Equinix has invested AU$240 million (approx. US$160 million) to add a total of 4,175 cabinets to two of its International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centres – SY5 in Sydney and ME2 in Melbourne.
A recent CSIRO report shows that 68% of Australian businesses have already implemented AI technologies and a further 23% are planning to implement in the next 12 months. However, to effectively harness the power of AI they require infrastructure that can support the needs of higher power density, advanced cooling and connectivity. Private AI is becoming a preferred choice for enterprises as it offers the control, privacy and security they need while satisfying requirements for data governance, performance and predictable costs.
Guy Danskine, Managing Director, Equinix Australia, said, “The expansion of SY5 and ME2 ensures we have the capacity in place so customers can continue to take advantage of the thriving Australian digital economy with minimal friction. Since Private AI is emerging as the preferred model of adoption, access to high performance digital infrastructure is essential. This provides organisations with low-latency connectivity to multiple cloud providers, as well as private infrastructure enabling them to leverage best of breed AI models while maintaining localisation and control of their data. Sustainability and efficiency remain a core focus to ensure we deliver this increasingly energy-intensive digital infrastructure in a responsible way.”
Built upon a multi-cloud foundation, Equinix’s distributed platform architecture brings AI directly to where the data resides along with providing high speed connectivity to an ecosystem of providers and partners. This enables enterprises to maintain ownership over their data and comply with data sovereignty and regulatory requirements. Equinix also provides easy access to dedicated and managed infrastructure, making it simple for organisations to develop, deploy and manage AI applications while maintaining predictable costs and performance.
To address compute-intensive AI workloads, Equinix plans to expand support for advanced liquid cooling technologies—like direct-to-chip—in Australia from early 2H 2024. This expansion will enable more businesses to use the most performant cooling technologies for the powerful, high-density hardware that supports them in leveraging AI.
Equinix has implemented a wide range of sustainable construction initiatives in both SY5 and ME2 data centers. These initiatives aim to minimize waste and maximize the use of recycled materials during the building process. Notably, Equinix has achieved a remarkable 95% recycling rate for all waste on-site, including copper, steel, and cardboard.
Additionally, by adopting a digital twin approach using 3D building information modelling (BIM), Equinix has successfully reduced waste from services such as electrical cabling, ductwork and fire pipes by 25%. These locally deployed initiatives are part of Equinix’s global Future First sustainability program, focused on delivering the highest value to its customers while minimizing environmental and social impact in communities where the company operates.
