When a giant of the Internet age introduces a hot new service, it’s big news – even at the beta stage. But what about when it builds the data centre infrastructure that will power such a service?

That’s different. “We’re trying to organise a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and they’re trying to keep us all away,” said Susan Huntington, executive director of The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, shortly after news slipped out last year that Google was building two massive data centres in the Oregon town. “Our two cultures aren’t matching very well.”

Up to that point, The Dalles was best known for ‘sightings’ of the ape-like hominid, Bigfoot. And like Bigfoot, Google’s plan was to stay out of sight. Even the The Dalles city manager wasn’t allowed to say much: “There’s a firm in the area…that is in the process of constructing two buildings of approximately 34,000 square feet. We have issued building approval and planning approval for those to proceed. We are also providing water and sewer service to those facilities. Three buildings have been approved.”

That was a year ago, and these data centres are now online. (Google watchers know that, because they track the appearance of new IP numbers.) But The Dalles is not the only city to be benefiting from new Google investments. The Internet giant recently confirmed that it will build a $600 million data centre on a 520 acre site in Berkeley County, South Carolina, plus evaluating another site in the same state near Columbia. It is not stopping there. Google is building another $600 million data centre complex in Lenoir, North Carolina, and another of the same cost at Pryor, Oklahoma. Expansion of existing facilities is also underway in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Ireland.

Google’s extraordinary programme shows up the often hidden side of the information age revolution. Across the developed world, digital organisations are building thousands of new, large data centres. But because these sites are vulnerable to disruption and security attacks, because they are so expensive, and because so few people actually work there, the plan is almost always to maintain a low profile.

Google’s story sets it apart, but the speed of growth is astonishing. Using a variety of indirect sources, it is possible to track its expansion. In early 2001, Google had 8,000 servers; in 2002, that number had more than tripled; by 2003, it had topped 100,000; and in 2006, it was reported to have over 450,000 servers. Now, according to some analyst sources, its server count has topped 600,000.

Where does it keep them all? There are no figures on any websites or in official documents. In 2003, Google had around 10 data centres, observers say, and by February 2005, that had risen to 64. By the time its new facilities come online, it will probably have more like 80 data centres spread across 30 locations. In its annual financial filing for 2006, Google records capital expenditures of $1.9 billion for the year, “mainly for the purchase of IT assets”.

But, of course, it is not alone. Microsoft, for example, expects to have 800,000 servers by 2011 – up fourfold from 2005. Although such figures are hard to come by, there are similar stories at all the big, IT-oriented organisations – whether it is eBay or Vodafone or Citicorp or IBM or BT.

That doesn’t quite translate into hard physical space for two main reasons: the introduction and adoption of blade servers, which are more compact than rack or stand alone units; and virtualisation, which can be used to get higher utilisation. But it does translate into enormous complexity: into each data centre, alongside servers, appropriate numbers of storage systems, back-up power supplies, cooling systems, networking and power distribution systems must be added. And most of all, that means demand for power. All told, data centres in the US account for around 1.5% of the total electricity used.

That is, of course, if these companies can get the power. According to AFCOM, a US data centre management group, a third of all data centre operators say that task of getting enough power into their data centres is their biggest problem. Their other big problem is dissipating the heat that all these machines chuck out. In fact, the great build out of data centres has happened so fast that most businesses have already outgrown their current facilities. Three quarters of all companies plan to move or substantially refurbish their data centres in the next few years.

It is easy, of course, for those with lots of money. Google chose Oklahoma for its cheap power and The Dalles for its hydro electricity supplies and fibre optic networks. Now Google is there, real estate agents are hoping that others will follow. But soon, spare data centre space could be as hard to find as Bigfoot.