Global Switch Expands European Footprint With Frankfurt Construction

Global Switch’s move further adds to the data centre ‘hotspot’ reputation of Frankfurt, and with the arrival of a new Chinese customer to Europe as part of the development currently going up, Global Switch says it’s keen to add to its sites to support further demand.

Construction has started on Global Switch’s second data centre in Frankfurt. The €115m facility – Frankfurt North – is adjacent to the firm’s existing Frankfurt South data centre, and will provide around 11,000 square meters of gross space.

The site will have 14MVA of utility power, bringing the total power capacity of the campus to 28MVA. As part of the development, a new reception area will be incorporated, linking the two data centres together, “giving an enhanced customer experience”, said the firm.

In addition, the existing Frankfurt South will undergo a large programme of upgrading and enhancing the facility’s infrastructure, as well as a complete façade renovation to ensure that the visual finishes complement the new data centre.

On the environmental side, the new build will feature high efficiency static UPS and an advanced chiller assist system using both hybrid dry coolers and water-cooled chillers, resulting in the chillers operating for less than 10% of the year. The facility will also benefit from an independently verified annualised Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.2, and will be targeting a BREEAM “Very Good” certification.

Frankfurt North is due to launch in 2019. Customers will have a wide choice of cloud and network providers, and the presence of the DE-CIX peering platform ensures they will also have direct access to the global IP backbone.

In addition to strong demand from cloud providers, financial institutions and multinational companies, said Global Switch, Daily-Tech, who is a strategic partner of China Telecom Global, has taken a “substantial pre-commitment” for data centre services in Frankfurt North.

John Corcoran, CEO of Global Switch, said: “Frankfurt North will be our thirteenth data centre and is part of a major expansion strategy in existing and new markets across Europe and Asia-Pacific, with additional developments underway, including Hong Kong and Singapore.

“Daily-Tech has chosen Global Switch for its first data centre deployment in Europe, and is a further demonstration of our strong relationship and commitment to proving highly resilient and secure solutions to our customers.”

Source: Data | Economy