irginia may still be for lovers, according to the state's longtime travel and tourism slogan, but these days the Old Dominion State is also for data centers. Over the past few years, companies have peppered the perimeter of the nation's capital with them, seeking proximity to government agencies while simultaneously staying just far enough away to escape potential security threats. These new data centers will be among the world's most advanced in terms of security and energy efficiency.
      State officials estimate that Virginia is home to about 125 data centers, ranging in size from 10,000 to 200,000 sq. ft. (929 to 18,580 sq. m.). The Virginia Economic Development Partnership has also identified another 130 properties that have been qualified for adaptive re-use as data centers.       Data center companies tend to like to be just outside Washington, D.C.'s "50-mile blast zone," a term used to describe the safety zone if a nuclear or dirty bomb were set off in the nation's capitol. Terremark International, a Miami-based global provider of IT infrastructure services, chose a 30-acre (12.1-hectare) site in Culpeper – about 60 miles (97 km.) from Washington – for its NAP (network access point) of the Capitol Region. Terremark opened the first of five planned 50,000-sq.-ft. (4,645-sq.-m.) independent data center buildings in June, the first phase of a $250-million project that will also include a 72,000-sq.-ft. (6,688-sq.-m.) office building.
      Terremark's data center campus will serve both federal clients, who accounted for 15 percent of the company's business during its first quarter of 2008, and commercial clients such as Computer Sciences Corporation, which signed on as anchor of the first building in Culpeper.
      Norm Laudermilch, vice president and managing director for the NAP of the Capital Region, calls the NAP a "Fort Knox for critical IT." He says Culpeper, a Northern Virginia city located about halfway between Interstates 95 and 81, provided Terremark with the "perfect storm" of qualities it needed for a data center.
      "We wanted a large piece of land with a very secure and fully defendable perimeter," Laudermilch says. "In a big urban area, it's hard to find a piece of property that isn't near some type of threat. We also wanted to be 60 miles outside of Washington. If the highways were to shut down in D.C. due to a terrorist attack, it wouldn't affect us in Culpeper."
      Laudermilch, who says the new data centers are being built to a higher degree of security than has been seen before, says Culpeper also offers a dense communications infrastructure and a deep, educated labor pool.
      "The amount of high-tech staff in the area is obviously important. We initially thought we would have to lure people from other areas, but as it turns out, Culpeper had a pool of high-tech workers already commuting to D.C. and Northern Virginia. We held a job fair and we attracted 800 highly qualified applicants."
      Laudermilch says Terremark will work closely with Germanna Community College, which has a campus next door, as it develops its work force in the coming years.
      "This whole notion today that you work where you live has driven businesses like ours to communities like Culpeper, which has been very welcoming," Laudermilch says.
      Terremark also studied sites in Pennsylvania and West Virginia before deciding on Virginia, during a site search that took nearly a year.
      The company will build out its campus based on customer demand, which Laudermilch says is strong enough for the company to begin planning its second phase. He estimates the entire campus will be developed within the next two to three years, perhaps depending on the attraction of a large customer. Terremark will employ about 250 when the project is complete, not including employees of clients who will be working there.       Data centers are large users of electricity, and Rappahannock Electric, Terremark's power supplier, upgraded its infrastructure to accommodate the new project. However, the campus is designed to conserve power.
      "We are probably the greenest data center on the Eastern seaboard," Laudermilch says. "We save about 30 percent of our power consumption compared to standard data center construction techniques. It's enough electricity to power a small city. The way we design our facilities is with a closed-loop system. Our chilled water plant is self-contained."
      Terremark, which was founded in 1980, currently has 12 facilities around the globe, including its flagship, the 750,000-sq.-ft. (69,675-sq.-m.) NAP of the Americas in Miami.
      Premier Technical Services, a systems engineering provider for clients such as NASA, will build its own $16.5-million data center in Luray, nestled between the Blue Ridge and Massanuten mountains and about 70 miles (113 km.) from the Washington Beltway. Like Terremark, Premier serves a mix of federal and corporate clients. The facility will include a continuity-of-operations center (COOP), and will employ 96. Premier chose Luray over sites in Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
      "All government agencies have to back up their data somewhere, and the states around Washington, D.C., have an advantage," says Premier President David Tong. "The mountains give us a unique geographic situation for security purposes. We will be a very good attraction for companies to not only back up their data, but for our COOP facility to back up data. Our clients can come here and usually stay here. We will be equipped with rest rooms with showers, and people can live on campus in a self-contained facility."
      Premier's new facility will be LEED certified, joining a select fraternity of data centers. Tong says there are currently only two LEED certified data centers in the U.S. He says Premier will be aiming for the platinum level of LEED certification.
      "The Interstate 81 corridor will be jam packed and will be the hottest growth area in the next 20 years," Tong predicts. "It will be the Silicon Valley East, if you will. It's a great place to have a business. We are trying to bring state-of-the-art technology out here. I am deeply involved here not only with my company, but with the universities and community colleges in the area. Our goal is to help stop the brain drain from this area by offering careers in a clean industry that will support the community."
      The I-81 corridor is also home to another recent data center project. Carpathia Hosting opened a 20,000-sq.-ft. (1,858-sq.-m.) facility in Harrisonburg.
      Power Loft, a McLean, Va.-headquartered provider of high-security data centers, is building a 206,000-sq.-ft. (19,137-sq.-m.) facility in Innovation @ Prince William Technology Park in Manassas. The $305 million center, which will also be LEED certified, is due to come online in 2009.
      "This is a tech-centric community," says Jim Coakley, Powerloft's president. "It's a neat area, and it's not office-centered."
      Coakley describes Power Loft as having formed in 2006 from the "body parts of other data center development entities." He says Power Loft looked for inexpensive, reliable power, the right amount of land and a strong technical community in its search, plus the fiber situation.
      "You look at the fiber properties," he says. "This area has jumbo fiber. Our last trick was water. We are actually generating all of our own water on site through an aquifer."
      Coakley says Northern Virginia is one of the best IT-connected markets in the country, perhaps No. 2 behind San Jose.
      "We can house 50 percent more racks than a conventional building, and we use half the power of the old, traditional data center configuration," Coakley says. "While we are pulling in 50 megawatts of power, we are green."
      Power Loft is developing a similar facility in San Antonio, and has also identified potential sites for future growth around the U.S.
      "We will roll out the same site design at six to eight locations around the country over the next two years," Coakley says.
      Power Loft will outsource facilities management to Total Site Solution, a specialist in data center management. Coakley says the facility could have just one client if the user is large enough, but more likely four to six companies will co-locate their data.