Highly secure in the cloud
This is already the fifth data center that Green Datacenter AG from Lupfig in Aargau has put into operation. What is special about this 70 million Swiss franc building is that it is a high-performance data center with 25 kilowatts of power per rack.
"Zurich West 3", as the data center realized in a one-year construction period is called, is another major project by Green. This has given the campus in Lupfig, with its two previous data centers, significantly more gross floor area; the total is now 28,000 m2.
According to Franz Grüter, Chairman of the Board of Green, Switzerland lacked a data center of this kind that met the requirements of international cloud providers in terms of power density, security and availability. According to the SVP National Councillor, the completion of "Zurich West 3" now does justice to this: "The electrical output per rack is 25 kilowatts - that's a top value. This gives the company three-and-a-half times more power than is currently the case with standard data centers in Switzerland. Hence the use of the superlative "first high-performance data center". In terms of energy consumption in full operation, this data center also has an exemplary PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) value of 1.19 (best rating would be 1). This makes "Zurich West 3" one of the most energy-efficient data centers in its class, emphasize the operators under CEO Roger Süess.
High security
Data is the gold of the 21st century. That's why nothing is left to chance at the Green site when it comes to safety. The fact that this building, with 1,300 tons of steel, is earthquake-proof is just a side note. A high fence surrounds the data center, which is equipped with numerous video cameras both outside and inside.
Eight security zones separate the visitor from the data room. Access to the entire data center area is controlled from a central gate house, which is also manned around the clock by a security service. Anyone who wants to enter this data vault has to go through a multi-stage access procedure - from badge and pin to personal separation with a hand-held vein scanner. The people and goods locks are also strictly separated. Anyone delivering goods by truck must do so via two unloading ramps in a secure zone.
Early fire detection system in use
Safety also requires that everything here is mirrored: redundant power supply, cooling systems, cooling water piping and also a redundant extinguishing system. A Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus (VESDA) is also in use. When it comes to fire protection, the data center operator adapts to its customers, because international companies often have standardized specifications that apply worldwide, says Franz Grüter. Therefore, the leased customers can choose between different extinguishing systems in their leased area.
However, part of this data center's security plan is that the operator is rather reluctant to provide information about installed security systems.
Further data centers in planning
In addition to the three data centers in Lupfig AG, the provider operates two more in Zurich City and Glattbrugg ZH. The volume of data will continue to rise sharply in the future, especially because of the growing cloud computing market. Green Datacenter has the necessary land reserve and is planning further data vaults at the Lupfig site: a new 16-megawatt cloud data center, Zurich-West 4, is scheduled to open as early as 2020. But that is not enough, National Councilor Grüter is convinced that the future lies in the cloud: "With annual growth rates of 30 percent, new capacities will soon be needed. And we want to realize these in Lupfig." That's why the company is planning two more data centers - Zurich West 5 and 6. This would bring Switzerland, which ranks second behind Ireland in data center density, closer to the island nation.
