Posted Sep 30, 2022, 2:37 PM
Building a data center at the crossroads of several information highways: this is Telehouse’s ambition by 2025. The company, a pioneer in computer data storage for more than 30 years, has begun work on its new data center in Magny-les-Hameaux (Yvelines) last August. Its positioning is strategic: away from the over-concentration of data farms south of Seine-Saint-Denis, the building will be at the junction of IT flows from Northern Europe and the Middle East.
This construction will occupy an area of 12,000 m2, with a power of 18 megawatts. It will be adjacent to a Telehouse data center, already in service over an area of 13,000 m2 and whose storage capacities have reached saturation point. Eventually, the site will become the largest data center in Yvelines. For this project, the company, which provides half of Internet traffic in France, pulled out all the stops with an investment of 50 million euros. All integrated into a development plan for the company on a European scale, amounting to 1 billion euros. In 2021, Telehouse opened four data centers in Paris, Marseille, London and Frankfurt.
Bet on the Yvelines
While its competitors – Equinix and Interxion in particular – continue to settle in Seine-Saint-Denis, Telehouse is going against the grain by strengthening its activities in Yvelines. A choice linked to the geographical distribution of the 165 data storage centers in the Ile-de-France region. 30 of them are located in Seine-Saint-Denis, particularly in the Plaine Commune area. The density of data centers, coupled with the increasing number of housing constructions, raise fears of a saturation of the electricity network. “The Magny-les-Hameaux site is perfectly suited to this constraint because it avoids this increased risk of digital services being cut off,” underlines Sami Slim, CEO of Telehouse France.
The company, whose annual turnover in France reaches 65 million euros, will nevertheless have to overcome a constraint. “For some companies, it is important that their data be stored close to their partners or customers because they need to communicate quickly via dedicated cables,” explains Cécile Diguet, urban planner at the Paris-Region Institute. A requirement that Telehouse wants to meet as effectively as possible. Physical cables will be installed between the two buildings in Magny-les-Hameaux and with the group’s data center hub located in Paris.
The new Telehouse data center will be located at the crossroads of several information highways, particularly from the Middle East.Telehouse
In the longer term, Telehouse, which has 120 employees in France, hopes to become a key player in the exchange of information thanks to its particular geographical location. “There is a new data center hub that has been set up in Marseille, which has developed with the arrival of submarine cables linking France to the Middle East and India in particular”, underlines Cécile Diguet . Last year, Telehouse commissioned an 8,000 m data center2 in Marseille. An ideal solution to facilitate data exchange between its 250 data centers, bringing together 1,000 customers throughout Europe – digital giants, telecom operators and even SMEs.
Double digit growth
With this Yvelin project, Telehouse intends to rapidly progress its activity. “We are placing a lot of hope in this project and we are aiming for growth of at least 10% per year over the next 3 years”, says Sami Slim. The company relies both on the hundred or so customers already present in Magny-les-Hameaux and on new partnerships.
The delivery of the new Magny-les-Hameaux data center should take place between the end of 2023 and 2025. As with its previous structures, Telehouse will have to limit the environmental impact of the activity of its storage center. Air conditioning will, for example, be provided by the technique of free-cooling : the outside air will be used to cool the servers, a less energy-intensive technique than conventional air conditioning.
