Expansion of the Irish data centre industry is being delayed by the high cost of Dublin premises and shortages of electrical power, writes John Collins.

Make no mistake. Unless you are an unrepentant technophile, data centres are not exciting. Filled with racks of anonymous computer servers, they are hugely expensive sites designed to make sure internet websites and crucial corporate applications keep working without interruption.

After all, in our hyper-connected age, no one accepts that Gmail has gone down or that they can't complete their eBay auction. And it's our increasingly digital lifestyles that are behind an upsurge in construction of data centres both in Ireland and internationally.

Last week Microsoft confirmed that it is set to build a major new European data centre in Dublin. Another company, Rackfloor, a local start-up backed by Limerick property developer Tomás Healy, will open a €50 million 120,000 sq ft centre, the largest in Ireland to date, in Limerick next year.

With Cork Internet Exchange opening a 3,000 sq ft centre in July, it's a healthy sign that, unlike the last rash of data centre construction, which took place during the dotcom boom, the current expansion is not Dublin-focused.

At the turn of the millennium, a number of international companies invested millions in establishing Irish operations to service the European market.

When the downturn hit in 2001, most were forced into bankruptcy and wily Irish companies such as ServeCentric, Premier Data Centres and Data Electronics, were able to buy up the valuable assets for a fraction of their cost.

Those centres are now operating at capacity - both with local clients and the new wave of internet companies that have come to Ireland, including Google, eBay, PayPal and Yahoo.

So crucial are data centres to the business of the internet giants that they are loath even to reveal their locations for fear it might compromise security. Industry sources confirm that Google has a dedicated Dublin centre but the company itself won't comment on its existence.

With the existing centres full, expansion by existing companies and new investment by internet-focused companies are being delayed. Jason Ó Conaill, chief executive of Rackfloor, estimates that there is pent-up demand for 800,000 sq ft of data centre space.

Two factors prevent that demand being met quickly - the high cost of commercial property in Dublin and the availability of the electrical power needed to meet their demands.

The property issue can be addressed by locating outside Dublin - Rackfloor's decision to open in Limerick was party influenced by this, though that raises issues of broadband availability.

Power, on the other hand, is not so easily solved. Rackfloor has plans to generate its own power on-site, but others are finding the availability of power is a major issue.

Following a €12 million investment from Singapore-based Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation, Noel Meaney, chief executive of Premier Data Centres, plans to build two new facilities in Ireland.

"The biggest problem for us is finding adequate power," explains Meaney. "That is forcing us to look at other locations in eastern Europe."

Meaney says Premier Data Centres has looked at other forms of power generation, in particular renewable energy, but he is unconvinced about generating his own power. "With a data centre, you have to be able to assure service to your clients," says Meaney. "If you are connected to the national grid and one station goes down, you are automatically switched to another. If you are generating your own power that's a perceived risk."

A different approach is to try and reduce the power requirements in the first place. Vincent Byrne, managing director of specialist engineering firm Byrne Dixon Associates, says that technology trends are driving up the amount of power required.

Two to three years ago, most data centres needed 30 watts per square foot but he says the average high-density centre now requires 150-200 watts for the same space.

The use of blade servers, which facilitate rack-mounted arrangements in a much smaller space, will drive that up even higher, says Byrne.

In addition to the electricity needed to run the servers, the massive amounts of heat they produce have to be cooled.

Byrne suggests that newer techniques such as water-based and CO2 cooling need to be implemented to get the most out of the existing centres.

Byrne believes that many existing data centres, particularly those that are privately owned for internal use, are not being operated efficiently.

"The IT guys will just fire in another cooler because the facilities guys will pay for the electricity but no one is looking at it efficiently," he says.

Cork Internet Exchange, (CIX) claims to be the most energy efficient data centre in Ireland if not the world. Tom Raftery, one of the three founders of the unit, says that it has been "designed to use as little power as possible while still delivering what our clients need".

It uses a range of design techniques from taking advantage of free atmospheric cooling (the annual average air temperature in Cork is 10.5 degrees) to using hot air from the servers to heat office areas to reduce the carbon footprint.

CIX has also side-stepped the issue of broadband availability by locating next to Apple's Cork facility, which is served by all the major telecoms companies. Despite this, Raftery says that wholesale broadband prices in Cork are three times what they are in Dublin.

For all the challenges involved, these and other technology entrepreneurs continue to step up to the mark in providing the digital manufacturing facilities that Ireland Inc will need in the coming years.