I just returned from Central Washington, where I joined fellow Yahoos, state and local officials, public officers, local businessmen and women, and townsfolk in celebrating the opening of our newest data center.

Yahoo! is proud to have officially opened our first data center in the Pacific Northwest — a region that’s highly sought after by many technology companies. The region provides many advantages to building and hosting data centers, including low-cost power, high-speed fiber-optics networks, an optimal climate, and an incredibly supportive community.

Our facility makes use of “green” initiatives to help us efficiently use resources. We are using hydroelectric power, which is plentiful in this area, and our building uses the cold external air to cool the inside of the data center, a special design element that helps reduce electricity needs and control cooling costs.

During the ceremony, local officials, including Port Commissioner Mike Mackey and State Senator Linda Evans Parlette, took the podium to welcome us to the area and proclaim the first official “Yahoo! Day” in Wenatchee. It was a pleasure to join Chief Yahoo David Filo, VP of Operations Kevin Timmons and Wenatchee Mayor Dennis Johnson in cutting the purple ribbon (with a giant pair of scissors!) to mark the opening of the first major data center in the area.

We have more than 25 large data centers around the world, housing hundreds of thousands of servers (the engine behind all of our popular services) and other equipment that powers Yahoo!. These technology hubs (including the one we are building from the ground up in Quincy, just 30 miles east of Wenatchee) represent a new phase in our approach to data center management. Historically, we have rented space and data center management from third-party vendors. We’ve recently started taking a hybrid approach by building or leasing our own data centers, providing us with much more control over our own destiny (and data!).

This is all in the name of ensuring that your experience is exceptional and uninterrupted. Now when you send an email using Yahoo! Mail, there’s a chance it could visit the Pacific Northwest before reaching its final destination.

The Pacific Northwest has welcomed us with open arms and worked with us to make this a successful partnership between Yahoo! and these communities. I look forward to celebrating many more Yahoo! Days with them.

Lars Rabbe
SVP & Chief Information Officer