CDC creates fifth ACT data centre

A new data centre will be developed in in Fyshwick by Canberra Data Centres.

This will help to serve growing demand for computing and cloud services across the public sector, and takes CDC’s investment in the ACT to more than $500 million over 10 years.

CDC delivers data centre services to more than 40 federal government departments and agencies as well as the ACT Government, connected by the high-speed, secure ICON fibre-optic network.

It has announced a partnership with Microsoft to deliver the Microsoft Azure cloud platform from its Canberra data centre ecosystem, hosted across their two data centre campuses in Hume and Fyshwick, starting in 2018.

“Government estimates that its data holdings will be 100-fold larger in the next decade than they are today,” said CDC Chief Executive Officer Greg Boorer.

“The addition of Fyshwick 2 — slated to come on stream in 2018 — will ensure enough capacity for two to three years’ growth in the market we operate in, both meeting the needs of our direct clients and also those government agencies and departments that will use Microsoft Azure delivered out of our data centres.”

The company already has three data centres in Hume capable of delivering a total of 21 MW of capacity and one Fyshwick facility with 18 MW capacity. Fyshwick 2 will be its largest centre to date with 20 MW of capacity.

Fyshwick 2 is being developed to ensure CDC is able to meet the runway of demand anticipated for Canberra-based Azure services and other customers, as well as continued demand from the public sector and other ecosystem partners.

The facility is designed to handle data classifications up to ‘top secret’ and will also offer clients access to on-site Top Secret office space. Fyshwick 2 is security zoned 4 and 5, and is designed as a Tier 3 facility with Tier 4 electrical configuration under the TIA global standards.

Air cooled and deploying a closed loop water system, Fyshwick 2 is being designed to be highly sustainable with a PUE of 1.2 or lower. This is globally significant given that no water is used in the cooling process, saving up to 150,000 litres of clean drinking water per day.

Generators will also be capable of supporting the local community in times of power crisis, as was the case in February 2017 during two days of exceptional heatwaves when CDC handed back enough power to keep the lights on in up to 30,000 Canberra homes.

CDC plans to support Microsoft in delivering the Azure cloud platform from its Canberra facilities starting in 2018.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Photoslash

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