Investment

Cumulus completes milestone in its flagship data centre campus build

Cumulus Data has announced that it has completed key milestones in the construction of phase one of its flagship 475MW zero carbon Susquehanna data centre campus located in northeast Pennsylvania. The construction of the powered shell for its first 48MW, 300,000ft² data centre is complete and available for lease, with various fibre routes in service. The 1,200-acre campus, will provide zero carbon, low cost, reliable energy generated by Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear power generation facility. The Cumulus data centres will be directly connected to the 2.5GW Susquehanna power stations, without intermediation by legacy electric transmission and distribution utilities, providing data centre customers with significant value and competitive advantages. This direct-connect, on-site power generation model enables industry-leading total cost of ownership with the most attractive power rate in the US, according to Cumulus. The size and design of the Cumulus campus offers scalability, flexibility, and time-to-market advantages with build-to-suit options, coupled with zero carbon ESG customer benefits. “Our flagship Cumulus Susquehanna data centre campus is positioned to welcome its first tenant and commence commercial operations this year,” says CEO Alejandro Hernandez. “We look forward to advancing our mission to solve the energy ‘trilemma’ which we define as the rapidly increasing consumer demand for zero carbon, low-cost, and reliable electricity by data centre customers, beginning with our first Cumulus Susquehanna data centre campus.” Scott Hanna, Cumulus Chief Revenue Officer, adds, “There are currently few options that fulfil all three requirements at once - at massive scale, while offering data centre customers an industry leading TCO. As a member of the iMasons Climate Accord, Talen and Cumulus will support our customers in achieving carbon neutrality by uniting together to adopt a common standard enabled by solutions such as the Cumulus carbon free data centre platform.” In addition to meeting the growing need for zero carbon, low cost, reliable energy to power technology applications, the Cumulus Susquehanna data centre campus investment will create jobs, provide technology training, and offer economic benefits including tax revenue and increased consumption of local goods and services to both Pennsylvania and the surrounding community.

Grand opening of Simplex LCA1 - the largest data centre in Cyprus

Simplex puts Cyprus on the global data centre map with a world-class facility - one of the most advanced in the region. In a ceremony in the presence of Kyriakos Kokkinos, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, the opening of Simplex LCA1 took place in Larnaca, Cyprus on 14 December 2022. More than 100 guests including government officials, businessmen, IT managers and other industry professionals, representing the business and political community of Cyprus, gathered to celebrate what is expected to be a milestone for Cyprus’ digital transition and a true diversifier for the country’s economy. LCA1 is the largest data centre in Cyprus and one of the most advanced in the region, offering reliability, security and flexibility. Simplex is now the only neutral operator with two privately owned data centres at diverse locations. LCA1 has been operating since December 2020, however, due to the pandemic Simplex never had the opportunity to celebrate its opening and decided to do so on its second birthday/anniversary. A testament for LCA1’s qualities is the international recognition it has received during these two years. In particular, it has been awarded for Reliable and Efficient Data Centre Operation at the Impact Bite Awards, while it has also been shortlisted as a finalist for the 2021 Middle East & Africa Data Centre Development Award of the DCD Awards. The growing business community of Larnaca, sufficient distance from both Limassol (business and financial centre) and Nicosia (the capital) for disaster recovery purposes, and the convenience for international clients flying in through Larnaca International Airport, were reasons for choosing Larnaca to host this facility.  Designed and constructed with efficiency and sustainability at its core, LCA1 has adopted many green technologies and it will soon be using extensively, if not exclusively, green power from renewable sources, mainly solar. During the event, the company’s Director, Michael Omerou, announced the certification of the company’s Environmental Management System to ISO 14001, as well as the upcoming certification to EMAS, EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, becoming the first Cyprus data centre operator to receive such certifications. Michael says, “I am really proud and excited to be standing in front of such a mass gathering that inevitably demonstrates the importance of data centres in general and LCA1 in particular. Neutral, multi-tenant data centres like LCA1 consist of important, critical infrastructure and generate a huge economic potential.  “Strategically located, literally at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, LCA1 is a truly enterprise, world-class data centre, that will serve not only domestic clients, but also regional and even international ones. Jointly with other technology companies of the island and of course, the government, we aim to establish an ecosystem that will attract international technology giants including content providers, international ISPs, cloud providers and other hyperscalers that through Cyprus will be able to serve neighbouring countries which suffer from political and financial fragility and, despite their big population/market size, do not offer reliable telecoms and electricity infrastructure. LCA1 will evolve as an investment magnet and a multiplier of economic growth for Cyprus’ economy.”

