back to article Microsoft Azure cloud region settles over desert in Doha, Qatar

Microsoft Azure launched a long-awaited new cloud region in Doha, Qatar, on Monday. The Qatar Azure cloud region was first announced in December 2019, months before the effects of COVID-19 hit. The pre-pandemic announcement now feels quaint as it contained a promise to accelerate the Qatari government's efforts for digital …

  1. Korev Silver badge

    Khalaf said the datacenter would create 24,000 new jobs and that Microsoft would train 50,000 people over the next five years.

    Aren't most jobs in datacentres like these doing tasks like racking the servers, replacing discs etc? I'm pretty sure that 24k is an overestimate...

    1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Maybe it's accounting for possible high death rate, so jobs would be short lived...

    2. Pirate Dave Silver badge

      Training 50,000 people for 24,000 jobs means Microsoft must expect a lot of churn over the first five years.

    3. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

      re: I'm pretty sure that 24k is an overestimate...

      Well one man can spin up 8 disks...

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k44uoVm0lPI

    4. hoola Silver badge

      The usual guff, I just don't see how a datacentre that is largely managed remotely and automated can generate those jobs.

      As for running the services, why does moving a server into the cloud generate jobs? It may move some but that is all.

  2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Virtue signalling

    It's interesting if Microsoft is going to dare virtue signalling in Qatar.

    Or the money is more important than principles?

    Pecunia non olet, eh?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just what the planet needs

    More data centers in hot desserts. All jobs figures in big projects are bogus, including as many temporary construction workers as possible and wild assumptions of future workers to make it sound great whilst in reality employing as few as possible to keep margins stratospheric.

    When virtualization took off we cut our rackspace usage by 80% for client hosting, the costs of public clould are massively over priced.

    1. Tom66

      Re: Just what the planet needs

      Mmm, hot dessert.

      But serious, yep, this is going to require a ridiculous amount of air conditioning, and you can't exactly use water to cool your radiators either, it's going to be air to air, with air temperatures approaching 50C in summer.

      I really hope they put a proper solar array on top and adjacent to it, it would provide shade plus power during the daytime.

      1. dogcatcher

        Re: Just what the planet needs

        and what happens when the sand gets into the works?

        1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

          Re: and what happens when the sand gets into the works?

          Ideal for isolating malware, etc.

          1. Anomalous Cowturd
            Flame

            Re: and what happens when the sand gets into the works?

            Good for putting out fires, too.

    2. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

      Re: More data centers in hot desserts.

      AKA Suez Pudding.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In Qatar

    "designing the region with unique physical datacenter locations with independent power, network, and cooling for additional tolerance to datacenter failures"

    Can mean things that would look sci-fi in on-call ! Stairs for the kit, hole for just lifting kit god knows how (no lift), palet lifters for the kit, etc ...

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