Apple Comes to Maiden, NC

In the WWDC Keynote, Steve Jobs showed off the new iCloud (free) service Apple is unveiling. And he showed off the new data center Apple built to house the server farm where gazillions of teraflops of data (pics, music, docs, etc.) will eventually be stored and served to Apple's users.

The new data center is located in Maiden, NC -- south of Hickory, between Hickory and Charlotte. It is HUGE -- I checked Google Earth and found a picture of it. The pic hardly does justice to the size of this facility:

And the pics he showed of the inside are simply amazing—filled with huge data servers. Apple continues to impress. Not sure why anyone stays on the PC side of things.

The "A" pin represents Maiden, NC, and the pink circle is where the data center is located. For Charlotteans who take Hwy 321 north to the mountains out of Gastonia, you'll pass right by it. Should feel a nice hum on the way by, right? (I'd like to know more about why Apple chose Maiden, NC, as a place for this facility. I recall reading a few years ago how Google built one of its giant server farms near a hydroelectric facility in the northwest because the power needs of these facilities is enormous. I would suppose Apple's facility has the same power needs -- so why Maiden, NC?)

You can see a video fly-by of the site here which shows ground being broken next to the data center for expansion. I've read that the 500,000 square foot first phase will double in the near future.