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Google

Posted by James Rogers on June 4, 2007

Tags: Infrastructure,  Other

Channel: Backup & Recovery, Data Center, Other, Storage & Mgmt

Google, which announced plans to build a major data center in Oklahoma this week, appears to be eyeing a location in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for another of its growing array of technology sites. (See Google Groans Under Data Strain and Google's Space Oddity.)

The notoriously secretive search giant gave a peek into its data center strategy earlier this week when it unveiled plans for a $600 million data center in Pryor, Okla., about 30 miles outside Tulsa. (See Google Clicks Oklahoma.)

Speculation has been mounting about the location of Google's next data center, following the vendor's recent decisions to extend its real estate footprint into North and South Carolina and Saint Ghislain in Belgium.

At this stage, there is still uncertainty about the exact number of Google data centers dotted around the world, with some "Google-watchers" citing 10,000 servers spread across 13 sites, and others highlighting the service provider's presence in 15 U.S. states. (See Tracking Google's IT Booty and Gettin Googly.)

No announcement has been made about Google's plans in Iowa, and the firm did not respond to Byte and Switch's inquiries today, although there are strong signs that the Hawkeye State is next on the search giant's hitlist.

The Iowa Senate recently approved tax incentives aimed at persuading an unnamed company to move to a site in Council Bluffs. Tellingly, the bill describes another $600 million center employing 200 people, and local senator Bill Dotzler (D) reportedly named Google when calling for passage of the measure.