Microsoft may build Siberian data center

IDG News Service - Microsoft Corp. is said to be building a new 10,000-square-foot-data center in Siberia, although a company spokesman said that's still uncertain.

"Though Microsoft Russia is working on potential data center construction in Russia, we are still far from final site selection," said Evgeny Danilov, Microsoft Russia's director of public relations, in a statement.

Some news reports, however, pinned the location as near Irkutsk, one of the largest cities in Siberia.

According to a Data Center Knowledge report, the region "was attractive to Microsoft due to its stable power supply," though the government official quoted in the report conceded that there has never been a data center project of this scope in Russia.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is working with one local government in Siberia on improving the government's use of IT in the region, the software giant said on Monday.

The topic of a data center came up as part of discussions between Microsoft and the Irkutsk regional government. The two have signed a memorandum of understanding that includes an agreement to expand IT use in the government sector and to launch IT training programs in the area.

Russia is in the midst of finalizing and deploying an e-government strategy that aims to ensure that IT systems used in different government agencies interoperate, and that citizens can access government information online.

Microsoft and the Irkutsk regional administration plan to continue the data center discussion at a later date, Microsoft said.

Microsoft has recently announced new data centers in Chicago and Dublin. Other Microsoft data centers are being built in Quincy, Wash., and Austin. The new facilities will support Microsoft's Web services.

Thomas Wailgum of CIO.com contributed to this report.