Not long ago, Apple built a huge data center in North Carolina. Turns out, this is at least some of the backbone of iCloud, Siri, and any of Apple’s server-based applications. Now, Apple is building another data center, but this one is going to be located in Nevada.
The Nevada Board of Economic Development on Wednesday endorsed a deal negotiated by the state to lure Apple Inc. to Reno with $89 million in tax breaks, though the action was largely for show since the panel lacked the authority to change the agreement[…] A state law approved last year gives the economic development agency’s executive director wide discretion to negotiate deals with companies that meet certain criteria. “If we had not implemented that statute we would not have Apple here,” said Steve Hill, head of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development[…] Apple plans to build a 350-acre data center east of Sparks to house servers. After construction, the company said the facility will employ at least 35 full-time workers with an hourly wage of $25, as well as up to 200 contract workers.
This is pretty interesting stuff. It’s good to hear that Apple’s data centers are being well-received in their localities, but it’s more intriguing to think about what an increase in data centers means. Some obvious ideas include a Dropbox competitor, video storage, and home folder storage. Years ago, there were rumors that Apple would be allowing your iPod to serve as your portable home folder for any Mac you plug into, but that never happened. Think about a future where you sit in front of any Mac, sign in with your Apple ID, and you’re instantly in your own customized environment. Files would stream dynamically from the cloud as they are requested. We’re years away from something like this, but it’s nice to dream.
Apple is putting a lot of resources into their data centers, so what do you think they’ll end up being? Sound off in the comment section below this post.
Source: The Associated Press
Image Credit: jcantroot
