Vocus chairman, David Spence; Shadow communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and Vocus chief executive, James Spenceley at the launch of Vocus Communications' Alexandria data centre.
ASX-listed wholesale telco, Vocus Communications (ASX:VOC), will open its first data centre this Friday with a focus on high-density co-location services.
The new 400-square-metre floorspace was built in 45 days and is located in the same building as E3 Networks’ existing Alexandria data centre, inherited by Vocus Communications as part of its $5.9 million acquisition of the company last month.
Vocus Communications intends to target Cloud providers and customers with the centre, which is powered at approximately 3600W per square metre by “one of the largest substations dedicated to a data centre anywhere in Australia”.
Approximately a third of the floorspace has already been secured by prospective customers, with data centre service provider Harbor MSP signing a $2 million long-term contract for space. The contract is the latest in a spate of signings for data centre floorspace by the company, including 1000 square metres in NextDC’s Melbourne unopened facilities as well as its own facility there.
E3 founder and Vocus data centre general manager, Jon Eaves, said the short time to market was essential to competing with the likes of Equinix and Global Switch.
“To build a facility like this and to keep it cool is obviously one of the biggest concerns when you enter into a market that is dominated by two of the largest players in Australia,” he said at the centre’s launch. “Our speed to market delivery with partnership and providers have enabled us to do that.”
Vocus Communications chief executive, James Spenceley, played down the relatively small size of the centre.
“Today data centres are not about necessarily square metres - the size of the facility - but it’s how much power it can deliver,” he said.
The Vocus facility has a further 76 racks of data centre space available to sell, with expectations the company will need to expand further to nearby locations in coming years.
Follow James Hutchinson on Twitter: @j_hutch
Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAu