Colocation

STT GDC and Phaidra to optimise data centre cooling with AI

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), one of the world’s fastest-growing data centre colocation services providers, today announced its collaboration with Phaidra, a pioneer of using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency, stability, and sustainability, to pilot an AI-based autonomous control system for optimising data centre cooling in STT GDC’s facilities in Singapore. Phaidra provides AI-powered control systems for data centres. Its autonomous AI agents build upon legacy control systems and support facility operations teams by analysing thousands of sensor trends in real-time to maximise energy efficiency, reliability, and cooling performance using specialised deep learning models. Because this is a closed-loop solution, these AI agents continuously learn and adapt to changing facility conditions, such as load variations, due to higher density GPU deployments or external weather changes. STT GDC’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, along with its collaboration with Phaidra, aligns with Singapore’s vision of a greener future for the data centre industry. As the power needs of AI workloads continue to grow, data centre cooling and operational infrastructure must evolve to keep pace. This evolution is essential to more effectively and sustainably manage the heat generated by the high-performance computing requirements necessary to support accelerated computing workloads such as AI and beyond. STT GDC will be the first operator to pilot Phaidra’s AI-powered control systems in Asia, setting a unique precedent by testing them in a hybrid cooling environment that is technically more challenging as compared to traditional air-cooled data centres. Selected STT GDC data centres offer a combination of both air-cooling and liquid-cooling solutions, supporting diverse computing workloads within the same facility. This pioneering effort underscores STT GDC’s commitment to innovative and sustainable data centre management. Based on existing site parameters, an initial estimate of 10% in cooling energy savings is anticipated. As the AI model is fed more operational data, energy savings are expected to increase from the 10% baseline to as high as 30%. This flagship pilot will serve as a model for possible subsequent deployments across STT GDC’s portfolio of data centres globally. Daniel Pointon, Group Chief Technology Officer, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, comments, “Combining our expertise in delivering AI-ready data centres across major economic hubs with Phaidra’s industry-leading know-how in using AI to optimise mission-critical control systems, we are leading the way in using AI to further drive sustainability within our data centres. Through this collaboration, we are not only seeing meaningful impact on our ongoing decarbonisation efforts, but also significant efficiency gains in data centre operations that already offer a hybrid of both air and liquid cooling. This pilot is testament to our commitment to drive sustainable innovation across our data centres.” Jim Gao, CEO and Co-Founder of Phaidra, adds, “Phaidra is proud to work with a leading data centre services provider like STT GDC. Its culture of operational excellence, relentless improvement and innovation makes for a natural partnership. We look forward to driving the data centre industry forward together.” AI is already making inroads towards transforming the global economy. Analysis from PWC indicates that AI could potentially contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, along with up to 26% boost in GDP for local economies from AI by the same year. While a sufficient level of AI-readiness is required to take advantage of these economic opportunities, there also must be considerations towards doing so in a sustainable manner. As a leading data centre hub both regionally and internationally, Singapore is uniquely positioned to drive sustainable innovation in the data centre space. Recently, Singapore announced its Green Data Centre Roadmap for sustainable growth, with plans to accelerate data centres’ energy efficiency at both hardware and software levels, as well as to increase data centres’ use of green energy to expand capacity. For more from STT GDC, click here.

DRC inaugurates Raxio data centre

In a landmark move reinforcing the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) burgeoning role in Africa's digital transformation, Raxio Group today inaugurated its state-of-the-art data centre in Kinshasa, marking the country’s largest data centre, with Tier III accreditation by international industry body, the Uptime Institute. Known as Raxio DRC1, the cutting-edge facility is backed by a $30 million investment, and represents a pivotal milestone in the nation’s Plan National du Numérique to drive digital inclusion, foster private sector growth, and transform public services through digitalisation. Located in Limete in the southeast of Kinshasa, the two-storey Raxio data centre spans 1,542 square metres. Its modern design can house up to 400 racks and can reliably deliver 1.5MW of IT power to customer equipment. The 24/7 'always on' facility is ideally located along key fibre routes, delivering best-in-class colocation and connectivity services. Multiple paths for power and cooling systems underpin the centre’s Tier III certification, while the usage of cutting edge components guarantee unmatched levels of efficiency and a strong commitment to sustainability principles. The project was completed in record time since construction started in early 2023, which is a testament to Raxio’s proven track record of designing and constructing data centre facilities in Africa, and the support of government authorities in fast-tracking priority national projects. “The inauguration of our Kinshasa data centre marks a significant achievement for Raxio and a pivotal moment for the DRC's digital landscape,” says Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group. “DRC is one of Africa’s largest and fastest-growing markets with an existing latent demand for digital products and services that is forecast to soar in the coming years. With this facility, we are providing the critical infrastructure essential to supporting the digital economy and enhancing connectivity – and we expect to expand our presence in DRC through additional capacity and new facilities in years to come. Our investment reflects unwavering confidence in the DRC's immense potential and our commitment to sustainable digital development across Africa.” With the widest footprint of any data centre provider on the continent, Raxio's strategy is to address the significant demand for high-quality data infrastructure across Africa. Since opening its first data centre in Uganda in 2021, Raxio has expanded this year into Ethiopia and Mozambique. The launch of the DRC data centre marks the opening of Raxio’s fourth facility this year, with 1.5MW being the group’s largest day one capacity to date. Raxio continues to see strong momentum behind the roll-out of its pan-African digital backbone. Appetite for data centre capacity is growing not just amongst local enterprises and the public sector, but increasingly from some of the world’s largest hyperscale cloud service providers, content delivery networks and mobile network operators as they strengthen their networks and market presence on the continent. The DRC launch aligns with the government's Plan National du Numerique to make expansive digitalisation a catalyst for economic growth, competitiveness and social inclusion, while enabling a range of public and private sector cloud-based digital services. The Provision of data centres is one of the key pillars of the government plan, improving the digital landscape through reduced latency for real-time applications and providing a reliable backbone for mobile and internet connectivity. “Closing sub-Saharan Africa’s connectivity gap is no longer a pipe dream – it is happening now and we are extremely proud to be among the key enablers that are driving digital inclusion,” says Yannick Sukakumu, General Manager, Raxio DRC. “The commitment and pragmatism of the government has been a key enabling factor in spurring our project from inception to completion in record time and stands as an inspiration for the wider region in grasping this incredible opportunity for a broad-based digital economy expansion. We are looking forward to welcoming customers into an international-standard data centre environment.” For more from Raxio, click here.

Data centre vacancy rate falls below 10%

The colocation data centre vacancy rate dropped below 10% in Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin (FLAPD) for the first time ever in Q2 2024, amid continued strong demand for space. According to new research from CBRE, take-up (44MW) exceeded new supply (30MW) for the fourth straight quarter and the vacancy rate fell in Europe’s top five data centre markets as a result. The vacancy rate of FLAPD stands at 9.8% and is expected to fall to 7.9% by year end, according to CBRE’s data. If that expectation comes to fruition, it will be the fifth consecutive year the vacancy rate has declined. Hyperscalers' interest in colocation data centres remains particularly high, driven by the need to deliver digital services, as well as keeping sought after supply away from their competitors. However, providers are finding it increasingly difficult to accommodate given a lack of available power and appropriate land in the primary markets of Europe. Data centre construction is increasingly difficult in markets, such as Frankfurt and Amsterdam, where regulation features prominently in development plans. As a result, take-up regularly exceeds the new supply delivered in most large European metro markets. CBRE anticipates 646MW of new supply to be delivered this year, and for take-up to reach 693MW across the 15 markets tracked by the firm. Kevin Restivo, Head of European Data Centre Research at CBRE, says, “Data centre capacity is an increasingly precious commodity given the considerable demand for space and competition for it. Providers that can secure the necessary resource and build data centres are able to command higher prices for the space.” For more from CBRE, click here.