Microsoft announces acquisition of Fungible

Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Fungible, a provider of composable infrastructure aimed at accelerating networking and storage performance in data centres with high efficiency, low-power data processing units (DPUs). Fungible’s technologies help enable high performance, scalable, disaggregated, scaled-out data centre infrastructure with reliability and security. The Fungible team will join Microsoft’s data centre infrastructure engineering teams and will focus on delivering multiple DPU solutions, network innovation and hardware systems advancements. This announcement is said to further signal Microsoft’s commitment to long term differentiated investments in its data centre infrastructure, which enhances its broad range of technologies and offerings, including offloading, improving latency, increasing data centre server density, optimising energy efficiency and reducing costs.

The London Fund invests with Macquarie in digital infrastructure

Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI) has announced that The London Fund (the Fund) has agreed to co-invest alongside Macquarie Asset Management in its acquisition of a significant minority stake in London-based VIRTUS, a growing hyperscale data centre platform in London. VIRTUS is a pure-play data centre owner-operator, providing critical digital infrastructure which provides vital connectivity and access to online services for residents and businesses in London. The business provides intelligent solutions to improve the storage, retrieval, management and security of data across global networks. Established in 2008, VIRTUS currently comprises 11 sites in and around London, including in Enfield, Hayes, Slough and Stockley Park, with a combined capacity of more than 100MW. The business aims to build more sites in the Greater London area in line with increasing data needs, while beginning to expand its operations into Europe. The VIRTUS investment also delivers on its Positive Social Outcomes promise by supporting London’s digital ecosystem through a data centre platform which matches its electricity consumption to 100% renewable energy procurement alongside its wider commitment to net zero by 2030 and efficient water and energy usage. Richard Tomlinson, Chief Investment Officer, Local Pensions Partnership Investments, says, “Digital infrastructure has been driven by long-term tailwinds, including growing data consumption and the development of cloud computing and VIRTUS’s success is testament to this. With this investment, we’re pleased to be supporting a key global player in a rapidly growing sector, enhancing London’s digital ecosystem, whilst also proving that commercial success and a commitment to net zero can be compatible business goals.” Vanessa Shia, Head of Private Markets, London CIV, says, “We are delighted to have partnered with Macquarie in our co-investment in VIRTUS through The London Fund. This builds on our continual focus to making critical investments in London and greatly complements our existing portfolio. This is one of our first direct investments in the digital infrastructure space, and, given the essential role it plays in supporting global connectivity by offering an alternative to travel and commuting, represents a pivotal investment on behalf of our clients in their journey to net zero.” Phil Peters, Head of Macquarie Asset Management’s Client Solutions Group, says, “We are very pleased to be extending our existing partnerships with LPPI and London CIV, the collaborators of The London Fund, with this co-investment in VIRTUS Data Centres alongside our managed funds. The London Fund’s objective of investing in assets that have positive benefits for Londoners very much aligns with our responsibility and opportunity to drive positive change for all our stakeholders through our investments.”

Crashing markets result in record number of crypto heists

Besides a prolonged bear market, the crypto space is battling another plague of heists targeting different products in the sector. The number of crypto industry thefts has spiked, contributing to the significant loss of investor funds. In particular, according to data presented by Finbold, in 2022 the number of cryptocurrency related heists hit 190 as of 9 December, representing a growth of 43.93% from last year's figure of 132. In 2020, 50 incidents were recorded, while in 2019, the crypto sector accounted for 41 heists. Notably, the number of heists hit double digits for the first time in 2018 at 38, a record growth of over 320% from the 2017 figure of nine. The lowest number of incidents was recorded in 2011 at four. At the same time, the value lost in heists has varied over the years, with the top 10 incidents leading to an accumulative fiat value loss of $4.28 billion. The March 2022 Ronin Network (Axie Infinity) heist ranks top with $620 million stolen, followed by Poly Network at $610 million. The Binance hack of October 2022 resulted in a loss of $570 million, followed by Coincheck at $532 million. The recent FTX crypto exchange collapse ranks in the fifth spot at $477 million, while the infamous MT Gox incident occupies the sixth spot overall at $470 million. Other high-profile heists include Wormhole ($326 million), KuCoin ($281 million), PancakeBunny ($200 million), and Bitmart ($196 million). Drivers of crypto heists The report also identified some factors driving the increasing number of heists in the crypto space. It says: “Indeed, hackers are taking advantage of the cryptocurrency sector's infancy stages to initiate the heists by leveraging sophisticated techniques, such as using multiple wallets and exchanges, to obscure their tracks and make it more difficult to identify them. In this line, the anonymity and lack of regulation in the cryptocurrency market partly make it easier for hackers to operate without being detected or traced.” Overall, bad actors are likely to continue innovating means of exploiting vulnerabilities in the crypto space. However, the number of incidents will likely drop with an increased focus on the right regulatory approaches and keen consideration for security measures.

