Google to Expand Cloud Data Center in Taiwan

Search engine giant Google Inc. plans to add one more facility to its cloud data center on the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park built on reclaimed land off Changhua County in central Taiwan.

With Google declining to elaborate on the planned facility, local industry executives estimate needed investment to be US$100-200 million. Construction will begin early next year on 8-plus hectares of land.

According to people knowledgeable about plan, the expansion is driven by brisk growth of Internet users in Asia.

Google's first and second facilities at the industrial park occupy 20-plus hectares to cost a combined US$600 million or so, with undersea cables and satellites already installed.

The data center, including the planned facility, is estimated to cost Google NT$21-24 billion (US$700-800), more than quintupling Google's Singapore and Hong Kong centers in size. Google has six data centers in the USA and two in Europe.

Google's Taiwan cloud data center could generate for Taiwan's information-technology manufacturers billions of NT- dollar in business, including  server, DRAM, motherboard, computer-casing, and IC makers.

Google has so far sourced servers from Inventec Corp., Wistron Corp., Quanta Computer Inc., and Mitac International Corp. (KL)