Microsoft Grange Castle Dublin (DB3–DB5)
Microsoft's first European megascale cloud hub, pioneering chiller-free air cooling
The story
When Microsoft inaugurated DB3 at Grange Castle Business Park in Dublin in 2009, it transformed hyperscale engineering in Europe. Costing $500M to build, it dispensed with conventional mechanical water chillers, proving that server halls could be cooled exclusively with filtered outside air even during peak summer weeks. Over fifteen years of expansions, Grange Castle evolved into an Azure hub and incorporated grid-interactive battery systems that stabilize Ireland's national power grid.
Notable
- Opened in July 2009 as Microsoft's first purpose-built mega data center outside the United States.
- Pioneered chiller-less direct outside air cooling, leveraging Ireland's temperate maritime climate.
- Equipped with grid-interactive battery storage enabling the facility to feed power back to EirGrid.
- Anchors the primary Azure North Europe cloud region serving millions of corporate tenants.
Expansions
- 2013: Addition of DB4 and DB5 facilities doubling compute capacity
- 2022: Integration of grid-interactive uninterruptible power supply (UPS) lithium-ion batteries
Sources
- Microsoft's Dublin datacenter helps support national electrical grid stability · Microsoft · 2022-07-20
- Inside Microsoft's Dublin Data Centre Empire at Grange Castle · The Irish Times · 2019-10-24
- Microsoft Opens Chiller-Less Dublin Mega Data Center · Data Center Knowledge · 2009-09-24
Part of the open famous data centers dataset (CC BY 4.0). Updated 2026-10-15. A correction? da@mustardseedmt.com
What is Microsoft Grange Castle Dublin (DB3–DB5) famous for?
Microsoft's first European megascale cloud hub, pioneering chiller-free air cooling
Where is Microsoft Grange Castle Dublin (DB3–DB5)?
Microsoft Grange Castle Dublin (DB3–DB5) is in Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland (53.324, -6.442). It is operated by Microsoft.
How much power does Microsoft Grange Castle Dublin (DB3–DB5) use?
About 90 MW of IT load and 115 MW in total, according to the sources listed on this page.
What is the PUE of Microsoft Grange Castle Dublin (DB3–DB5)?
1.18, reported.