Iceland: Still Ideal For Data Centers?

Icelandic Data Center Escapes Ash Fall

Verne Global, a data center developer based in Keflavik, Iceland and Washington, D.C., is building a 44-acre data center facility on the site of a former NATO Command Centre in Keflavik. It's situated on 1.5 million year old bedrock, which means the local earthquake impact would be no greater than in northern New Jersey, according to Jeff Monroe, CEO of Verne Global.



"Picking a strategic location is the first step when building a data center. You take into account hurricanes, tornadoes, snowfall, wind, flooding, earthquakes, and volcanoes," says Monroe. The data center's location in the western part of the country means prevailing winds have blown the ash from the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano away from the site and toward northern Europe, Monroe says.

Confluence Of Natural Factors

Iceland's abundant supply of geothermal and hydroelectricity, combined with its surprisingly mild maritime climate, makes it ideal for data center construction, Monroe says. Although Verne Global is looking at potential data center projects in other parts of the world, none of these locations have the same comprehensive set of data center-friendly qualities as Iceland.



"This is the most efficient and greenest opportunity that we think is out there," Monroe says." You always hear about green products costing more, but this is an opportunity where it actually drives savings."

Hitting The Home Stretch

Verne Global broke ground on its Keflavik data center last spring, and Monroe says the company has completed deployment of the underlying power infrastructure and shell for the first phase. Verne isn't talking about a time frame for bringing the data center online, but the company "is actively working with prospective customers," according to Monroe.

The Big Chill

Although Iceland's economy is still in turmoil after the collapse of its financial system, the country's Invest in Iceland Agency, has been aggressively trying to attract data center projects.



"Iceland is the only country in Western Europe that still has extensive, untapped resources of competitively priced hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. It is the only western country that produces all its electricity from emission-free, sustainable natural resources," according to the organization's Website.

Not Always Chaotic

Despite the recent geological volatility, Iceland's power, communications and Internet connectivity systems were unscathed, according to Monroe. This robust connectivity complements Iceland's natural energy resources and makes the country of the best locations on Earth for data center construction, he added.



The Icelandic government has been proactive in facilitating undersea cable projects, and the island features multi-terabit-per-second connections to both Europe and North America.

Calm After The Storm

Data centers are constructed to withstand environmental extremes and natural disasters, but volcanic ash is known for its ability to wreak havoc on desktops, servers, and basically any type of IT infrastructure that has moving parts. Filters can help, but this is one reason why selecting the right data center site is absolutely crucial.

Getting The Ball Rolling

Companies may have been startled by Iceland's recent geologic instability, but if Verne Global delivers cost savings with its data center, more companies might start to see the value proposition of what Iceland brings to the table.