Equinix invests $113m in new Amsterdam data centre

Amsterdam has long been a key digital gateway, as businesses can reach 80 percent of Europe within 50 milliseconds, making this an ideal market for enterprises to locate their IT infrastructure to maximize performance. Already operating two significant Amsterdam data center campuses, Equinix will add capacity to meet growing demand for hybrid cloud, interconnection and connectivity to business ecosystems across a number of vertical markets and internet exchanges.

Equinix will invest $113 million, in the first phase of development for the AM4 data center which will house 1,555 cabinets. On completion of the four expansion phases the facility will represent a total investment of $189 million and provide 4,200 cabinets on eight floors of data center space with a total usable floor area of more than 124,000 square feet (11,500 square meters). The building and first phase is expected to be completed and operational by Q2 2017.

With more than 850 customers and connections with over 125 network service providers, the Equinix data centers in Amsterdam represent one of the most dense network concentrations in the world. Customers benefit from direct connections with their own customers and suppliers in their digital supply chain. Moreover, the colocation facilities of Equinix in Amsterdam provide proximity to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) and the Neutral Internet Exchange (NL-ix) — two of the largest internet exchange in the world — bringing together over 1,000 ISPs, telecom operators, and content providers and hosting services from all over the world.

High connectivity makes Amsterdam Science Park an attractive location and cloud hotspot in Europe, which handles around 38 percent of the Dutch data traffic, making it the second-largest data route in the Netherlands. Additionally, Amsterdam serves a high concentration of e-commerce, advertising, broadcasting and gaming companies, and a strong peering and network base to facilitate reliable content delivery to end-users. This is an increasing trend, as businesses begin to realize the benefits of collocating IT infrastructure closer to the edge and adopting an interconnection-first approach to their IT architecture.

Equinix provides customers access to a robust cloud ecosystem including leading CSPs such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Oracle, and IBM Softlayer. Equinix is the only data center provider in the Benelux to offer access to this combination of cloud service providers, which allows businesses to flexibly create a multi-cloud environment to meet their changing IT needs. Additionally, Equinix brings together buyers and sellers of cloud services via the Equinix Cloud Exchange™ in 21 markets globally including Amsterdam.

AM4, which will stand more 70 meters high, will be adjacent to Equinix’s AM3 data center, which was opened in 2012 and expanded last year. AM3 has won numerous awards for its advances in innovation and sustainability through the use of in-ground Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage, instead of mechanical cooling, so that heat generated by our data centers can be used to warm nearby buildings. These and other sustainable technologies at Equinix’s Amsterdam data centers help customers realize significant energy savings and reduction in their CO2 footprint.

Following the recent acquisition of TelecityGroup, Equinix now operates more than 145 data centers globally across 40 markets including seven data centers in Amsterdam (AM1, AM2, AM3, AM5, AM6, AM7 and AM8).