September 22, 2011
Terremark Opens NAP of Amsterdam
As part of its focus on delivering secure IT infrastructure solutions to enterprises and government agencies across the globe, Terremark, a Verizon Company, today announced the opening of the Network Access Point (NAP) of Amsterdam. The NAP of Amsterdam joins Terremark’s network of more than 10 top-tier datacenters across Europe that serve as the foundation for the secure, enterprise-class services the company offers to customers throughout the world.
The company’s new European flagship facility provides 25,000 square feet of data center space inside the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Area, meeting in-region demand for advanced cloud computing, security and IT infrastructure services. The NAP of Amsterdam was strategically built to access one of the world’s largest Internet hubs in terms of traffic and members. Additionally, the new NAP is directly connected to AMS-IX, one of the world’s largest Internet exchanges with more than 350 members. Through the presence of AMS-IX, Terremark’s enterprise and government customers can leverage the hundreds of global networks while reducing latency and controlling transit costs.
For downloadable photographs of the NAP of Amsterdam, click here.
“The opening of the NAP of Amsterdam represents an important milestone in Verizon’s continued strategic investment in expanding Terremark’s global data center footprint,” said Kerry Bailey, president of Terremark. “The expanded portfolio of facilities and services that we are bringing to market enables our customers throughout Europe to tap into a highly differentiated set of enterprise-class services that meet our high requirements for security, performance and reliability in the industry.”
With space available for enterprises today, the new center features the latest in technological and engineering advancement. The NAP of Amsterdam was designed with advanced cooling, power, redundancy and sustainability features to maintain the availability of business-critical applications while reducing energy consumption.
The NAP of Amsterdam expands the company’s presence in Europe, adding to key sites in Spain, the United Kingdom and Turkey. Across the globe, this facility enhances Terremark’s global footprint of close to 50 state-of-the-art data center facilities that offer enterprise-class cloud infrastructure, cyber security solutions and Terremark’s complete suite of highly reliable IT infrastructure services.
“Amsterdam is an established central business hub for more than 500 international companies, and we are uniquely positioned to tap this market,” said Herman Oggel, president of Terremark’s European business unit. “The NAP of Amsterdam will enhance our ability to provide the secure and highly sophisticated solutions customers have come to expect from us.”
September 13, 2011
Completion In Sight
Only days before the grand opening…
I had intended to regularly update this blog with the latest news and updates, yet in practice the construction of a datacenter simply has claimed too many hours. Let me attempt to make this up to you by providing a detailed report on the current state of affairs.
But, first a funny antidote.
Around a year ago I concluded furnishing my new home. Upon completion, I proclaimed to whoever was within earshot that it’d be a long time before I’d take upon me a task of such a caliber again. Life, as was soon to be proved, has quite a peculiar sense of humor…
Shortly after my home was ready I accepted a new challenge at Terremark. My first assignment was the construction of the NAP of Amsterdam. I now had an entire hypermodern facility sitting there, waiting for us to rebuild and furnish it. Admittedly, I had been right when stating not to accept a task of ‘similar proportions’!
Convergence of many sub-projects
As with all building projects, the ‘NOA’ project featured many different sub-projects that needed to be simultaneously completed during the final construction phase. During the first phases, pile-driving and roof construction works would stand in the way of most other projects – but not so in this final phase. There’s literally tens of people on-site working on multiple sub-tasks.
The office spaces are being furnished while at the same time, the ‘integrated systems tests’ on energy and cooling systems are on-going to establish their correct operation. At the same time, our teams are preparing the internal networks that our customers will soon connect to the on-site AMSIX peering point. Consequently our attention switches constantly between wildly varying topics including heavy-duty switches, electrical equipment and – for example – the cafeteria’s kitchen gear. In the meantime, external consultants verify and test all sub-systems on conformity with the applicable laws and regulations.
There’s more to this project than merely this final delivery phase. Once the center goes into actual production, all infrastructure elements will require regular maintenance. Generators for instance must be test-run on a regular basis and electrical switch-panels (holding virtually no moving parts) need to be periodically checked by a certified installer.
The larger part of our time hence goes to the negotiations relating to proper maintenance of air conditioners and generators, chillers and transformers, alarm systems and cameras, as well as that of restrooms and offices.
You’ll have concluded how my team works quite some overtime these last days before the opening – but we’re also investing many hours in the interviewing of candidate-colleagues. Over the past two months we’ve been able to fill all key positions with great company-workers but are still looking for someone to focus dedicatedly on compliancy topics. Having also room for one more datacenter engineer, we invite the reader to let us know if he or she knows of a suitable candidate.
A working day at the NAP of Amsterdam
Work may prove exhausting at times but the word ‘boring’ does not spring to mind! Last week for instance I’ve spoken in one day with two European suppliers of fiber networks and with Schiphol Telematica (whose network will enter the premises via separate, 96-fibre cables at opposing sides). Following that I entered into a meeting regarding office furniture and covering – and adapted the installation planning for Terremark’s Cloud infrastructures in conjunction with multiple departments. Meanwhile I have answered technical questions of prospects as the market’s interest has proved to be even higher than we’d anticipated.
D-Day rapidly approaching
We’re still on course and have managed to stick to the tight planning schedules thus far. At the moment of writing, we’re finalizing the so-called ‘meet point’ where we’ll connect the various networks at will. We are also installing the racks for Terremark’s own systems as well as for our Cloud platforms, finalizing the power distribution up to the remote power panels to which the customers’ racks will connect, and preparing cage walls and cable ducts.
Conclusion
Looking back on the past six months of construction, I am impressed by the efforts the teams have been putting in and their enthusiasm for achieving project completion. The NAP is a facility of unrivalled capabilities; it would never have come into existence without the continuous devotion of the people behind the project.
With the upcoming grand opening in mind, I invite all readers to come and see the datacenter with their own eyes. My team and I anticipate greeting you here in person.
Regards
Terremark Europe,
Eric Lisica
Vice President Datacenter Services
May 4, 2011
View Construction Site: Live
A time lapse camera is now on-site at the NAP of Amsterdam, capturing the construction of the facility as it progresses. The livecam creates a high-resolution, 360 degree shot of the construction site every 20 minutes. A professional 360 degree panorama camera with a Nikon lens is mounted on-site in a waterproof housing – it pans the site and then creates a a seamless, high definition panorama in a matter of seconds. site to view the construction site and track our progress.
