PM opens $60m high-security data centre

An advanced high-security data centre was opened by Julia Gillard last week. Macquarie Telecom’s $60 million, 20,000 m² Intellicentre 2 is reported to be a green solution to rising IT and power costs for Australian businesses.

“Intellicentre 2 (IC2) is the answer for businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprint and their power bill, safe in the knowledge that their data is secure in an Australian-owned and -based facility,” said Aidan Tudehope, Macquarie Telecom Managing Director of Hosting.

Tudehope said there is a generational shift away from in-house IT infrastructure and services to the use of shared services through the cloud. The National Broadband Network and carbon pricing policy are changing the way Australian businesses think about IT and cloud computing, Tudehope explained.

“Cloud computing is more reliable, more scalable, more affordable and more energy efficient but it is nothing without an efficient broadband network,” Tudehope said.

“Very few businesses are able to protect their assets and data to the level of IC2. Our data halls are secured with mantraps only accessible with a fingerprint scan, a security code and a pass. The foyer glass is ballistic grade and the gates can stop a speeding car. The facility meets critical levels of information security in Australia, including ASIO T4 ‘Intruder Resistant’,” he said.

In addition, IC2 was the first data centre in Australia certified to Uptime Institute’s Tier III Design Certification. Other certifications include: PCI DSS; SAI Global - ISO 27001:2005; Microsoft Gold Partner; VMware Authorised Hosting Provider; and RedHat Enterprise Hosting Partner.

“IC2 offers business a credible green alternative with innovations in heating, cooling and lighting able to deliver a power usage effectiveness ratio of less than 1:3. Once operating at capacity, it will be one of the most energy efficient data centres in Australia. That means we can power and cool a server more cost effectively than what businesses can do themselves.”

The $60 million investment in IC2 is a companion investment to the NBN, Macquarie Telecom says, with the NBN giving the company the confidence to build the project in Australia as it will enable data to be moved around more efficiently.

IC2 will offer a range of services, including co-location - where a business rents space for its servers - as well as managed dedicated hosting, cloud computing and Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) gateway services.