Google's data centers are the object of great fascination, and the intrigue about these facilities is only deepened by Google's secrecy about its operations. We've written a lot about Google's facilities, and thought it would be useful to summarize key information in a series of Frequently Asked Questions: The Google Data Center FAQ.
Why is Google so secretive about its data centers?
Google believes its data center operations give it a competitive advantage, and says as little as possible about these facilities. The company believes that details such as the size and power usage of its data centers could be valuable to competitors. To help maintain secrecy, Google typically seeks permits for its data center projects using Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) that don't mention Google, such as Lapis LLC (North Carolina) or Tetra LLC (Iowa).
How many data centers does Google have?
Nobody knows for sure, and the company isn’t saying. The conventional wisdom is that Google has dozens of data centers. We’re aware of at least 12 significant Google data center installations in the United States, with another three under construction. In Europe, Google is known to have equipment in at least five locations, with new data centers being built in two other venues.
Where are Google’s data centers located?
Google has disclosed the sites of four new facilities announced in 2007, but many of its older data center locations remain under wraps. Much of Google’s data center equipment is housed in the company’s own facilities, but it also continues to lease space in a number of third-party facilities. Much of its third-party data center space is focused around peering centers in major connectivity hubs. Here's our best information about where Google is operating data centers, building new ones, or maintaining equipment for network peering. Facilities we believe to be major data centers are bold-faced.
- UNITED STATES
- Mountain View, Calif.
- Pleasanton, Calif.
- San Jose, Calif.
- Los Angeles, Calif.
- Palo Alto, Calif.
- Seattle
- Portland, Oregon
- The Dalles, Oregon
- Chicago
- Atlanta, Ga. (two sites)
- Reston, Virginia
- Ashburn, Va.
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Houston, Texas
- Miami, Fla.
- Lenoir, North Carolina
- Goose Creek, South Carolina (Under construction)
- Pryor, Oklahoma (Under construction)
- Council Bluffs, Iowa (Under construction)
- INTERNATIONAL
- Toronto, Canada
- Berlin, Germany
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Munich, Germany
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Groningen, Netherlands
- Mons, Belgium
- Eemshaven, Netherlands
- Paris
- London
- Dublin, Ireland
- Milan, Italy
- Moscow, Russia
- Sao Paolo, Brazil
- Tokyo
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
Most of the international locations likely are for network peering or to house servers supporting the more than 30 country-specific versions of the Google search engine.
Where is Google likely to build new data centers?
Google's current expansion efforts are focused overseas. The company has been scouting multiple locations in Asia, including site visits in Taiwan and Malaysia. There have also been reports that it may locate a data center in Lithuania. Google takes great care to be secretive in its data center site location efforts in the United States. It has bought 466 acres of land in Blythewood, South Carolina for evaluation as a data center location.
What about these lists of Google IP addresses?
Many in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) community track progress in Google’s search results by checking some of the more than 500 IP addresses used by the Google search engine. Comparing Google search results from these different IP addresses can identify updates in Google’s index, especially changes in PageRank. However, these lists don't necessarily represent separate physical data centers. Although Google’s data center network is distributed throughout the world, nearly all of its IP addresses resolve to Mountain View, California, where Google has its headquarters.
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By Rich Miller 
March 27, 2008 | Permalink | >Get Posts By E-mail
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Comments
Some pictures of the constuction work in Eemshaven
http://www.bouweemshaven.nl/20070530datahotel/index.html
Posted by: John at March 28, 2008 05:23 AM