Cisco Systems, one of the region's biggest employers, is set to unveil a new $100 million data center in Research Triangle Park that was touted by CEO John Chambers on his visit here over a year ago.

The two-story facility will showcase a lab where Cisco will develop and test software applications as well as a data recovery site for use during emergencies.

Cisco, the nation's largest computer networking company, hopes to sell its customers on buying routing and switching equipment to build similar data centers. The Silicon Valley company, which employs 4,800 in RTP, is so high on the data center it's hosting an open house next week to show off the facility.

The company says the dual function -- R&D lab and disaster recovery -- are unique in the industry.
 

Time Warner Cable plans to add 225 jobs at its Charlotte campus over the next three years and invest millions building a data center at the site.

State officials awarded the company nearly $3 million in incentives this morning if it meets hiring and investment goals. The city of Charlotte is also providing $2 million in incentives.

Time Warner employs about 5,000 people in North Carolina, including about 2,500 in the Charlotte area.

This is the third state incentives package the company has received since 2004. The company has thus far met the investment and hiring goals of both the 2004 package and the 2008 package.

Facebook is turning its North Carolina data center into an open-source experiment to show the public how the company will cut its power bill to Duke Energy by 38 percent.

Data storage centers and servers are typically top-security, off-limits facilities, housed in unmarked, reinforced buildings, to prevent sabotage that could disrupt service to millions of customers.

But the California-based social networking company is defying the industry norm and giving away the design specs for its $450-million facility, still under construction in Rutherford County, about 65 miles west of Charlotte.

The North Carolina data facility is built on the same design used for Facebook's data center in Oregon and is expected to be operational next year with least 42 employees.

During its annual shareholders meeting, Apple shed some light on the $1B data center under construction in Maiden, N.C.. The 500,000 square feet facility has fueled rumors about possible cloud services Apple could provide.

North Carolina, already home to several large corporate data centers, could be about to get one more.

State officials will make a major economic development announcement in Rutherford County on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

The site of the announcement, just off U.S. 74 in Forest City, is near a Rutherford County-owned park specifically designed to house data centers.

The Rutherford County Board of Commissioners voted today to give more than $1 million in incentives to Andale, LLC, a subsidiary of a parent company that wasn't disclosed.

North Carolina has rapidly become a hub for data centers, thanks partly to cheap and reliable electricity and cheap land. This summer, North Carolina lawmakers also approved new incentives aimed at luring even more data centers.

Mark Johnson, a spokesman for Gov. Bev Perdue's office, and Billy Warden, a Raleigh public relations executive who is listed as a contact for the event, declined to comment on the announcement.
 

Apple is considering doubling the size of its already massive data center being built in western North Carolina, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.

Apple's $1 billion data center in Maiden, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte, will include 500,000 square feet of space. It's expected to employ 50 people.

The report on the Journal's All Things Digital blog notes that Apple may be considering using the facility to offer so-called "cloud services" for iTunes and other products.

That would mean iTunes libraries would be streamed to users and could be accessed from anywhere.
 

Apple may be getting close to opening its $1 billion data center near Charlotte.

The computing and electronics giant posted job openings this week on its web site for the facility in Maiden, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte.

Apple picked the town of about 3,500 residents in Catawba County last July to build its data center, scheduled for completion sometime this year.

The company said it would hire 50 full-time employees there. Apple's web site shows 11 openings in Maiden, two in Charlotte and one in Hickory

In Maiden, Apple is looking to hire engineers, technicians and supervisors.