Equinix expands SG2 IBX data centre in Singapore

By Digital News Asia July 12, 2017

Total capital investment in the expansion is US$41.8 million
Expansion will add 1,400 cabinets and 47,666 square feet of colocation space

Equinix expands SG2 IBX data centre in Singapore

EQUINIX, Inc, the global interconnection and data centre company, on July 11 announced the eighth phase expansion of its SG2 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Singapore.

With a total capital investment of US$41.8 million, this expansion will add 1,400 cabinets and 47,666 square feet of colocation space, bringing the total operational capacity of the data centre to 6,300 cabinets.

Recently accredited with the BCA-IMDA Green Mark Platinum Award for Data Centres in Singapore, the SG2 facility is a high-power density and efficient data centre designed for companies from the Cloud, content and IT industry requiring large deployments with metered power.

The data centre is assessed by a performance based green building rating system, which covers performance efficiencies in areas such as energy, water and environment, with a significantly higher emphasis placed on energy performance of the site.

This recognition marks a new milestone for Equinix to have all its data centres certified in Singapore – the SG1 facility is BCA-IMDA Green Mark certified, while the SG3 facility also received the same reputable BCA-IMDA Green Mark Platinum Award.

“The expansion of SG2 reinforces Singapore’s position as Asia-Pacific’s network hub, a gateway market for businesses looking to expand or make their first move into Southeast Asia. By increasing the operational capacity of the data centre, customers will have a greater choice for interconnection to thrive at the digital edge in well-established business ecosystems.

“Furthermore, Equinix has all its Singapore data centres Green Mark certified. It is truly an honour for us and a boost to customers’ confidence as they enter new markets. We will continue to seek ways to measure ourselves using industry best practices and be a leader in sustainable design, efficiency, and innovation,” says Equinix South Asia managing director Clement Goh.

In a mature cloud landscape such as Asia-Pacific, demand for managed cloud and professional services is expected to increase as more businesses and enterprises migrate to the cloud. The expanded capacity of SG2 will address rising market demands for direct connect to leading cloud service providers – including Amazon Web Services, Oracle Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform – through Equinix Cloud Exchange (ECX).

This enables businesses to do more in the cloud by providing secure, direct, and flexible network connections to a wide range of cloud service provides, whilst advancing the region’s cloud market and the overall digital economy.

“Equinix has achieved significant revenue growth in 2016 and continues to lead the Asia-Pacific retail colocation market. This can be attributed to its robust product and go-to-market strategies. Equinix has focused on investments in Platform Equinix, a colocation and interconnection platform that extends its data centres globally. This serves as a key differentiator enabling its customers to interconnect with one other within a rich business ecosystem.

“The expansion of SG2 in Singapore is truly a testament to Equinix’s strong commitments to growth in the Asia-Pacific region and a result of a strong ecosystem strategy,” says Frost & Sullivan Digital Transformation industry analyst Yu Xuan Ng.

Located at dense data clusters in Singapore near the SEA-ME-WE3 and SEA-ME-WE4 cable landing stations, the SG2 facility is a high-power density site that targets customers from the cloud, content and IT industry.

SG2 offers rich interconnection opportunities that support one of the largest cloud pods in Asia and many cloud service providers, as well as provides thriving and highly secure content, digital media, and enterprise ecosystems.

Home to the Asia-Pacific Network Operation Centre with Internet exchange points access to one of the world’s three Global Roaming Exchange (GRX) peering points, SG2, together with SG1 and SG3, continue to serve customers with a broad range of network services from over 190 providers. Equinix’s colocation facilities in Singapore are also business hubs for over 535 companies around the world.

The SG2 expansion is the latest in a series of expansions across Asia Pacific, with other recent expansions in Melbourne, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

In total, Equinix has 29 IBX data centres in Asia-Pacific. Today Equinix's total global footprint covers 179 IBX data centres across 44 markets.