Software giant Microsoft's data centers in Iowa are to become hubs for its Windows Azure cloud storage.

In a post on the company’s Azure blog, director of product marketing Vibhor Kapoor said it is planning to launch its US Central region from its Iowa facilities and US East 2 region from its Virginia facility.

Kapoor said with the demand for Azure growing rapidly, it is hoped that the new regions will help the company to double its capacity every six to nine months without sacrificing performance.

Microsoft is also working with the US government to create its Azure Government Cloud designed specifically for US public sector workloads.

Azure US Government Cloud will be a community cloud available for US state, local and federal government agencies hosted in Microsoft data centers in the US and managed by US personnel.

Last September Microsoft received a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), a Joint Authorization Board (JAB) and Provisional Authority to Operate (PA) for its Azure cloud platform.

FedRAMP is a US government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.

The FedRAMP JAB is comprised of representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of homeland Security and the US General Services Administration.

In April Microsoft announced its plans to build a US$1.1bn data center in Iowa - a project, for which the company received tax breaks from the state.

Last month Microsoft said it has invested $346.7m into expanding its Boydton, Virginia data center - the third expansion of this facility.