Kester Capital acquires majority stake in DC Byte

Kester Capital has announced its investment in DC Byte, a global market intelligence and analytics provider for data centre operators, developers, investors, advisers and suppliers. The investment represents Kester’s third investment in the information and data sector, and the fifth investment out of its latest fund, Kester Capital II, which closed at its hard cap in 2020. Kester will work alongside DC Byte’s management team to develop new markets and products aimed at capitalising on the strong organic growth being driven by underlying demand for, and investment in, digital infrastructure. Demand for cloud storage is driving the need for increased capacity, regulation and geographical expansion and DC Byte is well positioned to continue to benefit from these significant market tailwinds. DC Byte was founded in 2017 by CEO Ed Galvin with the backing of seed investors led by property industry veteran Alan Froggatt. The company has rapidly established itself with a highly differentiated subscription-based offering through its data centre focused market intelligence and analytics platform. This proprietary data and insight rich service provides users with a comprehensive global database, updated and validated in real time, alleviating critical customer pain points caused by the lack of reliable and transparent information. DC Byte is headquartered in London, with operations in Europe, Asia and North America. Ed Galvin, DC Byte CEO, says, “I am delighted to be working with Kester to accelerate our vision for the company as we enter a new and exciting chapter in the story of DC Byte. Kester’s experience in scaling data and information businesses makes them an excellent partner to support the future growth of the business and continue our mission to provide ever greater levels of insight into the data centre sector.” Cameron Crockett, Managing Partner at Kester Capital, adds, “Ed and team have built an exceptional data business in the very attractive and rapidly scaling data centre market. Subscription information and data is a core sector for Kester and we look forward to helping the DC Byte team maximise the opportunity ahead of them.”

Aruba S.p.A receives €500 million in funding

Aruba S.p.A has announced the major expansion of its Global Cloud Data Centre (GCDC) campus following a €500 million investment. The IT3 technology campus in Ponte San Pietro - already Italy’s largest data centre campus spanning 200,000m² - is now also home to two further ‘future-proof’ data centres and a large ultra-technological event space, the Aruba Auditorium. The first of the new data centres has an area of more than 17,000m² and 9MW of power, spread over three large data rooms, with independent infrastructure dedicated to each room. The second is a multi-storey data centre with eight data rooms placed on two levels, a full-scale power of 8MW and a total area of almost 14,000m². The Aruba Auditorium, a large and ultra-modern gathering space for holding events that provides a total area of 1,500m² and a seating capacity of about 400, will be capable of hosting multiple multi-sensory events simultaneously. The new latest generation data centres are the result of Aruba's long experience in the development, design, construction and management of high-tech infrastructures, and have become a reference point for the digitisation in Italy in terms of IT infrastructure, and cement GCDC’s position as an asset in the broader path of national transformation and innovation. The proprietary data centres store the data of millions of Italian and international citizens and companies, and will create important skilled jobs in the area. The company has already started to select and train part of its future resources through the Aruba Academy, the Aruba Group's school, established with the aim of recruiting new talent and training them in STEM and IT fields as well as partnerships with the University of Bergamo and the Polytechnic of Turin. This upskilling will also prepare Aruba to further scale the site, with future plans to add two more data centres already underway. “We are proud to be able to officially present two new state-of-the-art data centres that will contribute to the digital transformation of the country,” says Stefano Cecconi, CEO of Aruba. “We design our technological campuses not only with the aim of future-proofing them, but also to be as eco-sustainable as possible, so as to minimise environmental impact, make consumption more efficient - in full compliance with reliability and safety standards - and achieve the highest levels of certification. We are particularly happy to inaugurate the new Aruba Auditorium, a place of aggregation and interaction that will allow us, other companies or local realities to organise events in a highly technological and innovative context.” Aruba scales its data centre infrastructure with sustainability top of mind, with GCDC is consistently green-by-design. The whole campus - a redeveloped industrial site where a historic textile company, Legler, once stood - is completely powered by renewable sources with Guarantee of Origin (GO) certification, while the campus infrastructure includes photovoltaic systems, geothermal systems, and a hydroelectric plant on the nearby Brembo River. The entire GCDC hub has also been designed and built with the aim of exceeding market standards in terms of reliability and performance: it is certified to meet and exceed the highest levels of resilience provided by ANSI/TIA 942 Rating level 4 and holds ISO 22237 (TBD) certification.

