Google Data Centers & Different Results

[PAPABEAR1126]

What is the deal with the Google Data Centers offering different serps on different DC's?

At first I thought this only occurred while an update was going on but it has been looking a lot lately like some DCs just plain offer different results?

So what is up with that?

Is this common ALL the time?

Is there a pattern to the serps on various DCs?

Are certain DCs being used by G to test new algo's?
Cutts said as much during Big Daddy which made me wonder if G uses certain DC's to test new algos.

When you do a Google search what determines what DC is rendering the serps your getting?

Do different DCs render different serps based on certain criteria such as if a local term is used and a certain DC typically serves serps to that area?

Does Google use the searchers IP to direct the searcher to a Data Center that serves serps for the searchers area?

EX: Say a DC serves up serps to the Northeaster US states by default based on a user IP Address of the searcher?

In other words does Google know by your IP your in say New York, and then is it going to direct you to a DC that is serving serps more relevant to the New York area?

Am I making any sense in the way I am trying to ask this?

In other words,
If I am on the West Coast am I Automatically sent to a Google data center that is serving more West Coast relevant serps?

If Google in fact renders different serps on different DCs ALL the time then what is that criteria?

What can be used to benefit from this if anything?

Again, if this has been gone over countless times please forgive but I try to read everything I can find and cant find this answer in the archives here or anywhere else how the this works...

Thanks
Frank

[PAPABEAR1126]

Okay found some answers.
Yes Google delivers different results based on where you are searching from so I take that to mean your IP address.

So while Google may be running the same algo on most of their DCs the results are diffrent based on where you are.
I cant believe it took me this long to realize or remember that, slipping..

Anyway, that answers some questions and makes life a bit easier for me.
I do quite a bit of targeting regions because many of my clients offer services that are only in a certain region.
That means I use terms specific to that region.
That means when I am checking regional serps I should be using the DC's that serve those areas right?

So, if I create a serp report for customer I should use the DC's for that area to create the report and tell them if they want to check them they should use the DCs for those areas and provide them with a link to use those DCs sound like I am on the right track with this now?

Thanks
Frank