A SiliconValleyWatcher post about Google possibly outsourcing some of its data centres reminded me Google could be building or expanding a facility in Toronto. The company recently placed a job posting online looking for a data centre technician in Toronto - an 12-month, entry level position for people looking to become "Linux gurus, system administrators or network engineers". The job's responsibilities include the installation of new servers as Google's Linux cluster grows. While data centres aren't the sexiest story in the world, a tour of Google's data centre near Mountain View, Ca. a few years ago was fascinating. You get a real sense of the computing power required to support Google when you see thousands of stripped down PCs linked together with a miles of wiring. At the time, Google's chief operations engineer was Jim Reese (not sure if he's still with Google), who had a medical degree from Yale and did three and a half years of a neurosurgury residency at Stanford before becoming Google's 18th employee in June 1999. You can read a story on Reese, which appeared in the National Post in 2002, here.