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Aerial photos offer overhead look at Apple's Oregon data center site

Prying eyes have again taken to the skies to get a glimpse at what's next for Apple, this time visiting the location for the company's new data center in Prineville, Ore.


Aerial shots of Apple's Oregon data center site captured by Wired.

Aerial photographs of Apple's new server farm were commissioned by Wired, showing just how close the facility is to an existing data center owned by social networking giant Facebook. The publication said it was "forced" to get aerial shots of the facility because Apple has not opened its doors to reporters.

The photos show the "tactical data center" that the company finished building earlier this year. To the south of that smaller building, Apple's 338,000-square-foot data center remains in construction.

Apple has plans to build a second data center of the same size, but there is currently no evidence that construction on that facility has begun.

Facebook also has two data centers in Prineville, and one of them has been operational for a year now, while the second center is in the final stages of completion.

Oregon
Aerial shots of Apple's Oregon data center site captured by Wired.

Companies like Apple and Facebook have chosen Prineville because local governments have offered incentives. Apple will pay the Prineville city and Crook County governments $150,000 a year in return for a 15-year property tax exemption, an dhas promised to employ a minimum of 35 people at the center who will be paid wages up to 150 percent higher than the Crook County average.

Wired previously commissioned aerial photographs of Apple's other major data center in Maiden, N.C., which currently helps power the company's online services, including iCloud and iTunes. The company has referred to its overhead photos as being captured from its "iSpy plane."