Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has partnered with Dubai-based data centre space provider Global Data Hub (GDH) to launch a new commercial tier-III data centre.
Located at the KAUST Research and Technology Park, the new 27,600 sqm structure will house 8,000 m2 of white space, with a minimum capacity of 14.4 MW IT load.
The state-of-the-art facility will cater to the regional data centre requirements within Saudi Arabia and provide cloud services.
KAUST will be the first university in the region to have a commercial tier III data center on premise.
The need for secure cloud services and robust IT environments is driving the growth of the Middle East’s data centre market. Government regulations require local data to remain within a country and its cloud infrastructure.
“We are excited about the opening of this new Tier Three Data Center, which has the potential to transform digital innovation and support advanced research at KAUST,” said Jason Roos, CIO of KAUST.
“With the state-of-the-art facility provided by GDH, we will have the capacity and flexibility to process, store, and analyze vast amounts of data generated by our world-class research programs. This will enable us to accelerate our research initiatives, enhance collaboration across disciplines, and drive innovation in diverse fields ranging from energy and environmental science to artificial intelligence and computational biology,” Roos added.
“The trend among IT thought leaders is to lease data center space from experts rather than build in-house data centers,” said Tarek Al-Ashram, CEO of GDH. “As a vendor-neutral facility, the KAUST data center will solve a range of data storage needs while maintaining the flexibility to accommodate a wide range of future research parks and external partners.”
