When Yahoo made a special delivery to the College of Computing on Monday, Oct. 20, they made certain it was, indeed, special: They sent of gift of 200 servers.

The Internet giant, as part of Yahoo Servers to Academic Researchers program (Y-STAR), donated the servers. In the past, Yahoo simply disposed of old servers when they reached the end of their service. Now, decommissioned servers are refurbished and donated to university researchers. Yahoo has donated more than 3,400 servers globally since the program’s inception. 

The gift will be an asset in advancing the college’s research objectives, according to Polo Chau, assistant professor of computational science & engineering and associate director of Georgia Tech’s MS in Analytics Program.

“Yahoo’s generous gift will stimulate and enable new research and education endeavors at Georgia Tech, allowing researchers to perform large scale data-intensive research previously not possible, and students to get hands-on experience with industry-scale big data platforms,” Chau said.

The donation represents another milestone between Yahoo Labs and Georgia Tech. Chau was selected in July as the 2014 award recipient of the Yahoo Faculty Research Engagement Program. The award funds a collaborative effort between Yahoo Labs, and Chau who will work with a Yahoo researcher on new approaches to discover, analyze and visualize potentially compromised accounts in Yahoo Mail.

Yahoo also continues to build deep relationships with Georgia Tech and other select research institutions through multiple dynamics mechanisms – including unique world-class datasets, diversity and event support, bilateral visits and guest talks, project grants and merit-based awards, according to a company press release.

The servers will support research and education efforts at Georgia Tech in the College of Computing, College of Engineering, and several other schools.