Lefdal Mine Datacenter has started the build out of what can become the largest datacenter in Europe – “The Norwegian Solution”. The highly secure mountain hall facility off the west coast of Norway will set a new standard for the datacenter industry. It will be among the most secure, flexible and green datacenters in Europe, and at the same time delivering leading low cost for datacenter capacity. Together with partners, Lefdal Mine Datacenter has developed a solution with a high degree of flexibility through different products and solutions, and with short lead time. Lefdal Mine Datacenter will contribute to enhance Norway as an international datacenter location, in partnership with two of the world’s leading companies within IT and infrastructure – IBM and Rittal.
OPTIMAL LOCATION FOR POWER DEMANDING INDUSTRY
«Lefdal Mine Datacenter aims at the huge, demanding European market. With it’s green profile and leading security features, Lefdal Mine Datacenter will contribute to the establishing of a new export industry in Norway. It is all about processing regional green power in an efficient mega class data center and partnerships with world leading companies like Rittal and IBM. Our business approach is certainly based on being a leading datacenter alternative in the Norwegian market as well, said Egil Skibenes, Chairman of the Board in Lefdal Mine Datacenter.
INTERNATIONAL TENANTS
IBM will move in when the facility goes live, and offer services to their own clients. In addition, Friedhelm Loh Group has signed a lease agreement, and will establish themselves in Lefdal Mine Datacenter.
IBM
Lefdal Mine Datacenter has the potential to become one of the world’s largest datacenters with access to fully redundant, renewable energy sources and natural water cooling in close proximity to the facility. Security, flexibility and accessibility are key elements in the solution. As a technology partner, IBM has supported Lefdal Mine Datacenter in developing the technical design and providing an independent quality assurance of the plans for the data center. IBM will also, as a tenant of Lefdal Mine Datacenter, offer clients Resiliency Services for Data and Server Protection from within the Lefdal Mine Datacenter once the facility goes live.
«Lefdal Mine Datacenter provides a strategic option for secure storage of large volumes of data and IT operations in an efficient and environmentally friendly way in Norway. We think this solution will resonate well among both our Norwegian and international clients», said Arne Norheim, Country General Manager in IBM Norway. «The Lefdal Mine facility will provide a unique opportunity for clients looking to enhance levels of resiliency within their organisation through the provision of an out of region recovery solution that is highly scalable and powered by 100% renewable and fully redundant energy sources».
RITTAL
«We as a company are driven by making things faster and better. Standardizing will lead to higher quality and more competitive prices. The technology used at Lefdal Mine Datacenter is in itself a paradigm shift. The advantages given by nature are unique, and Norway as location with a surplus green power production and low energy costs – is leading in Europe. We will not only get a high quality datacenter solution, but a highly cost effective one as well. We are confident that other European companies will find the Lefdal Mine Datacenter solution very attractive, said Andreas Keiger, Executive Vice President Sales Europe at Rittal».
Several Norwegian customers are on their way in. Lefdal Mine Datacenter is also in close dialogue with other international customers that are looking to move datacenter capacity to the facility.
FLEXIBILITY – SOLUTIONS AND CAPACITY
In addition to a high operational security, and lowering cost, flexibility is one of the leading trends that drives the datacenter market. Different housing solutions, scaling of capacity and the possibility of placing capacity in the different service layers are all important decision drivers for the customers. With several service providers on site, the customers at Lefdal Mine Datacenter will always have the optimal product under one roof.
Lefdal Mine Datacenter offers unique logistic conditions. Together with Rittal, Lefdal Mine Datacenter has developed a concept where it only takes 6-8 weeks to scale up large capacities. The primary solution will be containers “in racks” that in an easy way can be hooked up to the facility infrastructure in a Tier 3 environment. Customers can also choose tailor-made white space solutions in underground, dedicated buildings.
At Lefdal Mine Datacenter, the customers do not have to worry about future space. The size of the facility and the access to high quantity of renewable power resources and cooling ensures sufficient capacity for future growth.
IN OPERATION – MARCH 2016
The construction process has started, and the datacenter will be operational in March 2016. At this point in time parts of the infrastructure will already be ready for 30 MW. Capacity will be built out in sections of 7.5 MW. Total investment in the first phase is 250 million NOK.
