(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Data center operator Equinix (www.equinix.com) announced on Thursday it has opened its sixth International Business Exchange data center in the Washington DC metropolitan area.
The data center operator invested $80 million in the DC6 IBX data center, which holds 1,750 cabinets.
The facility will help Equinix strengthen its peering, cross connect and traffic exchange services, extend Equinix’s customers’ market reach, and expand the company’s cloud and IT provider services.
The Washington DC metropolitan area, which is also home to Equinix’s first data center, serves as the eastern hub of Internet traffic exchange in the US.
The company said that its six IBX data centers in the metro area serve over 500 customers and feature the largest peering center in North America, which also functions as one of only three GPRS roaming exchange peering sites in the world.
Equinix also announced it will expand its second International Business Exchange data center in Singapore, SG2, to meet increasing demand for premium colocation and interconnection services in Singapore and South Asia.
Set for completion in mid-2011, this third expansion phase within the SG2 IBX data center will add 850 new cabinet equivalents.
This announcement follows the SG2 IBX data center Phase 2 expansion of 1,000 cabinet equivalents, which is expected to be completed in September. Phase 1 was launched in July 2009 with 700 cabinet equivalents.
Equinix has already engaged with more than 70 networks and telecommunication service providers in Singapore, making it the most network-dense data center in the country.
The Singapore IBX data center campus has become one of the largest cloud and IT services hubs for the Asia-Pacific region.
