Mar 14, 2025 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
The University of Virginia is looking to get a new data center which would be used for research purpose. If approved, the data center would have an initial 4MW of IT capacity and see $72 million of investment. This could be expanded to 16MW in the future.
According to the university's vice president and CIO Kelly Doney, the current data center - with 1.5MW of capacity - is nearing maximum capacity and is resulting in delays for users. At a Board of Visitors Finance Committee March 7 meeting, Doney said: "We can already see that our researchers are experiencing significant delays in their ability to access the computational resources, and this is a big factor in terms of faculty recruiting and retention. We want to be competitive with other schools.”
The existing data center, according to the university, cannot be expanded due to "physical site, cooling, and power limitations." Baller noted that the university's existing data center will be able to operate for another two years. "We'll continue to operate it up until it's no longer worth the money... then we will shut it down, and the new data center will replace it."