Category Archives: Industry News

Virginia is for Data Centers

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Virginia loves data centers and there is more good news on the horizon for the state who is already making its’ mark as a key player in the nation’s data center market.  Recent studies have found that the data center hub within Virginia, Loudoun County, has a big chunk of the world’s Internet traffic passing through it at 70 percent. In the works now, is a tweaking of Loudoun County’s zoning rules to allow for more flexibility favoring the build out of metro data centers.  If the proposed relaxed regulations are approved by the board of supervisors, it will permit data center companies to build in mixed-used developments upon meeting certain requirements. Some of the conditions that will need to be met have to do with the design of the building and the amount of occupied technical space.  If all goes well, there will be new data centers and more tax revenue in town.

Wise County, Virginia also has big  plans with its’ “Mineral Gap” data center project getting underway.  DP Facilities South is to build a $65 million Mission Critical Tier III Data Center in Wise County and bringing 40 new jobs to the area.  This is to be a state-of-the-art facility that will even further the push to build Virginia’s economy in rural parts of the state.  With this being a tremendous opportunity for Wise County, hopefully other high-tech companies will join DP Facilities in helping to transform the area into Virginia’s next technology corridor.

Understanding the Network Edge

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Do you know exactly where the edge of the network is residing?  In the Industrial Internet of Things ( IIoT) the more recent development of strategies around Internet-enabled business improvement plans has forced manufacturing organizations to take a closer look at the industrial network edge and all the collective machines and devices housed there.  In the world of manufacturing the idea of the utilization of smart machines and smart manufacturing to reduce machine downtime; as well as having remote access and greater production flexibility is not a new concept.  Enterprise initiatives such as big data analytics, cloud-based applications and remote machine monitoring and service are the drivers behind the increased focus and the vision for the role of the industrial network edge.

Where assets are going to be optimized and the associated data analyzed most efficiently results in continual demand on machines and edge devices to “feed the beast.”  In addition to this, an increased emphasis on communication between the enterprise and high level applications is at least partially responsible for the term “network edge” itself and where the production machines to support operations appear in the architecture of the outer edge of the network.  Read the full article here.

Virginia Plays Key Role In Data Center Market

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Supporting global internet traffic is a critical role for Virginia, identifying the state as a key player in the world’s IT economy.  Loudoun County’s “Data Center Alley”  is the host for more than 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic and over the past five years Prince William County has exploded on the scene as well in data center market growth with its’ “Data Center Opportunity Zone.”   Data Centers for major companies such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Dupont Fabros call Virginia home.  Even better news is the impact this growth has had on Virginia’s employment with more than 650 hosting, data processing and related organizations employing approximately 13,900 people and 6,600 new jobs since 2006.  Virginia’s economic development has skyrocketed with investments of over $11.8 billion announced in the data center industry and Prince William County alone has seen $2.4 billion in capital investment and 370 new jobs in the county.

The largest concentration of data centers, ten million square feet is found in Loudoun County with even more being developed, makes Northern Virginia in high demand for both space and tech workers.  Lower costs of doing business in Loudoun, additional incentives of sales and tax exemptions, prominent intersections for communication networks, and proximity to Washington, D.C are key components for it being the most active data center market in the country.

Prince William County Board of Supervisors committed 10,000 acres of land to data center development in May of 2016  in order to capture the positive growth and economic development the data center market has to offer.  New zoning district permits promote fast-track approvals for the development and operation of data centers in all commercial, industrial and office zoning districts.  Along with the data center community, the Planning Office developed strategies to identify areas of opportunities where readily available infrastructure was already present to support future data center development is now referred to as the “Data Center Opportunity Zone District.”