Marist College Canberra unlocks IT autonomy with Nutanix

Nutanix helped Marist College Canberra simplify its IT infrastructure and enhance the learning experience of its students and educators. Established in 1968, Marist College Canberra is a Catholic school for boys from years four to 12. The school’s 200 teachers and staff provide a diversity of academic, spiritual, cultural, and personal development opportunities to its 1,800 students.            Sam Walton, ICT Systems and Operations manager, and his five-strong team are responsible for providing the IT infrastructure and rolling out new projects that keep students connected and continue to improve their learning experiences. “From an IT perspective, schools are always a complex environment,” Sam says. “Not only are we a relatively large school with more than 2,000 end-users including students and teachers, but we also offer many extracurricular activities. The role of IT is to support all the different departments and all the applications they want to run in a single environment.” Sam says that maintaining such a complex environment with legacy three-tier data centre architecture including servers, storage and networking - a system created decades ago - would be a resource-intensive challenge. A recent investment in Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure, however, freed Walton and his team to deliver greater value to the school. Sam adds, “Nutanix is the heart of our digital learning experience. We went from a full rack of SANs (storage area networks) and hosts which were much more complicated and required a lot more maintenance just to keep running, to Nutanix which is essentially ‘set up and forget’. “In our IT team, we have to know so much about everything, so the really good thing about Nutanix is that it just works - I can’t be dedicating resources to maintaining the environment every week. The infrastructure we have now means my team can focus on more strategic projects for the college.” Another benefit, according to Sam, has been the reduced hardware footprint which has in turn reduced the college’s energy consumption. “IT infrastructure, particularly outdated infrastructure, can be a major energy burden,” he says. “Instead of a full rack, we’ve gone down to six RU (rack units) in our production environment. This has reduced power consumption to the point we’re now downsizing our UPS, which provides emergency power if the main power source fails.” Marist is also using three Nutanix nodes for its on-campus Disaster Recovery (DR) environment which keeps systems going in the event of an outage, and another three nodes for object storage, which enables greater data scalability for the school. “DR is now instant,” Sam says. “For example, late last year I had to move everything to the DR site and performance wasn’t impacted at all. No one noticed any difference. This has enabled me to sleep at night because I know now if something ever goes wrong, we can seamlessly switch over to DR.” Jim Steed, Managing Director - ANZ at Nutanix, says Marist College Canberra has ensured the best learning experience for its students, both today and into the future. “With its IT team liberated from having to keep the lights on, Walton and the Marist IT team can focus on the things that matter - like improving the student and educator experience - rather than putting out fires and constant maintenance. At Nutanix, we believe IT infrastructure should be invisible so organisations like Marist can focus on what they do best - educating the next generation of Australian leaders,” Jim concludes.      