New open access data centre in DRC goes live

The first phase of OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa, a joint venture between Open Access Data Centres (OADC) and TEXAF, is now live. OADC Texaf Digital is establishing a vibrant digital ecosystem supporting Internet Exchanges, content providers, cloud operators, carriers, telcos and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in offering a wide range of digital products and services to business and domestic customers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The 2MW-capable facility is the DRC’s first live open-access, carrier-neutral and Uptime Institute Tier-III certified data centre, with ISO27001 post live certification on track for Q3 2024. Clients are already establishing and installing in the facility, and all major fibre network providers are present to provide vibrant interconnect to tenants. The facility offers integrated core digital infrastructure solutions comprising tailored colocation services together with a wide range of reliable connectivity and peering options. Power to the data centre is fed from utility sourced from hydro generation ensuring environmentally sustainable power generation in tandem with low Power Utilisation Effectiveness (PUE). The facility underpins and is accelerating the country’s digitalisation and ICT capabilities, enabling clients to cost-effectively, flexibly and securely grow their operations within the DRC. With a population of more than 16 million, Kinshasa is at the epicentre of demand for digital connectivity services within the DRC and the region. OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa, located within TEXAF’s Silikin Village digital hub, is operated by OADC, Africa’s fastest-growing data centre company. Configured with 1,500 square metres of IT white space to accommodate more than 550 racks, it delivers colocation, interconnect and peering services to support the colocation needs of enterprise clients, content distribution networks, local and international cloud providers. This enables them to improve efficiency, expedite digitisation initiatives, and more effectively service business and customer needs. This infrastructure, with its white space architecture and the interconnect and peering ecosystem, is ideally suited to the large international Content Distribution Networks, global content companies and cloud providers that will be able to invest in the DRC. Mohammed Bouhelal, Managing Director of OADC Texaf DRC, comments, “OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa is central to boosting many sectors of the DRC’s economy, creating rich and vibrant digital ecosystems, and providing content distribution networks and cloud content providers with access to a quality peering location in the country. “We already have over 12 leading national and international carriers connected, with the banking sector being the leading adopter of OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa solutions. The open-access, carrier-neutral facility is set to transform the country’s digital infrastructure by creating a comprehensive, vibrant interconnection and peering ecosystem involving multiple carriers, ISPs, content providers and Internet Exchanges.” The facility embodies carrier-neutral principles, maximising interconnection opportunities for all clients. Increased competition and improved operator cost-efficiencies will contribute to the expected decrease in the cost of internet connectivity for the Congolese people and companies, serving as a major enabler for expansion of the DRC’s digital ecosystem. It will not only offer businesses a viable alternative to self-build and self-manage data centre facilities - with all the benefits of dedicated resource, expertise, management time and costs that come with that - but also support the cloud infrastructure and content needs of a wide range of businesses and enterprises. Carriers will benefit too, as OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa offers them both additional connectivity revenue opportunities and the opportunity to extend their service portfolios to include managed colocation services. OADC and TEXAF have partnered in creating this essential building block of the DRC’s digital transformation. This fully validates TEXAF’s strategy of attracting international industry leaders such as OADC into the country and specifically into the new Silikin Village digital hub. Christophe Evers, Chairman of OADC Texaf’s Board of Directors, adds, “Establishing a strategic partnership to build a data centre in the DRC is crucial for driving digital transformation and economic growth in the region. By leveraging the joint strengths and expertise of OADC and TEXAF, we are not only enhancing digital connectivity and infrastructure but also creating opportunities for businesses to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. “This collaboration underscores our commitment to delivering world-class data centre services that meet the growing demands of enterprises and support the broader objectives of economic development in the DRC. It is a cornerstone of the DRC’s National Digital Plan announced by the President of the Republic.” For more from Open Access Data Centres, click here.

SINES DC becomes Europe's largest data centre campus

Start Campus, a company focused on designing, building and operating a new generation of sustainable data centres, has announced the award of additional power by REN, the Portuguese transmission system operator. This expanded power allocation brings the total IT capacity secured for SINES DC to 1.2 GW, an increase on the initial 495 MW, making it the largest colocation site in Europe with fully secured grid power. SINES DC, which has land secured for the full campus, uses seawater cooling to minimise its environmental impact and improve efficiency. This unique offering enables Start Campus to deliver large scale, AI-ready and sustainable data centre solutions. The campus, located south of Lisbon and comprising six buildings (SIN01-06), will be developed incrementally until 2030: • SIN01: the first building with an initial 14 MW of IT capacity is set to be operational by Q4 2024. In direct response to the requirements of its customers and, through the use of liquid cooling technologies, its capacity is being expanded to 26 MW. • SIN02-06: each subsequent building will support up to 240 MW of IT capacity and will be constructed sequentially, with SIN02 ready for service from 2026. All buildings are expected to be operational by 2030. Rob Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of Start Campus, says, “Securing this additional grid capacity marks a significant milestone for Start Campus. The scale of SINES DC, coupled with our unique seawater cooling solution, creates an unprecedented offering that sets new standards for the industry. I am proud to deliver a solution that sustainably meets the evolving needs of our customers.” This power allocation follows the commitment by REN to make significant investments to extend and develop the transmission network in the high-demand area of Sines. Throughout its phased development, Start Campus continues to support the development of the Sines region and will contribute to renewable energy developments in Portugal. For more from Start Campus, click here.

