More on the NSA Utah Data Center

There’s been a lot of media coverage in the past week of the National Security Agency’s plans for a large new data center at Camp Williams in Utah (which we first noted back in July). The NSA is expected to invest more than $1 billion in the project, which is said to include more than 1 million square feet of space.   

A million square feet? That conjures images of a massive server farm with acres of cabinets. The NSA hasn’t had much to say about the details of the facility, as is its habit. But some additional information has emerged from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is hiring contractors.

The web site for Utah Data Center Industry Day reveals that the project will consist of 100,000 square feet of raised floor data center space and 900,000 square feet of technical support and administrative space. Support facilities include water treatment facilities, electrical sub-station, a vehicle inspection facility and visitor control center,
fuel storage, water storage and a chiller plant.

The facility will require 30 megawatts of power for the first phase, with the potential for an additional 35 megawatts of power in an expansion phase. It will be built as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF),  an NSA standard for buildings that handle sensitive government data or intelligence. A key emphasis of the guidelines is the ability to impose extraordinary controls on building access.