Dell has opened a new cloud computing and IT services data center in Quincy it said features the largest installation of heat wheel technology in the US.

Dell bought land in Quincy for its newest data center in November 2010 for US$3.6m.

It is just one data center being built by Dell to cater for cloud computing services. Others are currently being constructed in Panama, India and China.

Dell did not provide the size of specifics of the Western Technology Center but did say it was designed for highly efficient cooling and low energy consumption to keep power use and costs to a minimum.

Heat wheels use intermediate fluid or solid store to hold heat, moving it to the other side of the heat exchanger for release.

Dell Services executive director Patrick Mooney said the data center upholds Dell’s positions as one of the greenest IT companies in the world.

“Our efforts to optimize the Power usage Effectiveness at our Western Technology Center appeals to customers who want to consider the impact to the environment when configuring their IT solutions and to our environmentally conscious team members who participate in green initiatives across Dell,” Mooney said.

Dell said the data center has been built to world-class specifications, with utility and back-up emergency power generation, uninterruptible power supply. Disaster recovery and business continuity, monitoring and management and enhanced information security are also some of its key features.

It is designed to cater for both private and hybrid cloud environments.

Quincy, in central Washington, has become home to a number of high-profile, large data centers in recent years including Sabey, Yahoo and Microsoft. Many operators are attracted by its strong connectivity and large skills force relevant to the data center industry.