Telehouse turns recycled metal into charity donations

Global colocation provider, Telehouse International Corporation of Europe, has turned recycled metal into a donation of £15,000 each to two London Borough of Tower Hamlets charities - First Love Foundation and Leaders in Community. The donations reinforce Telehouse’s commitment to supporting local communities in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, home to Telehouse’s London Docklands campus and Telehouse South. The recycled metal itself came from the redevelopment of the Telehouse South facility. For First Love Foundation, the funds will make a significant impact by enabling it to continue its vital work addressing the root causes of poverty and crisis, rather than just providing temporary relief. With Telehouse’s donation, First Love Foundation will be able to offer rapid support to more individuals in need, including stopping wrongful evictions, supporting domestic abuse victims and reclaiming benefits for vulnerable individuals and families. Leaders in Community will use the donation to inspire and empower more local young people in Tower Hamlets, which is known as one of London’s most deprived boroughs. The donation will support its Youth Leadership and Youth Social Action initiatives, helping young people develop personal resilience, overcome barriers to progression and speak out about community issues. These programmes are closely aligned with Telehouse’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy, which emphasises community support and social inclusion. Telehouse regularly funds local employment schemes, offers work experience, hosts tours and educational sessions for schools, colleges, and universities to increase knowledge of data centres and attract young, local talent to the industry. In addition to the financial donations, Telehouse employees are working closely with the charities on other initiatives that will help to make a difference to the lives of people living within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. This July, Telehouse employees took part in the Saucony London 10K run, raising a total of £6,000 for their two chosen charities. Denise Bentley, Co-Founder & CEO of the First Love Foundation, says, “We are delighted to be partnering with Telehouse in support of First Love Foundation's work transforming lives in Tower Hamlets, and beyond. Our partnership is testament to Telehouse’s commitment to the Tower Hamlets community which sits at the heart of our shared environmental, social and governance goals. We look forward to building on this in the year to come.” Mark Pestridge, Executive Vice President & General Manager at Telehouse Europe, adds, “At Telehouse, we believe in the power of community and the importance of giving back to the areas where we operate. Our recent donations to First Love Foundation and Leaders in Community, along with our ongoing volunteer efforts, are a testament to our commitment to making a positive difference in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. By supporting these incredible organisations, we aim to help address the immediate needs of the community and create a brighter future for everyone in the borough.” Earlier this year, Telehouse contributed to the digital inclusion in the local community by donating 40 laptops to several Voluntary and Community Sector organisations. For more from Telehouse, click here.

Data Journey acquires North Carolina data centre

Texas-based Data Journey has acquired the former Bed Bath & Beyond data centre in western North Carolina’s tech-centric Catawba County, where its onsite team has converted the facility from a purpose-built enterprise data centre into a colocation facility. Located amongst major deployments for Google, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, the re-branded Catawba County Data Centre will service local and regional clients as a fully-fledge colocation centre. Matt Wells, Co-Founder of Data Journey, notes, “We’ve created a first-class colocation centre with significant space and power capacity for future deployments, as well as expansion within the current structure and acreage for additional builds.” Built in 2013 at a cost of $36.8 million, the 47,500 square-foot Tier III data centre, now wholly-owned by Data Journey, offers 9,500 square feet of immediately-available raised floor space, and the ability to expand capacity to provide over 3 MW of critical load. Additional shell space in the centre is already prepared for further expansion, and with the available acreage, a longer-range plan for up to 100 MW of power generation to the site is being explored. With the facility’s conversion to a colocation facility complete, tenants at Catawba County Data Centre include the likes of Sourceability, a global distributor of electronic components in support of digitalising the supply chain, and two Charlotte-based IT firms, 10X Consulting Group and XOR Group. The western North Carolina facility is Data Journey’s second acquisition since the company was founded in 2024. The company’s first centre, a former nuclear bomb shelter known as the Westland Bunker, is located north of Houston where it provided 100% uptime and access during Hurricanes Ike, Harvey and Beryl in addition to 100% uptime during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Dr. Ishnella Kaur Azad, Co-Founder of Data Journey, states that the transformation of Catawba County Data Centre aligns with the company’s strategic plan to invest in mid-scale data centre infrastructure while positioning those assets for future growth. Ultimately, the company aims to acquire up to the 30 data centres across the country. “With more than 500 investors, we’re on sound financial footing to expand our footprint in strategic locations across the country,” Ishnella says. “We’re certainly open to welcoming new investors who share our vision and want to be part of this exciting growth journey.”

