Apple Building Out Minor Data Center Capacity Expansion in California

dupont fabros sc1
Data Center Knowledge reports that while Apple's massive new data center in North Carolina has been gaining all of the attention over the past year or so, the company is still looking to expand capacity elsewhere, as evidenced by a recent commitment for space in a third-party data center in Santa Clara, California near the company's headquarters.

In April, Apple signed a seven-year lease for 2.28 megawatts of critical power load in a new data center being built in Santa Clara, Calif. by DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT), a leading developer of wholesale data center space. The lease is scheduled to commence in the third quarter (July to September), when the building opens.

DuPont Fabros disclosed the Santa Clara lease in its first quarter earnings, but did not reveal the name of the tenant, which is consistent with its policies. In a conference call with analysts, company executives described the tenant as a "Fortune 50 technology company with excellent credit." But multiple industry sources have since confirmed that the tenant is Apple.

According to the report, the commitment is notable as it appears to be Apple's first foray into the wholesale data center market in which tenants lease built-out data center space, a market that allows companies to quickly deploy new data capacity without the long lead time needed to construct and outfit a new leased or owned facility from scratch.

Apple's new capacity in Santa Clara is, however, significantly smaller than that of its new North Carolina data center or even its smaller one in Newark, California, barely registering as a blip in the company's overall data center capacity.

The Silicon Valley lease works out to about 11,000 square feet of data center space. By comparison, the iDataCenter in Maiden, North Carolina is 500,000 square feet, and includes more than 184,000 square feet of data center space, according to records filed with local officials.

The move could, however, indicate that Apple is seeking some relatively short-term space to carry it through a period of increased data needs as it pursues more significant expansions elsewhere. Such an expansion could come by Apple taking either additional space in the new facility, which will total 360,000 square feet when fully built out, or new space at a separate location. The company has, however, been assumed for some time to be interested in building out additional West Coast data center capacity to rival the new North Carolina facility, as most Internet companies do provide major hubs on both coasts for increased performance and backup capabilities.

Top Rated Comments

guzhogi Avatar
164 months ago
18.2 Megawatt? That is a heck of a lot of mac mini servers.

I really wish Apple would bring back the Xserve, and make it something Apple would actually want to use in its own data centers. Sure, it may not sell very many nor make huge margins, but that doesn't mean it isn't important. I would really love better integration in enterprise marks between Macs and servers. Mac Pros/Mac Minis don't cut it in the enterprise market, Windows servers cost so much in licensing and don't have the same integration.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3282868 Avatar
164 months ago
Hmm, what is the other 316K sqft used for?

bin Laden's porn stash :p
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shompa Avatar
164 months ago
18.2 Megawatt? That is a heck of a lot of mac mini servers.

The smaller 2.28 megawatt is probably for Steves personal prototype G5 powerbook.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M-O Avatar
164 months ago
18.2 Megawatt? That is a heck of a lot of mac mini servers.

The smaller 2.28 megawatt is probably for Steves personal prototype G5 powerbook.

or the iPad running Snow Leopard.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4miler Avatar
164 months ago
I guess people in California don't see the danger of building a data centre in an earthquake zone. The Japanese didn't see the problem of building a nuclear plant in an earthquake zone - so maybe Californians are just as myopic. That's one reason not to use Apple's cloud services. When the "big one" comes, Apple's data services go down with it. Come to think of it -- the main hub that controls the internet - is that in an earthquake zone somewhere in California?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
paul4339 Avatar
164 months ago
11000 sq feet in santa clara near their HQ? Sounds like something more for their own internal use (eg. test lab) rather than the NC data center which is something for public use.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
anker new xmas 1

Anker's Cyber Week Sale Enters Final Days With Up to 60% Off Sitewide

Friday December 1, 2023 12:05 pm PST by
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
General Apps Messages

Green Bubbles on iPhone to Gain These 7 New Features Next Year

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:00 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
top stories 2dec2023

Top Stories: iOS 17.1.2 Released, NameDrop Misinformation, and More

Saturday December 2, 2023 6:00 am PST by
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...
instagram messenger

Instagram and Facebook Messenger Chats to Disconnect This Month

Tuesday December 5, 2023 1:57 am PST by
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
iphone 5g mmwave

Apple's Work on 6G Connectivity Already Expanding

Monday December 4, 2023 7:00 am PST by
Apple's work on implementing 6G cellular connectivity on its devices appears to be ramping up, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is increasingly turning its attention to 6G, even amid its widely reported difficulties developing a custom 5G cellular modem. In 2021, the first highly specific Apple job...