CEO of CIX, Jerry McSweeney. Image: Cathal Noonan
CIX edge data centre will be a catalyst for Cork’s transition to 5G.
Cork Internet Exchange (CIX) has doubled in size with the construction of a new data centre at the facility in Hollyhill in a €6m expansion.
As part of the €6m investment, the campus has increased in size to 1,200 sq m and has quintupled its capacity to 1,250MW. The new data hall is one of two new buildings at CIX, doubling the footprint of the privately operated data centre in Cork and bringing a 500pc increase in connectivity capacity.
‘CIX ensures that companies and organisations located in the regions have superior, resilient and secure connectivity for their businesses’
– CAROLINE O’DRISCOLL
CIX is also expanding into international markets, as it invests in operations in Canada and India. The company will increase headcount at the Cork site by eight employees in the next three years, as well as opening an office in Toronto, Canada, and expanding its current presence in Hyderabad, India, by five more employees.
Powering up the regions for 5G
CIX also announced a power purchase agreement with a wind farm in Dunmanway that it claims will ensure the data centre campus in Hollyhill will be fully powered by renewable energy by 2020.
CEO of CIX, Jerry McSweeney, said that as the Irish market prepares for 5G, the CIX edge data centre will be a real catalyst for adoption in Cork. He added that the expansion also ensures that the Munster region continues to be highly attractive as a location for investment by global organisations, particularly with Brexit on the way.
“We have invested and innovated to provide the best connectivity combined with the highest standards of service for our clients,” McSweeney said. “Today sees the expansion of our physical data centre as well as a massive increase in our connectivity capacity, which will provide some of the fastest connectivity in Ireland.
“We will be providing a 10Gbps connection over GTT Express to the UK to link to LINX, thus ensuring that CIX has the lowest latency in Ireland to London, as well as our direct subsea connectivity to mainland Europe and the lowest latency to the US in all of Europe,” he added.
The new data centre was officially opened by it@cork chair Caroline O’Driscoll, who said that “CIX ensures that companies and organisations located in the regions have superior, resilient and secure connectivity for their businesses”.
She added: “Now, as part of an aggressive 10-year business plan, CIX have doubled in size and quintupled their data capacity, and are set for international expansion also.”
Updated, 4.15pm, 22 October 2018: This article was updated to remove part of a quote by Caroline O’Driscoll, which referred to CIX as the only data centre outside the Greater Dublin area, which is inaccurate.
