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The first of the two Metronode next generation Data Centres for use by the NSW Government, as part of the Government’s Data Centre Reform project, was recently launched.

Metronode, which is part of the Nextgen Group, won the $182 million contract with the New South Wales Government in May 2012 to provide data centre capacity.

The Silverwater Data Centre site covers more than 16,800 square metres, and when fully operational will be one of the largest independent data centres in Australia, capable of supporting up to 9MW of IT load, for use in a range of applications, including Geospatial hosting and analysis.

Metronode’s latest data centre is a purpose-built, green facility featuring free air cooling to deliver world-class energy efficiency and carbon emission reductions.

Peter McGrath, Chief Executive Officer, Nextgen Group said “The launch of this next generation data centre today delivers the first part of our contract to support the NSW’s Data Centre Reform project.”

“Metronode’s innovative facility is superior from an eco-technology perspective, as it provides a 90 per cent real reduction in power required for cooling. These significant energy savings are then passed on to our customer.”

The Silverwater-based facility boasts Tier III Accreditation from the Uptime Institute, the second for Metronode’s facilities across Australia. This provides the NSW government with real certainty that the new data centre meets world best practice and rigorous global standards for data centres.

The new Silverwater centre uses direct free air-cooling and modular plant systems to deliver world-leading power efficiency. The on-site rain water retention and harvesting, and an intelligent site monitoring system, provides further environmental enhancements at the facility.

“With our new technology, this facility offers a Power Utilisation Efficiency (PUE) of less than 1.2, compared to traditional data centres which can run in excess of 2.2,” said Metronode’s general manager, Mr Malcolm Roe.

This next generation data centre will complement Metronode’s existing data centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and the roll out of new generation ecofriendly facilities currently under construction in the Illawarra region, Perth and Canberra.