Quincy, Washington Data Centers Providing Service to Japan

QUINCY, WA, April 05, 2011 (Press-News.org) Some data centers in Quincy are temporarily handling Japanese information systems due to the earthquakes in Japan.

We recently learned that some Japanese companies moved some of their data, website, Internet and email functions to some of the data centers in Quincy, said Pat Boss, the Port of Quincy's government affairs director.

"The Quincy data centers are handling some of the Internet traffic, while Japan is getting its data centers up and running again," Boss explained.

Quincy has a large fiber-optic connection to Asia, that runs via an access point north of Seattle, and then under the Pacific Ocean to Japan and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

"Quincy has become a enormous global electronic information hub," Boss said. "A lot of information is being routed on the internet through Quincy now."

There are several fiber providers in Quincy and the area has become a huge fiber-optic distribution center.

In about 2005, Quincy had several fiber-optic providers, which later increased to about 14 or 15 providers because of the boom in data center construction.

"There are huge fiber loops in and around Quincy," Boss said. "There's literally a gigantic fiber-optics freeway that goes through and circles Quincy. Quincy has literally unlimited connectivity to the rest of the world."

Data center construction is ongoing in Quincy, with two companies expanding and one company starting construction and another business expecting to start work later this spring.

"There are some huge data center complexes in Quincy have a lot of capacity and there's more companies coming in to add to that capacity," he commented.

Quincy has 50 times the fiber-optic capacity than other communities in the region.

There are also redundant electrical power sources in Quincy, with two distribution lines coming in from different electrical power providers such as Grant County PUD and the Bonneville Power Administration.

Terry Brewer, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council, said it is very important for large data center companies to have backup power and fiber connections.

"They've had that for some time in Quincy," Brewer said. "We haven't had that kind of convergence anywhere in Grant County, except for Quincy."

Having more than one choice and backup is an important feature for data centers.

He knows the fiber optics options in Quincy are important for some existing large data center companies in Grant County.

About Port of Quincy:
Located in the center of Washington state, the Port of Quincy is an exceptional location for business and economic development with state-of-the-art industrial infrastructure including abundant low-cost hydropower electricity, high-capacity bandwidth dark fiber, a key cross-country rail mainline, a modern intermodal terminal, a major interstate freeway, relatively inexpensive industrial and commercial properties, a skilled workforce, and an all-around great location offering the best of rural lifestyles with easy access to urban amenities. The Port of Quincy has premier industrial sites for high-tech companies, data centers, food processors, manufacturers and is an ideal location for warehousing and distribution centers. At the Port of Quincy, major agriculture and food processing companies such as ConAgra Foods, National Frozen Foods, Norpac, Columbia Colstor, Oneonta, Stemilt, etc. find themselves next to technology giants like Yahoo!, Intuit and Microsoft.