365 Data Centers expands partnership with Megaport

365 Data Centers, a provider of network-centric colocation, network, cloud, and other managed services, has announced the continued expansion of its partnership with Megaport, a leading Network-as-a-Service provider (NaaS). Megaport has broadened its 365 footprint by adding a Point-of-Presence at 365’s Boca Raton, Florida data centre, further enhancing public cloud and other connectivity solutions available to 365’s Southeast customers. 365 customers now have additional, on-demand, connectivity options to all the major public cloud hyperscalers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Oracle Cloud, and IBM Cloud. “Integrating Megaport’s advanced connectivity solutions into our Boca Raton data centre is a natural progression of our partnership and network-centric strategy," says Bob DeSantis, CEO at 365 Data Centers. "When added to Megaport’s presence in our Atlanta market data centre, this deployment fortifies our joint Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offerings in the Southeast and complements our partnership in several of our Northeast and Southwest market data centres. Megaport’s growing presence with 365 significantly enhances the public cloud connectivity options available to our customers.” Michael Reid, CEO at Megaport, adds, “Our expanded partnership with 365 Data Centers reinforces both companies' commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, ensuring that businesses of all sizes in all locations can leverage the latest network technology to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.” For more from 365 Data Centers, click here.

atNorth achieves ISO45001 certification

atNorth, a Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, has announced that it has achieved ISO45001 accreditation and extended additional ISO certifications as it strives for continual business improvement. The business has received full ISO45001 certification for its occupational health and safety management system, and has extended its ISO14001 certification for its environmental management system to its newer data centres. In addition to this, atNorth has also extended the ISO27001 certification for its information security management system as part of the procurement of Gompute in 2023, aligning these sites with atNorth’s existing ISO certifications. ISO45001 is an international standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. It provides a framework for organisations to manage risks and improve OH&S performance, and it demonstrates atNorth’s commitment to promoting employee mental and physical wellbeing and ensuring a solid foundation of safety in the workplace. Key criteria of the accreditation include ensuring safe ways of working by instructing, training, and monitoring knowledge and competences, the obligation to report incidents, accidents, and observations on shortcomings, frameworks for comprehensive and consistent consideration of risks and hazards and empowering open and honest stakeholder communication to ensure employee safety and business continuity. Erling Freyr Guðmundsson, COO at atNorth, comments, “The success of atNorth’s operations is testament to our commitment to our people. The ISO45001 certification validates our already resilient health and safety standards to ensure the wellbeing of our staff and formalises the veracity of our processes. Our ongoing commitment to improvement across our business enables us to continue to deliver the best possible service to our clients”. ISO 27001 provides companies with guidance for establishing, implementing and maintaining an information security management system. Conformity to this standard means that an organisation has a robust system to manage risks related to the security of data owned or handled by the company. It covers all aspects of information security including physical or virtual access to sites and systems, software development, supplier and customer interactions and incident response processes. “Data security continues to be a high priority for our clients,” notes Daniel Persson, Chief HPC Officer at atNorth. “We are delighted to extend the scope of our of ISO27001 accreditation to reassure our customers that our business conforms to industry leading security standards.” For more from atNorth, click here.

Digital Realty acquires colocation data centre in Slough

Digital Realty, a global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation, and interconnection solutions, today announced the acquisition of a highly connected colocation data centre in the Slough Trading Estate for $200 million (£156.1m). The acquisition marks the company’s entry into the west London submarket and complements existing colocation capabilities in the City and Docklands. The newly acquired campus features two individual data centres with a combined capacity of 15-megawatts (MW), excellent connectivity, and room for future expansion. The Slough data centre campus is an established hub for a community of over 150 customers, including a broad array of connectivity providers, technology companies, and financial services firms, utilising over 2,000 cross connects. In addition to being integrated into Digital Realty’s existing Metro Connect solution, enabling seamless connectivity between its six campuses located throughout Greater London, customers will also benefit from access to ServiceFabric, Digital Realty’s open interconnection and orchestration platform. These enhancements will provide customers with unparalleled access to a global, secure, and dynamic data exchange network, further empowering them to effectively manage and scale their digital operations. Séamus Dunne, Managing Director, Digital Realty in the UK and Ireland, comments, "This expansion into Slough is a significant step for Digital Realty, reinforcing our commitment to supporting digital transformation in the UK and across Europe. As the UK solidifies its position as Europe’s premier technology hub, this acquisition enhances our ability to support customers as they grow and scale, further establishing our presence in this vital market." This acquisition not only strengthens Digital Realty's presence in a key market but also supports the company's sustainability goals. Consistent with Digital Realty's commitment to sustainability, the Slough data centre campus will be powered entirely by renewable energy, aligning with the company's practice of matching 100% of the energy used in its European portfolio with renewable sources and its goal of achieving carbon neutrality for its European portfolio by 2030. This strategic acquisition is part of Digital Realty's ongoing commitment to enhancing its global data centre platform, PlatformDIGITAL. For more from Digital Realty, click here.