Story behind Guizhou's big data centers

The Guizhou Big Data Exhibition Center showcases Guizhou's achievements and plans for the big data industry. [Photo/ddcpc website]

The digital economy accounts for 34 percent of the GDP of Southwest China's Guizhou province, which is one of China's eight computing hubs and home to a number of big data center clusters. The growth rate of its digital economy has ranked first nationally for six years in a row.

Guizhou is suitable for the construction of data centers due to its stable geologic structure, cool weather, abundant hydro energy and abundant coal resources.

As air conditioning accounts for nearly half the power costs of data centers, Guizhou's low average summer temperature helps reduce energy consumption, and operation and maintenance costs.

The first and second stages of China Mobile's data center in Guian New Area were put into operation in 2014 and 2019, respectively. The third stage is currently under construction.

The third stage is designed with an installed capacity of more than 7,000 servers and is expected to be completed in 2024.

China Mobile's Guizhou branch currently has more than 26 million users of the Guizhou travel code, which requires the company to continuously optimize its algorithms to ensure the travel codes can be acquired accurately and quickly.

China Mobile's data center also arranges workers on 24-hour shifts to ensure data security. Each machine room is composed of several modules, and each module is equipped with servers, air conditioners and power distribution cabinets.

The modules can only be entered by inspectors when checking the room temperature, water seepage, and indicator lights.

With the development of the digital economy, the data center was planned three years in advance to ensure its internet data centers and cloud computing services can meet the increasing needs of users.

Guian is currently home to seven data centers, with two more ready to start construction.