UK finalises deal with South Korea to help unlock millions in growth

UK organisations will be able to share personal data securely with the Republic of Korea before the end of the year as the UK finalises legislation for its first independent adequacy decision. Allowing businesses in both countries to share data without restrictions will make it easier for them to operate and grow. Once in force, the legislation is estimated to cut administrative and financial burdens for UK businesses by £11 million a year and is expected to increase exports to South Korea by £3.8 million annually. After agreeing to a data adequacy agreement in principle in July 2022, the UK Government has completed its full assessment of the Republic of Korea’s personal data legislation. The government has concluded that the Republic of Korea has strong privacy laws in place which will protect data transfers to South Korea while upholding the rights and protections of UK citizens. Before now, organisations needed to have costly and time-consuming contractual safeguards in place, such as standard data protection clauses and Binding Corporate Rules. The new freedoms will open up opportunities for many small and medium sized businesses who may have avoided international data transfers to Korea due to these burdens. Removing barriers to data transfers will also boost research and innovation by making it easier for experts to collaborate on medical treatments and other vital research which could save lives in the UK. For example, secure international personal data transfers are essential for developing effective medical treatments like vaccines. UK Data Minister Julia Lopez met with representatives of the Korean Personal Information Protection Commission to mark the legislation being laid in Parliament, which is expected to come into force from the 19 December. This is the UK’s first decision to recognise a priority country adequate since leaving the European Union (EU). The UK’s adequacy decision is broader than the EU’s deal with South Korea. The most significant difference between the two deals is that UK organisations will be able to share personal data related to credit information with the Republic of Korea to help identify customers and verify payments. The ability to share this type of data will help UK businesses with a presence in the Republic of Korea to boost credit, lending, investment and insurance operations in the Republic of Korea. Data Minister, Julia Lopez says, “Before the end of the year, businesses will be able to share data freely with the Republic of Korea - safe in the knowledge it will be protected to the high privacy standards we expect in the UK. “Removing unnecessary burdens on businesses will help unleash innovation, drive growth and improve lives across both our countries.” Ko Haksoo, Chairperson of the Korean Personal Information Protection Commission, says, "It's a great pleasure for us to see the outcome of the UK's adequacy decision for the Republic of Korea. I look forward to strengthening our partnership in promoting the trustworthy use and exchange of data between Korea and the UK based on a high level of data protection.” John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, adds, “We support the government in undertaking adequacy assessments to enable personal data to flow freely to trusted partners around the world. We provided advice to the government during this assessment of the Republic of Korea, and we are satisfied with the government's recognition of similar data protection rights and protection in Korean laws. This will bring certainty to UK businesses and reduce the burden of compliance, while ensuring people's data is handled responsibly.”

Prime Data Centres breaks ground on Chicago data centre campus

Prime Data Centres has announced that it has broken ground on its $1bn Chicago data centre campus at 1600 East Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Prime ORD will deliver more than 750,000ft2 and 175MW of capacity at full build-out, creating the largest data centre campus in Greater Chicago. ORD-01, the first of three planned campus data centres, will be marketed to major cloud providers, global internet businesses, colocation companies, and the Fortune 500 enterprise as a single-tenant, hyperscale data centre. “On behalf of everyone at Prime, I would like to thank Elk Grove Village and the numerous contractors and team members involved in readying ORD-01,” comments Nicholas Laag, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Data Centres. “The partnership between Elk Grove and the data centre industry has led to unprecedented growth and positive economic impact. Looking ahead, we will continue to partner with forward-thinking governments, executing on an aggressive, multinational expansion plan that will establish Prime as the data centre foundation for the global proliferation of content creation and cloud solutions.” “I couldn’t be happier to welcome our new neighbours at Prime Data Centres to Illinois as they break ground on their Chicago data centre campus,” says Governor JB Pritzker. “We aren’t just the heart of the Midwest - we are a national leader in innovation and business growth, in large part thanks to companies like Prime. From the outset of my administration, I have prioritised attracting companies in the rapidly growing data centre industry. Thanks to those efforts and our reputation as a global tech hub, we have 15 operating data centres investing more than $4.6bn in our communities - all while creating hundreds of jobs. This data centre brings with it economic opportunity at every turn - for residents of Elk Grove, greater Chicago, and throughout our great state. Congratulations to the entire Prime team on this extraordinary feat.” The official ceremony was held on 15 November, and featured guest speakers such as Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson, as well as executives from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and project partners ComEd, Clune Construction Company and Gensler. “Prime’s presence in Elk Grove Village validates our unique position as a hub for data centre operators. We welcome Prime to Elk Grove Village, not as tenants, but as partners in every sense of the word,” says Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. “While we know that our infrastructure suits Prime’s needs, we also know that they will find success here in Elk Grove because we both share a drive to innovate and thrive. We are looking forward to partnering with Prime so we can support their continued growth here in Elk Grove Village.” Elk Grove Village’s tax incentive plan and increased regional demand created a unique opportunity for Prime Data Centres. Prime ORD-01 will deliver 384,000ft2 and up to 72MW of much-needed capacity to the tightened market. The facility will be highly energy efficient and built to the exacting availability, connectivity and power density requirements of today's most prominent cloud brands.