DataCenterKnowledge has a post on Simon Tusha's presentation saying bigger is better.
usha: Power Economics Favor Huge Data Centers
June 3rd, 2010 : Rich MillerThere’s a saying in Texas Hold ‘Em poker: “Go big or go home.” When it comes to data center construction, Simon Tusha has a corollary: Build big or partner.
“If you’re not going to be using 30 megawatts, you shouldn’t (build your own data center),” said Tusha, the new Chief Technology Officer of Quality Technology Services(QTS). Tusha knows a little about building big. He was previously part of the data center team at Google, where he negotiated agreements for the company’s huge data center projects. Tusha has managed and developed more than 150 data centers representing more than 1.5 million square feet of space and 500 megawatts of critical power.
Here is the press release from QTS regarding Simon joining.
Atlanta, GA - May 18, 2010 - QTS (Quality Technology Services), one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing providers of data center facilities and managed services, today announced that it has appointed Simon Tusha as its Chief Technology Officer. In the newly created role, Tusha will be responsible for the strategic development of all QTS services and technology deployments within its three and a half million square feet of data centers. His prime focus at QTS will be on the design, development and construction of all data center projects. He is the third key executive to join QTS' ranks this year.
In his role at Google [NASDAQ:GOOG], Tusha identified an industry need for planning development and global data center strategy. He was the sole global negotiator for data center contracts and was a key developer of Google's data center location strategy
One thing that goes in Google's favor is when they built data centers they filled them up very quickly.
How many of your can fill up 30 megawatts of data center?
There is an answer that fits QTS business model.
The Power of Joint Ventures
Tusha proposed a novel solution: using joint ventures to spread out the cost and achieve more favorable economics. “You should find a partner and do it together,” he said. “A joint venture is a great opportunity for a bunch of companies to get together and build a data center.”Tusha isn’t without an interest in the potential of this model. QTS recently bought a huge former semiconductor plant near Richmond, Virginia and plans to convert it into one of the world’s largest data center campuses. The property includes 210 acres of land and more than 1.3 million square feet of facilities from the former Qimonda memory chip manufacturing operation. Perhaps most importantly, the campus also has a power capacity of 100 megawatts, providing plenty of space and power to accommodate custom data center opportunities.