Due to the growing adoption of AI and machine learning, recent estimates predict that global electricity consumption could increase by 57% before 2027.
To meet the growing demand in the South African data centre market, Digital Parks Africa (DPA) has started expanding its Samrand data centre campus with the build of an additional brick-and-mortar extension to its custom, modular facility which will see an increase in capacity by 4.5MW.
DPA’s carrier-neutral data centre, having grown to 1620m2 in modular capacity over 6 years, is now adding 810m2 of white space in a brick-and-mortar extension to support a further 570 racks. “The integration of both modular and brick-and-mortar facilities within the DPA data centre establishes it as a leader in Africa, offering customers the flexibility to choose between configurations to suit their diverse needs and preferences, all within a single premises,” says Jacques de Jager, Chief Operations Officer at Digital Parks Africa.
The modular and brick-and-mortar facility is designed and constructed by Master Power Technologies (MPT), Africa’s leading data centre developer. Both companies form part of the same group of companies.
Eckart Zollner, head of business development at Digital Parks Africa, says: “We are showing that modular and fixed brick-and-mortar can co-exist and complement each other, reducing initial capital commitment and time to market. It talks to the unique and innovative capabilities that MPT offer total data centre solutions, using various building techniques.”
He notes that since DPA’s launch in 2017, not a year has passed without the need for expansion, which informed the company’s initial focus on modular structures. The modular facility now includes three levels hosting multiple customers and equipment. To meet the ever-growing needs of its clients, DPA opted to expand the facility with brick and mortar, giving clients hosting options for growth.
Featuring three cooling modes and both medium and low voltage generators, DPA’s data centre includes a dedicated hyperscale data hall, exclusive white space areas and 38-rack segmented pods for added security and custom capabilities.
“DPA offers 1 – 15kw power per rack density to accommodate various computing requirements. This is increasingly important for organisations harnessing big data analytics and AI”, says Warren Schooling, Head of Sales at DPA.
He explains: “Most data centres cap power density at 3 to 6kw, but we take it up to 15kw per rack. In data centres that cannot offer this capacity, customers requiring higher power capacity would have to contract an additional rack. As the industry is focussing on analytics and AI, processors and servers get denser and more power hungry, so by accommodating these power requirements, our design drives efficiencies and affordability for our customers.”
Zollner concludes: “As a 100% proudly South African company, we have the capabilities to continuously innovate in design for the South African market and to pass through the advantages to our customers.”