Dataplex is a new provider of multi-tenancy wholesale data centre space in Ireland, with further new spaces expected in the UK and Malta soon. It currently has one modular data centre in Dublin, B10, which will be expanded in a further three phases as demand grows. The first phase was completed in 2013, phase 2 is under construction and a third phase is in the pipeline for 2016. The second phase will triple Dataplexs data centre capacity.
B10 was designed to be subleased to providers of colocation and managed services, as well as major financial institutions, IT corporations and ISPs; Dataplex does not offer any of these services directly to the general business community. Instead, it provides the shell, security, power and connectivity to businesses that need large scale data centre facilities without facing the expense of creating them in-house.
Space allocations are therefore high the minimum room space a business can take up is 300m², although full cages are also available. Complete halls are available for larger businesses at up to 1000m² each and the data centre is made up four of these private suites with a total working floor area of 4800m². Small businesses that want to benefit from B10s facilities must go via a tenant rather than direct to Dataplex. Tenants can opt to fit out their space independently, or opt for a bespoke configuration from Dataplex which can take around 16 weeks to install and commission.
Connectivity at B10 is excellent. The tier-III+ data centre is carrier neutral with on-site access to 5 fibre network carriers and 27 Irish and international carriers via its connection to Dublins T50 backbone fibre network. T50 in turn connects into all of Dublins major data centres. The power offering at B10 is also very good at 8Mva delivered via dual power feeds via its onsite transformers. Power density is 1500 10000w/m² and redundancy on UPS is N+2, with N+1 on everything else.
Unauthorised access to B10 is prevented by way of 24 hour monitored CCTV, manned security and a 3-stage biometric access system. Further features of B10 include 150m² of office space, hot desk facilities, shared conference/meeting rooms and an argonite gas fire suppression system.
Location
Dataplex B10 is headquartered from and operates from Ballycoolin Business and Technology Park in Dublin 15. It is located in a prime data centre district neighbours include IBM, Symantec, Xerox and PayPal. Nearby data centre giants include Google, Telecity and Amazon.
Energy
Dataplexs B10 was designed to be the most energy efficient data centre in Ireland when it was constructed in 2013. It boasts a low Power Usage Effectiveness rating (PUE) of less than 1.2, achieved through the use of Indirect Free Air Cooling technology and a cool Irish climate.
Funding/business model
Dataplex Datacentres Ltd is an Ireland-registered private limited company. It is not part of a larger organisation and has no subsidiaries, although Digiwebs Colm Piercy is one of the three directors and Eddie Kilbane, the CEO, is a former employee of Digiweb. Funding for Dataplexs developments so far was acquired from a group of Ireland-based equity groups and RBS Group.
Dataplex is currently seeking the balance of 30 million funding for a further phase of the B10 data centre complex, which it hopes to open in 2016.
Customers and partners
The current facilities at B10 host global managed services provider Continent 8 Technologies. As Dataplex expands, it will lease space to Colocation and managed services providers, as well as larger organisations that have big data centre requirements. These might include major IT firms and banks that host applications for their customers.
A cost-effective route to data centre market
Any business that needs data centre space on a large scale but has neither the funds nor expertise to build will benefit from wholesale datacentre space. Dataplex brings that option to the next level by offering secure, well-connected and energy efficient data centre facilities that are multi-tenanted, making them both economically viable and suitable for companies hosting mission-critical equipment and applications.
The economic benefits of wholesale data centre space might be outweighed by the hassle and expense of fitting out in many cases, but Dataplex have that covered too by offering a bespoke configuration and kit out service on request. Dataplex have adapted the wholesale model to appeal to a wider market by offering options, rather than white space, and that will be hugely attractive to companies that want total control whilst at the same time buying space that will accommodate and grow with the business.