Switch acquires Woerden data centre to expand eco-friendly offering
Fri 19 Sep 2014
The Dutch Switch Datacenters has acquired a former ABN AMRO data centre in Woerden, Netherlands for an estimated €11mn.
The entire facility which is based about 25 miles south of Amsterdam, is rented out by an undisclosed cloud vendor and comprises of two buildings, providing a total surface area of 134,550sq.ft.
The newly purchased site will act to support the company’s existing data centre in the South East business district of Amsterdam. Switch plan to install a direct fibreglass connection between Amsterdam and Woerden, so that data can be “easily mirrored between the two data centres.” According to Switch, the connection would also allow Woerden to “operate as a neutral internet interchange for the surrounding region.”
The company are also looking to upgrade the cooling, power capacity and efficiency of the new centre to match its Amsterdam-based “twin.” One of the unusual techniques trialled by Switch is the practice of submerging server motherboards in dielectric fluids to improve cooling conditions and energy efficiency.
Switch claim to use 100% green energy sources, and also use another efficient cooling method from StatiqCooling, an evaporative cooling systems provider. The firm have put a lot of effort into their research and development in this area, launching an incubator in 2012 to test the new technologies.
“The take-over of this Tier3+ build data centre is an important addition to the product supply of Switch Datacenters that is concentrated on the larger cloud environments and customers with a need for twin data centre solutions,” said Gregor Snip, founder and CEO of Switch Datacenter Group.
The expansion which Switch is encouraging in the Netherlands signals a widespread European interest in a region which enjoys well-connected infrastructure and a highly-skilled work force.
Read the full Switch release here. [PDF]
