Global data center colocation provider Equinix has further expanded its presence in the Washington, D.C. area. The data center company has opened its 16th International Business Exchange (IBX) data center, DC21.
Equinix DC21 is a two-story data center designed to deliver both small- and large-capacity deployments. The modular construction incorporates Equinix’s Flexible Data Center (FDC) principles. These principles leverage common design elements for space, power and cooling to reduce capital costs while ensuring long-term maintenance predictability.
The $95 million first phase of Equinix DC21 will provide more than 41,000 square feet of colocation space, offering an initial capacity of 925 racks. Upon completion of the planned future phases, Equinix DC21 is expected to provide total capacity of 3,100 cabinet equivalents and colocation space of more than 124,000 square feet.
Ashburn, VA
With the addition of Equinix DC21, as well as the opening of the Equinix DC15 data center earlier this year, the company has invested more than $200 million in the Washington, D.C. area in 2020. Equinix’s newest Washington, D.C. area data centers are part of Equinix’s data center campus in Ashburn, VA.
The $111 million first phase of DC15 opened in Q2 2020 with an initial capacity of 1,600 cabinet equivalents and colocation space of approximately 23,000 square feet.
“Ashburn, in Loudon County just outside of Washington, D.C., is a central connectivity hub and critically important to the U.S. cloud and infrastructure story,” said Kelly Morgan, Research Director at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Enterprises that previously did not see a need to improve networks may now, as a result of the pandemic, be open to new approaches and ready to try network hubs. This is placing an increased focus on data centers that can offer direct connections to the cloud with private on-ramps.”
Co-Innovation Facility
The expansion of the Equinix Ashburn Campus also includes a ‘Co-Innovation Facility (CIF).’ Here, leading technology vendors in the digital infrastructure space can test, demonstrate and evolve their products in collaboration with Equinix. The CIF is a new capability, hosted by Equinix. It enables innovative suppliers to work with Equinix on trialing and developing methodologies that will be used to help define the future of digital infrastructure and services.
“D.C. continues to prosper as a key digital hub for businesses around the world despite the challenges faced with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jon Lin, President, Americas, Equinix. “Our continued expansion in this important metro creates more opportunities for businesses to leverage Platform Equinix as the central component to their digital foundation while enabling them to grow and scale at software speed.”
