Facebook sets up Lapland data centre

Facebook has set up a data centre in Lapland, Sweden.

The social networking firm said that the low temperatures in the Northern Swedish city of Lulea make it the ideal location for its first non-US data site, BBC News reports.

Facebook's new facility will use outside air to cool its servers for ten months each year. The site will process information from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, covering 30,000 square metres.

The company leased space in third-party data centres in 2009, when it opted to build its own. It currently processes data from 800 million global users.

Lulea's electricity prices are said to be among the cheapest in Europe. The facility will be custom made by Facebook engineers, and be powered by renewable energy, which uses 70 percent less generator power.

"Assembling the servers is like building a LEGO model, the parts snap together. The servers slot in and out of their racks by flipping a couple of catches," the firm said.

Last month, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed plans to turn the social networking site into an entertainment hub.

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