EUROPE

ARSYS OPENS NEW DATA CENTRE IN SPAIN
Arsys, an Internet services provider, has launched its new data centre in La Rioja, Spain, with the capacity to house up to 15,000 servers. The facility will include four data rooms, consisting of 250 square meters of raised floor space each, to be enabled progressively, within a 6,000 square meter building. This scalability of the technical area is one of the key innovative features of the data centre. The company anticipates spending €20 million over the next ten years. Some key features include thermal coating to keep the indoor temperature, duct systems to supply cold air from the outside to the inside of the facility and a liquid cooling system with high efficient cooling towers. In environmental terms, energy consumption by the air conditioning will reduce by 40% and achieve a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.45. Another feature is the possibility to install servers with different security and availability configurations.The facility is directly connected to Arsys’ telecommunications network, 2 redundant lines with a total capacity of 20 Gbps, which communicates with the Internet Exchange Points in Madrid, London and Paris. The company offers a range of services including collocation; shared, dedicated and cloud hosting; domain name registration; ecommerce services; business applications; marketing online tools and hybrid exchange email platform.

THESAURUS LAUNCHES DATACENTRE AS A SERVICE
Thesaurus has launched Datacentre as a Service (DaaS), at its facility in Milton Keynes. DaaS enables users to obviate the need for high upfront capital investment, and large datacentre costs and offers instead a bespoke service where organisations only pay for what is required with predictable costs. DaaS can also help to meet green targets, lower its carbon footprint and achieve the associated cost savings at the same time. Users do not require a fixed contract and can be scaled up or down at any time to match an organisation’s needs. If costs need to be further reduced or capacity needs to be increased, the service can be adjusted accordingly. Ongoing security threats are addressed by Thesaurus experts conducting security audits and compliance analyses in both logical and physical environments.

UK2 ACQUIRES NEW LONDON DATA CENTRE
Web hosting provider UK2 has acquired a new data centre in London, UK. Located near Canary Wharf, the facility is fully fitted and features including dark fibre, power suppliers and will be managed all year round by UK2 staff. In the last three months alone, UK2 has deployed over 6,000 virtual servers using its cloud hosting product VPS.NET, which launched its beta trial earlier this year. UK2 provides a range of services, including domain name registration, web hosting, e-commerce, reseller, dedicated server and cloud hosting solutions.

BIT BUILDS 3RD DATA CENTRE
Netherlands based BIT is building its third data centre which will provide an additional 1200 m2 extra capacity. It already uses BIT-1, a 200m2 facility as a backup location. BIT-2 has 400m2 space which is used for servers.

INTERXION EXPANDS ZURICH DATA CENTRE
Interxion, the carrier-neutral data centre operator will expand its ZUR1 data centre in Glattbrugg, Z…rich. In response to sustained demand for the company’s infrastructure and services, 2,650 m2 of high-power-density space will be added. The first phase of the new space is scheduled to be ready for service in early 2010. The data centre space, located next to Z…rich Kloten airport and ten minutes from the city centre, will offer redundant power and N+1 cooling. It has been designed using Interxion’s energy-efficient modular architecture, with free cooling and maximum-efficiency components as standard. It will support both standard and high-density power configurations for customer equipment. Connectivity includes direct access to over 30 carriers and network service providers as well as the SwissIX Internet Exchange.

VERIZON BUSINESS EXPANDS CLOUD COMPUTING CAPABILITIES IN AMSTERDAM DATA CENTRE
Verizon Business has extended availability of its on-demand, "cloud-based" Computing as a Service (CaaS) solution to the company's Amsterdam data centre. Additional CaaS locations are planned in the Asia-Pacific region in 2010. The service, which leverages its IP infrastructure and data centres enables mid-market and larger companies to use a Web-based portal to employ computing resources in the quantities and duration dictated by the companies' business needs. As a result, businesses pay only for the resources used and avoid having to build out for peak capacity requirements by buying new equipment and adding staff. The Amsterdam location particularly benefits companies doing business in Europe and elsewhere that need to operate under a "safe harbour" privacy framework that calls for a European-hosted location, or want to use facilities located closer to their European locations. The company has developed Verizon Cybertrust Security and its data centres are also audited for physical security. Security features have been built into its CaaS offering. These include secure connections to customer-provisioned resources, as well as a multi-tiered network with a virtual firewall, and an audit trail for all changes. Customers can also opt for a third tier of optional, add-on security services including identity and access management, host intrusion detection, application vulnerability assessment, network application assessment, and professional security services.

