Highlights:

  • Verrus will utilize an internally built software platform to coordinate power usage and customer workloads.
  • To reduce energy waste, power will be shared throughout the server rooms in each data center as an extra precaution.

Alphabet Inc. spinoff Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners unveiled Verrus, a new endeavor dedicated to build data centers tailored for sustainability.

2019 saw the creation of Sidewalk, a smart city initiative named after Alphabet. The organization is working on several infrastructure projects in industries like power delivery, recycling, and telecommunications. It also intends to construct highways for driverless cars through a subsidiary.

The latest project from Sidewalk, Verrus, is the result of a multiyear development process. It intends to construct a network of data centers powered by batteries to house workloads such as artificial intelligence models. As per the company, its facilities are to be based on a structure that will enable them to “provide resilience and flexibility to the grid — becoming assets to their communities rather than constant, inflexible drains.”

While some workplace apps must operate continuously, others only launch on predetermined schedules. Verrus intends to host these two sorts of workloads in different areas of the data center. By setting up this system, servers that host applications needing occasional use can be activated during off-peak times to reduce strain on the electrical grid.

Verrus will utilize an internally built software platform to coordinate power usage and customer workloads. The system can “align flexible batch workloads with low-carbon supply availability, minimizing emissions,” the company stated.

Data centers often depend on diesel generators to guarantee backup power availability during outages. Verrus’ facilities, on the other hand, will utilize batteries for that purpose. “By strategically shifting flexible workloads and leveraging the storage capacity of its batteries, Verrus facilities can avoid overwhelming grids when supply runs tight,” the company detailed.

To ensure efficiency, power will be distributed among the server halls in each data center to reduce energy consumption. If a hall gets more electricity than it needs, the extra energy can be transferred to other parts of the facility.

According to Jonathan Winer, Cofounder and Co-chief Executive Officer of Sidewalk, the construction of the company’s data centers may cost USD one billion apiece to build. He went into depth about Verrus’s intentions to open its first three locations in Massachusetts, California, and Arizona. They are scheduled to go into service in 2026 or 2027.

Verrus has apparently received interest from several prospective clients, including numerous hyperscalers, over their planned data center network. According to Winer, the company may decide to target the hyperscaler market—which is primarily made up of large cloud providers—when looking for investment. Sidewalk has secured USD 800 million in funding from Alphabet, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and investment firm StepStone Group LP.