SingTel to build 'green' data center

SINGAPORE--Local carrier Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) unveiled Wednesday plans for a "multimillion dollar" data center to offer network infrastructure services and will be built to eco-friendly specifications.

Located just off central Singapore, the Kim Chuan Telecommunications Centre 2 (KCTC-2) will be the fifth of such facility in the country for SingTel. It will span across 150,000 square feet, increasing the carrier's total data center capacity here to over 500,000 square feet.

According to SingTel, increasing emphasis on higher performance computing such as blade servers and Singapore's iN2015 initiative, is driving demand for new data center infrastructures that are able to deliver and support next-generation infocomm needs.

Expected to be completed in early-2010, the KCTC-2 will be built to meet recent revisions of Singapore's Building and Construction Authority's "Green Mark" initiative, a rating system that evaluates buildings for their environmental impact and eco-friendly designs. Assessments are based on various criteria such as energy and water efficiencies and indoor environmental quality.

SingTel said the new data center will also be built to "Tier 4" specifications, the most stringent industry standards for data centers, requiring the facility to provide redundant systems for power and cooling.

As a tier-4 data center, the KCTC-2 will not be allowed to have more than 24 minutes of downtime a year and must run on cabling infrastructure with redundant backbone.

According to SingTel, its new facility will sport high-capacity power and cooling systems, advanced fire suppression systems ands cabling infrastructure "designed with diversity to ensure maximum uptime".

The data center will support the carrier's range of managed and hosted services, including managed security and application performance services.