IBM Launches NZ$80 Million Cloud Data Centre in New Zealand

New Zealand’s largest commercially available data centre is a flagship for smart building technology and energy efficiency

Auckland, New Zealand, 27 May 2011 – IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced the official launch of its new NZ$80 million data centre at Highbrook Business Park in Auckland, New Zealand. The new data centre enables IBM to deliver a range of Cloud services to the NZ market including Virtual Server Services and hosted private cloud and hybrid cloud infrastructure services.

Meeting the highest IBM data centre design, smart building technology and energy efficiency standards, the 5,200m² scalable facility is rated an IBM Reliability Level 3+ data centre. It boasts the highest levels of data centre reliability, according to IBM’s globally recognised data centre rating system. IBM’s high level resiliency, security and sustainability standards have been applied across all aspects of the new facility, including office and delivery areas.

With 400+ data centres located across the globe, IBM drew on its extensive experience when developing the New Zealand new data centre. The result is an innovative building design and new energy-saving technologies that are ‘firsts’ for IBM and for data centres worldwide.

These include a centralised humidification and dehumidification system, cost-efficient rain water harvesting system and advanced monitoring and metering that ensures optimal building performance.

“Ready access to renewable energy from a variety of natural resources presents significant opportunities to New Zealand data centre and data storage market,” said NZICT CEO Brett O’Riley. “The IBM data centre reinforces the importance of green ICT for New Zealand in seeking to host data nationally, and for major international players. Coupled with planned new international connectivity, New Zealand will now have an extremely compelling proposition.”

“The launch of the IBM data centre in New Zealand marks a major step forward in the development of the country’s technology infrastructure,” said Jennifer Moxon, Managing Director, IBM New Zealand. “As New Zealand’s economy continues to grow, IBM’s data centre will provide a platform for businesses to drive increased efficiencies, improved productivity and greater innovation.”

The IBM data centre will provide both mid-sized and large organisations with a range of services, from strategic outsourcing and managed hosted services through to virtual server services.

Key attributes of the new data centre include:

•Smarter data centre management: Intelligent building systems connect IT equipment with the centralised energy consumption analysis system, constantly measuring power, water and diesel usage in real time to identify opportunities to conserve energy in line with demand.

•Free-flow cooling: Energy consumption is reduced by taking advantage of free cooling – using the outside air to cool the data centre - and rain water stored in over-sized underground pipes to cool the IT systems. By extracting heat through plate exchangers connected to each cooling tower, this free cooling is made possible for longer periods, even in Auckland’s sub-tropical climate.

• Cloud computing capability: Support for cloud computing workloads allow clients to use only the resources necessary to support their IT operations at any given moment. Built to global IBM cloud architecture specifications, the data centre is enabled for virtualisation, auto provisioning, metering and billing, and integrated service management. IBM business partners will be able to sell a new range of unbranded, cloud computing enabled solutions delivered through the data centre.
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• Building standards: The entire structure is built to Targeted Building Green Star rating of four stars, Targeted Office Green Star rating of five stars and a Targeted Data Centre Green Grid Level 2 rating. For example, the building’s unique ‘box within a box’ architectural design creates a highly efficient building envelope that reduces unwanted energy losses.
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• Built for expansion: The 5,200m² facility includes a 1500m² column-free raised floor accommodating approximately 720 server racks. Its modular structure is designed to provide the flexibility to meet expected client demand for the next 15 years.
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ENDS

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