LAMDA HELLIX ENDORSES EU CODE OF CONDUCT
After successful evaluation, Lamda Hellix that is one of the first companies in Europe to sign the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres both as a Participant and Endorser. The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres was developed in response to the increasing energy consumption in the sector globally, predicted to increase by to 104TWh per annum in 2020 in Europe alone, and the need to reduce the related environmental, economic and energy supply security impact. The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres is a code of Best Practices, Design and Metrics Methods aimed at stimulating operators, owners and their supply chain to reduce energy consumption in a cost effective manner without hampering the critical function by building awareness, development of practical voluntary commitments and supporting effective decision making. Lamda Hellix is the first operator in South East Europe to sign the Code and the company was recently awarded as the Best Regional Data Center Operator 2009 in Europe at the annual Data Centre Europe Awards Ceremony.

TELSTRA EXPANDS DATA CENTRES IN UK
Telstra International is launching a new multi-million pound facility in Woking, UK, which will provide an additional 10,000 sq.ft of hosting space and is due to open in Q4 2009. The facility is designed to respond to customer needs to upgrade and adapt their IT systems to make use of technologies such as virtualisation and Software as a Service (SaaS). It will offer a wide range of managed hosting services, from managed storage to smart remote hands. Disaster recovery is delivered through resilient fibre optic cable feeds between Telstra International’s other UK data centres in Cambridge and London. Connectivity to Telstra’s global Next IP™ network gives access to the Telstra network and data centres in the Asia Pacific regions and the Americas.

SIFY INDIA TO INVEST USD 100M IN DATA CENTRES OVER NEXT TWO YEARS
Indian ISP Sify Technologies (also listed on NASDAQ) is planning to spend up to USD 100 million in data centre infrastructure over the next two years to supplement its four existing centres in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. Its latest data centre, a 100,000 sq.ft. facility is located at Airoli, Mumbai and represented an investment of USD 36 million. The new facility has been built to the TIA-942 standard for structural design, network, and cabling, and the IS 1893:1984 standard for earthquake resistance. There are also multiple power backup systems, including a power sub-station located within the extended site premise, multiple power feeds, N+1 UPS and dedicated diesel generation sets.

NORTH AMERICA

APPLE TO BUILD GIANT EAST COAST DATA CENTRE
Apple is reported to be in the process of building a 500,000 sq.ft data centre in Maiden in western North Carolina, (40m north-west of Charlotte). The company already operates a west-coast hub in Newark, California (109,000 sq ft) The estimated cost of build is said to be around USD 1 billion over 10 years. Energy costs are USD 0.04-0.05 per KW hour from Duke Energy.

HCL TECHNOLOGIES ACQUIRES NEW JERSEY DATA CENTRE
India based IT company HCL Technologies has acquired a data centre in Parsippany, New Jersey to expand its global footprint and provide near-shore services. It plans to invest USD15m in the facility. The company is upgrading the facility deploying eco-friendly technologies from leading vendors and acquiring certifications. The company already has a near-shore delivery network in the US with an operations centre in Raleigh, North Carolina and a global data centre delivery ecosystem.

NTT OPENS SECOND FACILITY IN SILICON VALLEY
NTT America, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation, has launched a second data centre in the Silicon Valley Area of California. This addition expands NTT America’s data centre space in Silicon Valley by 15,000 square feet. The new data centre offers a range of managed services including Managed Security, Managed Storage, Managed Back-up, Remote Hands and Professional Services. The site, located in Santa Clara, meets seismic zone four specifications. It is equipped with redundant power feeds, and carrier-class uninterruptable and back-up power and has multi-gigabit interconnection to NTT America’s Tier 1 Internet Backbone, along with local carrier options.

INTERNAP TO SELF FINANCE DATA CENTRE EXPANSION
Internap has said that it will self finance expansion from its own cashflow to the tune of USD50m. Over the next year and a half the company intends to acquire, build or buy space in two or three markets. The focus will likely be at least one expansion of an existing market and one new market.

LATISYS EXPANDS CHICAGO DATA CENTRE
Managed services provider Latisys, has completed expansion of its 86,000 square foot Tier III+ Chicago-area Data Centre facility. The recent completion of Phase 1 of the expansion project added 9,000 square feet of high density raised floor to Latisys` Oak Brook, Ill data centre. The company says that the additional space is already 70% sold, and the Oak Brook facility now has approximately 70 customers - ranging from Fortune 500 firms to small and mid- sized organizations. Key demand drivers include the need for more power and space among Chicago-area organizations whose existing capacity threshold has been reached, and close proximity to downtown Chicago in The Loop and surrounding areas with low latency.

ASIA

HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS OPENS GREEN DATA CENTRE IN YOKOHAMA
Hitachi Data Systems has launched a 10,000 sq.m data centre in Yokohama – its third data centre – which has been given a "benchmark" Power Usage Effectiveness rating of 1.6, while delivering data security, reliability and availability. The data centre has a rooftop garden which shades the building and can lower the indoor temperature in the summer by as much as three degrees Celsius. Outdoor air is also used for cooling systems which have "zero ozone depletion”. The data centre uses a series of power source facilities, including a three-dimensional thermal hydraulic simulator called AirAssist‡ to optimize the cooling and layout of hardware and a new air-conditioning control technology, interlocking the air conditioning system with the energy load of the information technology equipment.

