Microsoft Plans Roofless Data CentersMicrosoft Plans Roofless Data Centers

Microsoft's already pushing the limits of database scalability with its shipping-container-based mega-data center in Chicago, but it wants to take things a step further.

As it invests more and more in cloud computing and software as a service, Microsoft is spending billions to build new data centers around the world. Getting the costs of building those data centers down and their scalability and flexibility up is task No. 1 for Mike Manos, the company's general manager for data center services, and his team.

The plan, Manos wrote in a blog post Tuesday, is to commoditize the build-out of Microsoft's data centers, assembling data center components on-site.

"Think about how a computer, car, or plane is built today. Components are manufactured by different companies all over the world to a predefined spec and then integrated in one location based on demands and feature requirements," Manos wrote. "We expect to do the same for data centers. Everything will be pre-manufactured and assembled on the pad."

Microsoft calls its new architecture the "Generation 4 Modular Data Center," or Gen 4 for short. Just as in Chicago, Gen 4 data centers will use shipping containers filled with servers as their basic building block. However, Gen 4 data centers will be built with "modular units of prefabricated mechanical, electrical, [and] security components," unlike in Chicago, where Microsoft built a permanent backbone of these components, which the containers plug into.

In a short animated video, Microsoft showed how Gen 4 characteristics could be put in place in both the company's smaller data centers and in its mega-data centers. The portion of the video showing off the Gen 4 mega-data center almost looks like a series of interconnected tiny power plants.

Microsoft refers to traditional data centers that focus on uptime, reliability, and redundancy as Generation 1 data centers. The second generation, which Microsoft has in place in Quincy, Wash., and San Antonio, are built with more energy efficiency and sustainability in mind. Third-generation facilities, like the one in Chicago, are being built for massive scalability and cost efficiency.

The problem with all of these models, Manos and his colleagues wrote, is that Microsoft needs to build data centers to be just right in size in order to squeeze out the most energy efficiency. Gen 4 is all about smart growth. Build the data centers too big, and they use too much power and too many resources. Build them too small, and Microsoft can't support all of its customers.

Microsoft believes that Gen 4 data centers will cost 20% to 40% less to build than older data centers of similar scale since they'll require much less initial data center build-out and since components will come pre-manufactured. One of the most striking elements of Microsoft's new data center strategy is that the data center has no roof. Since the servers are all packaged inside self-sufficient shipping containers, there's no need for one.

The plan is also to decrease the need for water chillers by using ambient air to cool Gen 4 data centers, much as many companies are already doing with new energy-efficient data centers. "Our sincerest hope is that Gen 4 will completely eliminate the use of water," Manos writes. Considering Microsoft's San Antonio data center has two water tanks the size of city water towers, this would be a big feat for the company as it tries to save resources.

For noncritical, geo-redundant apps, Microsoft is even specing out its servers to work with a massively wide range of temperatures and humidity that goes far beyond what's found in data centers today.

Microsoft has been increasingly open about its data center architecture in the last two years, part of twofold strategy to make sure potential customers understand the scope and capabilities of Microsoft's data centers while also providing learning opportunities for companies struggling to come up with viable strategies for their own future data center build-outs. "Sharing best practices is paramount and will drive the industry forward," Manos wrote.

The company has been working on development and prototyping for a year, but it's unclear where Microsoft will build its first Gen 4 data center.

Video: Microsoft Generation 4.0 Data Center Vision