Interxion, a European provider of carrier- and cloud-neutral colocation data center solutions and a Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) company, has opened the first phase of MRS3, its third colocation data center in Marseille, France.
Interxion’s Marseille data center campus sits at the heart of the global subsea cable industry, with 14 cables currently landing in Marseille and five to 10 additional cables expected to land within the next five years. Marseille would serve as the digital nexus connecting ‘4.5 billion’ cloud and digital media users across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
“With over 150 network service providers, Interxion’s Marseille campus has established itself as one of the world’s leading digital hubs for intercontinental data traffic,” said David Ruberg, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Interxion, a Digital Realty company. “The opening of MRS3 will offer new and existing customers expanded access to the vibrant community in Marseille, including numerous connectivity providers, digital media and cloud segments along with local as well as global enterprises.”
7,100 Square Meters
MRS3 is situated adjacent to the MRS2 data center and will benefit from the dense connectivity throughout the campus. The new colocation data center is located in a former World War II submarine base known as Martha. Abandoned for decades, this unusual building was built to be virtually indestructible – its specifications include terraced reinforced concrete to a thickness of 5.5 meters, the ability to withstand 10-tonne bombs, a length of 250 meters and a 12-metre high surrounding wall.
The result is an architecturally unique structure that houses a 16.5-megawatt colocation data center and approximately 7,100 square meters of fully equipped IT space to be delivered in three stages. This first phase, comprising approximately 2,300 square meters, will be followed by two additional phases scheduled for delivery during 2021.
Heating of Homes and Offices
“Our Marseille campus is well known for its national and international community of leading global digital media and cloud services providers, with a growing presence from enterprise customers seeking to evolve their hybrid cloud infrastructures in a secure and highly connected environment,” said Fabrice Coquio, Interxion France Managing Director. “Given the scale of the campus, this project has been a formidable undertaking, transforming the site into a best-in-class, modern data center purpose-built to provide our customers with the digital infrastructure requirements to scale at the speed and bandwidth they need.”
As is the case for all Interxion’s data centers, MRS3 will benefit from 100% renewable energy sources. Uniquely, MRS3 and subsequent data centers would benefit from cooling from an unused water source at 15°C drawn from the former Gardanne mines, which will be available throughout the year. The heat drawn off will be available for heating purposes for homes and offices in the new Euroméditerranée districts.
Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) supports the data center, colocation, and interconnection strategies of customers across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and consumer products.
