment inside them. But a Sept. 21 article in the Raleigh News & Observer reported that Google’s recently completed data center building in Lenoir, N.C. is 100,000 square feet. Separate reports indicate Google data centers in other locations are of a similar size (more on this in a moment).

Google spokesman Barry Schnitt wouldn’t confirm or deny the News & Observer report, consistent with the company’s practice. “I looked into the 100k square foot stat and I’m not sure where that came from,” Schnitt wrote in an email. “We generally do not provide dimensions for our facilities.”

Schnitt confirmed that the $600 million spending figure for each of the four projects announced in 2007 (including the Lenoir project) includes the cost of two data center buildings. “The $600 million does not include operations cost,” Schnitt wrote. “It is strictly capital investment (construction, infrastructure, computers, etc.).”