Apple 'Steals' Yahoo’s Data Center Chief

Yahoo! has lost its chief of Global Data Center Infrastructure, Scott Noteboom, to Apple Inc. sources say. Noteboom will likely oversee Apple's servers as the Cupertino giant prepares to expand iCloud and various iTunes offerings.

Mr. Noteboom is now a "distinguished gentleman" at Apple, according to his LinkedIn profile. A conference bio on Noteboom (uncovered by GigaOM) sheds more light on his achievements, past employers, and passions.

As Yahoo!'s Head of Global Data Center Infrastructure, a position he held since 2005 until recently, Noteboom served as chief design architect whose duties included managing all aspects of the data center lifecycle. This included design, construction, operations, and de-commissions.

“His passion centers on shaping, understanding and managing initiatives related to large scale data center / compute platforms, and shaping more efficiency into those platforms,” reads the bio.

Noteboom is also known for publishing a great deal of papers and articles. According to the bio, “[Scott Noteboom] innovated multiple award winning technology patents and has been a speaker on the subjects of high performance, efficient large scale data center / compute platforms. He has more than 15 years experience in the engineering and design of data centers and internet platforms.”

Scott’s profile says he was also Director of Data Centers at AboveNet where, at the time, he led operations of the world's second largest data center collocation footprint.

He is the founder of not one, but two companies in the Internet Service Provider (ISP,) and Voice over IP (VOIP) space. According to the bio, one sailed, whereas the other failed.

Finally, the description says he was attracted to software since he was a teenager: “He began developing published software and running a dial-up bulletin board service (BBS) in his teens.”

Apple is said to have spent up to $1 billion on its North Carolina data center which Noteboom will undoubtedly be a part of.

Apple has also reportedly poached data center buffs from many high-profile companies, including Microsoft’s Kevin Timmons.