PATSYSTEMS UPGRADES TO NEW ASP SOLUTION
Patsystems has upgraded to a new Application Service Provider (ASP) solution in Tokyo. This low latency facility, will be used to support Patsystems’ customer base in Japan. The enhanced solution offers internet line resiliency, resilient firewalls, networks and servers. The facility contains a link to Patsystems’ London data centre to support XLink connections to and from Japan. The ASP solution will also offer customized back office reporting and post- trade services. Clients can utilize these reporting services to meet Japanese regulatory reporting requirements.

MACQUARIE UPGRADES NETWORK CORE
Macquarie has upgraded its network core as part of overall investment of more than A$55 million in its Sydney data centre. The upgrade will provide scalability across its business and its ability to manage the faster network speeds Australia's new national broadcasting network will deliver. The facility hosts Australian businesses and government organizations including the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, PBL Media, carsguide.com, SBS and WebJet. The upgraded network has the capacity to deliver more than one terabyte of data per second, providing customers with increased scalability, improved reliability and greater capacity. Macquarie says it took 15 months to design, build, deploy and migrate its customers.

KOREAN GOVERNMENT ASSESSES DATA CENTRE IN VIETNAM
The Korean government is conducting a feasibility study to set up a Government Information Data Centre (GIDC) in Vietnam. The Study is expected to complete in October this year. Samsung SDS is the Korean partner for this project and is expected to help Vietnam establish government Web sites.

DOT VN TEAMS WITH ELLIPTICAL MOBILE SOLUTIONS
Dot VN, Inc., an Internet and Telecommunications Company and the exclusive online global domain name registrar for the Country of Vietnam, has entered into a strategic partnership with Elliptical Mobile Solutions, LLC (EMS) of Chandler, Arizona, a provider of high-tech solutions for the mobilization, operation, environmental protection and security of electronic equipment. The partnership will focus on bringing turn-key infrastructure solutions for data centre projects to Vietnam. EMS product offerings integrate Tier III, and in some cases Tier IV, standard redundant infrastructure into an energy efficient secure rack. Dot VN has the exclusive right to distribute these data centre solutions in Vietnam and the non-exclusive right to distribute in Asia. EMS stationary and mobile data centre units are small, mobile and self-contained, and also save on capital investment. EMS claims some 60% on operational costs, specifically electricity, and up to a 75% in floor space savings. The technology focuses on cooling, maintaining and protecting the data centre equipment itself, not the room that houses the equipment.

AFRICA

INTERNET SOLUTIONS LAUNCH NEW SOUTH AFRICAN DATA CENTRE
Internet Solutions (IS) has launched a new data centre in Kwa-Zulu Natal, which forms part of the company’s current expansion project within the hosted and managed services division. The new Umhlanga based data centre is 250 sq.m in size but has the ability to scale to 400 sq.m should increased demand require. The company already operates a 200 sq. m facility, also located in Umhlanga. It has also partnered with the eThekwini Municipality and is involved in the metro connect fibre network. The Municipality has begun offering fibre services to corporates, which in turn will fund the expansion of this initiative to local communities, giving Internet access to many underprivileged communities in the eThekwini Municipality. The company expects a boom in the market due to the recent launch of the Seacom undersea cable which has a landing station at Mtunzini and connects to Johannesburg and Durban. IS plans to backhaul certain services over this infrastructure. IS has secured its energy supply from City Power to support all its data centre expansion initiatives.

RWANDA DATA CENTRE TO LAUNCH IN DECEMBER
The National Data Centre (NDC) that will house public and private sector data will be ready by December. RDB-IT signed a contract with a Swedish ICT firm, Coromatic, to construct the centre at a cost of more than USD5m. Funding for the project was made available under the Swedish and Rwanda development co-operation agreement in place since 2007. The World Bank and the European Commission are among other partners who have pledged to support RITA future projects.

MIDDLE EAST

INJAZAT SEES GROWTH OPPORTUNITY ACROSS GULF REGION
With ICT spend throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council reached some USD46 billion in 2008, this year it is expected to increase to USD50 billion and the forecast is USD70 billion by 2012. These forecasts are supporting Injazat, the data centre and managed services operator headquartered in Abu Dhabi, to consider its plans for medium term expansion and growth into new markets. Over the past three years, the company has signed contracts worth more than AED2.5 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing ICT players in the Middle East. Customers include Etihad Airways, du and the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.