Belgacom is riding a wave of predicted data center expansion with plans to extend its capacity 15% by building a new ‘green’ facility that will open in 2013.
The Belgian incumbent will grow its total effective surface area by 2,250 m² to 15,000 m² with the new site, which will utilize separate air flows to cut the energy required for cooling. Belgacom estimates the technique means it will use mechanical methods for just 3% of its total cooling time, so removing one of the major energy demands on data centers.
Belgium’s climate is reckoned to be ideal for the air-to-air heat exchanger that will handle the cooling, the operator states, and could reduce its energy demand by 60% in all.
One part of the new facility will be used for Cloud services including IaaS and virtual server storage, with another area reserved for business customers.
The operator’s move comes less than a week after data center operator Digital Reality Trust revealed that 82% of European businesses plan to expand their data center capacity in 2011 – the majority of which (50%) will grow to two or more locations.
However, the research also flagged potential problems in the area of green ICT, with only a “nominal increase” in the number of firms measuring power efficiency. That lack of attention flies in the face of a 9% rise in average power capacity per rack to 5.5kW during 2010.
The bulk of firms – 73% - will seek expansion within Europe, followed by the US (25%) and Asia Pacific (21%).
Adam Levine, the firm’s European vice president, said the research shows the data center market in the region “is about to enter a cycle of robust growth,” and flags the “growing importance of power usage effectiveness as a means for customers to monitor the performance of their facilities.”