A tech giant is currently working on the plan of building a huge billion-dollar data facility in Altoona, Iowa. So far, it is not clear which company is behind this state-of-the-art facility, but multiple hints indicate that Facebook may be behind this data center which is being touted as ‘Project Catapult.’
What is so interesting about this new data center is that it will probably be the most ‘technologically advanced’ facility, equipped with cutting-edge tools and spread over a huge 1.4 million square foot area. The total cost of the project is expected to be nearly $1 billion, with the project itself divided into two $500 million phases.
For now, there is no solid evidence as to which company is building the facility. Earlier, some data blogs had claimed that Apple was the prime mover behind it, given the fact that the facility may use solar arrays and fuel cells which have been used in other Apple data centers.
On the other hand, the site plan that was submitted to the authorities looks a lot like other data projects devised by Facebook in the past. So most analysts think that ‘Project Catapult’ has something to do directly with the social network.
In either case, the project has already received green signal from the authorities and is currently undergoing the legal paperwork. Once work on it starts, I’m sure we’ll finally get to know which company is behind this ambitious project. If indeed Facebook turns out to be the one, this would mean that the company is gearing up for its fourth data center facility.
Source: Data Center Knowledge
Courtesy: CNET
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