Equinix Brings Online Its Sixth London Data Center

Equinix has officially opened its sixth London data center. The facility is part of a global expansion program the company announced earlier this year, which also included new capacity in New York, Toronto, Singapore, and Melbourne.

All in all, the expansion contributed nearly 500,000 square feet of data center space to the company’s already massive global portfolio. Equinix is the largest colocation provider in the world.

The company spent $79 million to build the LD6 International Business Exchange (name of the new London data center). The data center was purpose-built from the ground up and has received LEED Gold accreditation for its energy-efficiency features, according to Equinix.

Its main energy-efficiency feature is its cooling system, which uses 100 percent free cooling (outside air) and indirect heat exchange.

The facility is located on Equinix’s Slough campus. Space there is in particularly high demand, because the campus is home to LINX (London Internet Exchange), and houses infrastructure for more than 170 financial-services companies that generates a substantial portion of all European equities trades.

The campus also offers direct network access to major public cloud providers, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform.

First phase of LD6 is about 240,000 square feet and can house about 1,400 cabinets. Phase II will add capacity for another approximately 1,400 cabinets.

Commenting on the announcement, Julian David, CEO of techUK, a tech-industry lobbying organization, said opening of the new London data center was a sign of growth of the U.K.’s technology sector. “The decision by Equinix, and many other global companies, to invest in the U.K. is further evidence of the crucial role of this country as a hub for technology innovation, services and talent,” he said in a statement.