Why can't China become an international data center hub?

China is rapidly building data centers, but it may be difficult for China to become a hub for international data centres.

China is in the midst of an unprecedented boom in data center construction, which promises to bring many business opportunities to US companies, and China is expected to have the world's most sophisticated computing infrastructure.

China is building dozens of, or even hundreds of, large data centers to meet the demands of a rapidly growing number of netizens, who are estimated to be close to 500 million per cent. The data center will help meet the growing needs of telecommunications providers and meet the needs for E-commerce, online banking and e-government services.

The data centers will also provide computing infrastructure for foreign companies looking to expand their markets in China. But due to the imperfect regulatory measures, China is unlikely to become the region's international data center hub, and Hong Kong and Singapore and other regions a higher.

The expansion has been strongly supported by the Chinese government, which has expanded its national computing infrastructure as part of its latest plan. Local governments are also funding the creation and development of large "cloud cities", which are designed to lay the groundwork for a maximum of 20 data centers in the future.

The boom offers opportunities for foreign companies such as HP and IBM. "I think we have more people in China who are working on data center development and strategy than any other country in the world," said Rick Einhorn, global head of HP's key facilities services. ”

He said China now relies heavily on the design capabilities of foreign companies, but that could change as HP and other foreign companies work with Chinese engineers to provide them with training and experience.

Glen Yuan, director of Data center services at IBM's Greater China division, said China's approach to building data centres was "much more made and bigger." "The data centre facilities for banks and telecommunications providers are sometimes large in size, with an area of up to 50000 square meters."

Einhorn and Yuan both said China had experienced several rounds of data center building booms before, but those projects were often hasty and inadequately planned. The capacity of some data centers has been exhausted quickly, and poor infrastructure has made Chinese services unstable. This time, China wants to do a good job.

For example, according to Ivan Lau, senior sales director at the Suzhou International Science and Technology Park Data Center (SISDC), the data center is China's first fourth-level (TIRE-4) certified data Center. Level fourth represents the highest level of reliability.

The data center was built with the help of IBM and the first phase was put into operation in October 2010, and when the second phase was completed in 2013 or 2014 years, the area would be 42000 square meters. The Suzhou Government has provided funds for the construction project and hopes to make the science park a large IT service center.

About 80% of the existing data center capacity has been used or booked by customers, Lau said. Many of the big clients are foreign financial companies, and Chinese law requires them to keep data about Chinese citizens in China.

Einhorn said the government's directive on carbon emissions meant that the data centers were built with modern energy-saving technologies. Some data centers use modular multi-layer design, which helps to meet the requirements of power and cooling equipment, thereby reducing energy waste.

But while data centres for domestic use are building in full swing, some are skeptical that foreign companies are choosing China as a base for global IT services. Michelle Bailey, an analyst at IDC, said: "There are some problems with the data and other assets." It remains to be seen whether China can improve its policies and keep pace with the development of the market. ”

A former security advisor who has been involved in the China data Center Project says foreign companies are worried about several things. He thinks there are three main risks: local staff stealing data, internet traffic being monitored or interfered, and equipment losses during a sudden "inspection" by Chinese police.

"The last risk is that China is different from many other countries," which led the government to ban foreign companies from using equipment for several days, said the consultant, who declined to be named. Persuading foreign companies to build their IT infrastructure in China is "purely futile", he said.

Lau says there is no basis for such concerns. He said that if foreign companies complied with China's regulations, there would be no problem in building the data center in China.

However, there are other challenges, such as ensuring adequate bandwidth and power. Sheldon He, Intel's product marketing manager, says the Chinese government needs to keep up with the situation of users using PCs, smartphones and tablets quickly.

China's client-server ratio is now over 60:1, he says, while the US is close to 20:1.

"China's population is almost five times times that of the United States, so our problems are five times times more complex," he said. We have the largest billing system in the world. If we can successfully solve these problems, we are expected to bring innovation. ”

Original link: http://www.itworld.com/government/236617/china-racing-expand-data-center-capacity