DC BLOX: DC Blox expands Birmingham, Alabama data center

DC Blox has expanded its data center in Birmingham, Alabama, to cater for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, adding additional IT capacity of 2.4MW. The company said it has completed a redesign of its data hall at the facility so that it can house up to 240 standard retail cabinets and 36 HPC-capable cabinets, each supporting up to 35kW of power. 

Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC Blox said, “This expansion underscores DC Blox’s steadfast dedication to empowering the technology-based economy of Birmingham and beyond. Our innovative mixed-hall design and HPC capability are testaments to our commitment to respond to the specific needs of our customers in Birmingham. And our new HPC-enabled data hall can be added to the data centers in any of our markets, as demand requires.”

The data center is used by customers including the University of Alabama (UAB). Ralph Zottola, AVP for UAB Research Computing, said: “The facility, operations, and staff enable us to design and deploy cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure in support of the world-class research conducted at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. From tailoring custom colocation solutions to meet emergent needs during a crisis [Covid-19] to constructing a new data hall engineered and equipped with the infrastructure to deliver the denser power and cooling necessary for high-performance computing, the DC BLOX team has proven to be a true partner to UAB Research Computing.”