Salesforce.com announces plans to build its own data centers
Salesforce.com's rapidly expanding resourcing needs have prompted the company to add more data centers to its infrastructure.
By Max BurkhalterMarch 10, 2011
High demand and predicted strains on Salesforce.com's servers mean that 100,000 square feet of new colocation space will be added over the course of 2011, according to Data Center Knowledge.
The company is currently providing services for 93,000 clients from a colocation footprint equivalent to that of a single medium-sized data center, the tech news site reports, adding that Salesforce.com takes in $1.8 billion in revenue each year. To achieve this level of efficiency, the publication adds, the company attempts to plan as accurately as possible for its future data center needs. Salesforce.com will also open data centers in Japan and Europe to provide more responsive service to clients around the world.
Salesforce.com president of technical operations Frank Guererra told Data Center Knowledge that the company's growth had caused some significant problems, forcing his staff to work creatively in order to avoid technical logjams that could negatively affect service.
"One of the key things we needed to do was be more flexible. We have to deploy equipment quickly. We're constantly evolving as a company. In the data center, we have to understand these trends and build to them." he said.
Another policy the company follows is to buy server equipment in bulk and rotate it every two years, so that failures are minimized and new machines - bought pre-racked in a cabinet - can be quickly brought into operation when necessary simply by wheeling them into place.
The increasing need to pay for more data center infrastructure is ironic, given Salesforce.com's status as one of the more groundbreaking cloud computing companies. Since one of the cloud's main selling points is the lack of expensive hardware investments to be made, it seems as though the model holds true for customers only, who simply transfer their server requirements to the provider.
Data Center Knowledge points out, though, that Salesforce.com is not the only popular web-based company to move into its own server facilities of late. Facebook recently changed its policy from large-scale leasing of data center space to constructing its own, and Twitter has also moved into its own specialized facility.
The company is currently providing services for 93,000 clients from a colocation footprint equivalent to that of a single medium-sized data center, the tech news site reports, adding that Salesforce.com takes in $1.8 billion in revenue each year. To achieve this level of efficiency, the publication adds, the company attempts to plan as accurately as possible for its future data center needs. Salesforce.com will also open data centers in Japan and Europe to provide more responsive service to clients around the world.
Salesforce.com president of technical operations Frank Guererra told Data Center Knowledge that the company's growth had caused some significant problems, forcing his staff to work creatively in order to avoid technical logjams that could negatively affect service.
"One of the key things we needed to do was be more flexible. We have to deploy equipment quickly. We're constantly evolving as a company. In the data center, we have to understand these trends and build to them." he said.
Another policy the company follows is to buy server equipment in bulk and rotate it every two years, so that failures are minimized and new machines - bought pre-racked in a cabinet - can be quickly brought into operation when necessary simply by wheeling them into place.
The increasing need to pay for more data center infrastructure is ironic, given Salesforce.com's status as one of the more groundbreaking cloud computing companies. Since one of the cloud's main selling points is the lack of expensive hardware investments to be made, it seems as though the model holds true for customers only, who simply transfer their server requirements to the provider.
Data Center Knowledge points out, though, that Salesforce.com is not the only popular web-based company to move into its own server facilities of late. Facebook recently changed its policy from large-scale leasing of data center space to constructing its own, and Twitter has also moved into its own specialized facility.
Related Products:
