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The Launch Of The Morocco Data Center In 2017

The Launch of the Morocco Data Center in 2017

Cloud Computing Data Center in Témara, Morocco

The first Cloud Computing platform on a 100% Moroccan site was inaugurated in Témara on 19 September by the Secretary of State for Investment Othman El Ferdaous, who has multiplied the eye-openers towards ECOWAS countries. This is the first Cloud Computing platform but not the first data center in Morocco.

The Morocco DataCenter resembles a life-size lego game and extends over 2000 m2 in the outskirts of Rabat. It is built by the Medasys Group (Medafrica System, a Moroccan group created in 1995 specializing in high value-added IT). At the request of the General Directorate of Security and Information Systems (DGSSI), its first ambition is to guarantee the digital sovereignty of the Kingdom. Therefore, the important and sensitive data held by the administration remain located on the national territory. A digital security issue, but not only one of digital security.

First stone to an African digital hub

From the very first moments of his speech, Othman El Ferdaous instigated an African dimension to the Morocco Data Center project:”Among the 70 engineers, all are Moroccans but there is also a Chadian, which augurs well for the strategic depth of this data center in relation to West Africa,” he said. If the references to ECOWAS were not clear enough, the Secretary of State for Investment does not go there by four ways:”ECOWAS, which Morocco will integrate, is 750 million inhabitants in 30 years”. And so many development prospects for El Ferdaous who says that he wants to “challenge the status quo and make Morocco a “digital hub” for West Africa and animate the entrepreneurial ecosystem”.

Medasys has already embarked on this movement and has entered into a partnership with the UK-based Zircom group, a leading manufacturer and operator of data centers in the UK. The objective is to create a joint venture for the creation of a “Morocco International Gateway Datacenter”, which will address both the Moroccan and African markets. This mega data center will be five times the size of Morocco Datacenter, for an investment of 800 million dirhams, financed by European funds. “The studies will be launched from November 2017 onwards for a planned commissioning at the end of 2018 / beginning of 2019”, confides Mohammed Benmira, administrator of the Morocco Datacenter and Managing Director of Medasys, to Telquel. ma.

Reach 25,000 TPMEs and 30 administrations and large companies within 2 years

“We want to say to the public, private companies, small and medium-sized companies: focus on your core business, we’ll take care of IT,”says Mohammed Benmira. With an initial budget of 85 million dirhams, the project could reach 370 million dirhams after its development phase. Asked by Telquel. ma about the target in terms of customers, the general manager explains his ambition to reach “20,000 to 25,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and 30 large structures, both in the public administration and in private structures within 2 years “. For the time being, contracts have been concluded with Portnet (platform for the dematerialization of documentary flows relating to foreign trade) and Morocco PME, which is also a partner in the Imtiaz project.

Energy bills of MAD100,000 to MAD450,000 per month

While Othman El Ferdaous risks speaking of an “immaterial infrastructure”, it is nonetheless very tangible, with a significant cost in electricity. “From 100,000 to 450,000 dirhams per month”, confides Abdelilah Sbai, administrator of the data center. With “third party 3” technology, which allows the system to continue to operate even in the event of a unit failure, the data center is designed to run for 36 hours without electricity.

With regard to the environmental impact, managers proudly state that they “have no environmental footprint”, due to the absence of a hot air release system, avoided by cooling cabinets. However, the impressive consumption of electricity cannot be without environmental consequences, even if these are indirect.

As seen on: telquel.ma

NTT Com opens Rhein-Ruhr 1 Cloud Center in Germany

Clouds and hosting services are expanding gradually in Germany with NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) declaring that it will soon launch a data center in Bonn.  The company targets to make use of e-shelter, which is one of the leading cloud and hosting operators and service providers in the European market. NTT Com, is an ICT firm based in Tokyo, Japan, that draws its resources from different firms as it is made up of a group of companies that include;

  • NTT DOCOMO
  • NTT DATA
  • Dimension Data Company

NTT Com Rhein-Ruhr has a wide area for server space of about 2,700 square meters that can be equated to 1,100 racks. This is a huge server space enough to cater for increasing customers’ demands for data cloud services.

NTT Com has a history of reliable and secure cloud service delivery thanks to its well enhanced worldwide infrastructure that serves a total of 195 regions and more than 140 data centers globally. The company has some of the top centers in the world such as Arcstar Universal One VPN network and Tier 1 IP network. NTT Com provides the following services for complete optimization of ICT environments in the region:

  • ICT consultancy
  • Building infrastructure
  • Providing data security
  • Cloud data services

NTT Com plan to expand its data services in Europe are likely to succeed greatly considering that their e-shelter subsidiary is already developing and managing high-performing data centers in the region. Basically, e-shelter provides a blueprint, builds the infrastructure, takes charge of operations and security of the premises. NTT Com’s subsidiary e-shelter secures the customer’s IT and network systems, making them readily available with maximum security in a favorable environment.

NTT Com has invested on Rhein-Ruhr 1 cloud data hosting services with over 300 combined standards for Nexcenter’s equipment and operations. These high standards will enhance data availability and save the energy as well. Indeed, the center will have an overall receiving power of 7 Megawatts. Two separate systems have been put in place for supplementary power supply if need be.

The NTT Com’s data center in Rhein-Ruhr is expected to provide services for key players in the public sector. The company seeks to respond to an increase in data hosting services within Europe. In fact, this NTT Com has been providing data center services in different parts of Europe including France, Spain, Germany, Uk, Switzerland, and Austria. It is important to note that Rhein-Ruhr is upcoming prime data centers site hence an ideal choice for NTT Com center.

As the demand for data centers continues to grow in the European market, developing viable infrastructure in Germany is vital. This role is being effectively played by e-shelter in preparation for the future digital transformation in Germany, as its founder and CEO Rupprecht Rittweger notes. In his remarks, Mr. Rittweger added that the building has been strategically designed to cater for future data centers’ needs in the region.

Source: NTT COM

Rackspace New Data Center Opens in Europe!

It is an exciting season for cloud services customers as Rackspace® makes a major investment in the European market. This Top data hosting service provider plans to open a new data center to cater for firms in need of cloud data hosting services within Germany, Switzerland and Austria (DACH) IT territory. According to the company’s managers, the data center will be based in Germany. The company intends to expand its services with the aim of providing a viable option for hosting services in the region.

The data center due for launch in mid-2017 is carefully woven serve customers in need of private hosting with completely managed VMware clouds environments. In order to come up with functional data hosting infrastructure for reliable cloud services, the provider plans to liaise with their partners, a corroboration which is intended to make this new venture a success.

Rackspace® has a proven track record of efficient, secure and reliable data hosting services globally. In fact, the company’s engineers have vast experience that has stood the test of time, in designing, deploying and operating fully optimized AWS and Azure data hosting services. To spice it up, the engineers are proud holders of over 500 AWS certifications. Engaging this team of professionals and experts in data hosting, the company projects to provide superior hosting services that are likely to broaden its multi-cloud environment service portfolio due to the great performance of the new data center.

To spearhead the operations in the new cloud center in Frankfurt, Rackspace® appointed one Mr. Alex Fuerst back in September 2016 who previously played some key IT leadership roles within the DACH territory. However, Mr. Fuerst will not act alone as he has contracted a team of specialist to facilitate successful service delivery of fully managed private cloud hosting environments in DACH territory. In this case, the team will be of great help in operating the complex AWS and Azure cloud environment as well as reducing their managing costs for the benefit of customers.

Mr. Fuerst conveyed his excitement in the upcoming Rackspace® data center in Frankfurt. He said that the cloud center which will be online soon through his leadership will meet the increasing customers’ demand for data hosting services in Germany and the DACH region at large. He added that the move of building an online data hosting center on the European continental market was motivated by the high demand for quality services of private managed clouds and hosting environments, together with professional management of AWS and Azure in the region from U.S and EMEA users. Mr. Fuerst hinted that good performance of the new data center will open doors for Rackspace to realize its dream of being the leading managed cloud service providers in DACH region.

Alex Fuerst concluded by saying that the new Frankfurt data center will increase the security of the data stored, improve performance and enhance private cloud hosting and management. This being the 12th data center managed by Rackspace® worldwide will cut cloud data operational and management costs hence making the services available and affordable to all online users.

Source: Rackspace® blog

Google Cloud To Serve Blockchain Clients

Google Cloud to Serve Blockchain Clients

Banking clients making use of Google servers

Google is venturing in the blockchain services provision to banks, a field previously dominated by Microsoft, Amazon and IBM. In a statement released recently by GFT Germany consulting firm confirmed that Google’s cloud services have been used by Royal Bank of Scotland Group in their test blockchain clearing and settlement application with significant success. GFT further stated that Stuttgart and other bank clients will make use of the Google servers for enhanced service delivery. It is important to note that GFT is a member of Google Cloud Platform’s partner program.

This means that Google will be sharing a platform with leading cloud service providers who have been working with blockchain startups for many years such as Amazon.com.Inc. Other players in the field such as Microsoft and International Business Machines Corporation are known for their active role in launching developer tools and new data base that have been successfully tested by banks and start-ups in their huge data centers.

Importance of Blockchain for Banks and other Service Providers

Blockchain services offered by cloud and data centers create a platform for huge companies and corporations to file their transactions securely. Google being one of the leading cloud service providers qualifies to offer the blockchain services that will take financial, health care and other institutions as well as internet businesses requiring complex data management to the next digital level.

The financial institutions for instance, only settle for a data center provider with a history of trusted service delivery. In this case, the cloud service provider for blockchain must have measures in place to secure the data such that the recorded transactions cannot be reversed, changed or interfered with. Google’s cloud will be offering an opportunity for the banks to efficiently and safely engage in international money transfers and internet business hubs to make and receive payments worldwide.

Transactions and blockchain

Transactions done through blockchain are cost effective hence boosting the sustainability of the company. This is because through blockchain disintermediation power, middle-men required in complex transactions will be eliminated leading to reduced costs of service delivery. Interest and investment in blockchain have increased in the recent past due to its use of immutable and complex cryptography that keeps the data secure.

Institutions with huge clientele and heavy data transfers prefer testing blockchain on provider’s cloud as it is swift and secure compared to testing it on a company’s internal computer. Blockchain services offered by a trusted cloud provider will bring numerous positive changes in the internet market because the cloud can easily and effectively manage a single database shared by several companies.

Cloud data infrastructure is about to grow to 204 billions

Cloud data infrastructure is a steadily growing field. According to a renowned researcher Gartner Inc., public cloud services recorded 175 billion dollars in 2015 globally. This figure is expected to go up to approximately 204 billion dollars by the end of this year. This shows that blockchain concept is being adopted by many companies as there is a massive shift from manual and insecure transactions and data storage, especially by the financial institutions.

Renewable Energy Projects Unveiled By Internet And Cloud Giants

Renewable Energy Projects Unveiled by Internet and Cloud Giants

In the past, Amazon and Apple, the world’s internet and cloud giants have been concentrating on the construction of data centers in different parts of the United States of America due to increased demand for internet services. However, data centers consume a large amount of energy and this has prompted the two companies to think outside the box and come up with a solution for an alternative source of energy to be consumed by their centers in future. Both Apple and Amazon have come up with huge projects for renewable energy worth millions of dollars in various states within the US.

Currently, Apple is constructing a data center in Mesa, Arizona which is yet to be completed. The company has already put in place measures to curb a possible energy issue by constructing a solar energy plant in Arizona. Recently, the company announced the completion of the plant which has a capacity of producing 50MW of renewable energy, adequate to power the new data center in the region.

In addition, Apple has plans to set up other renewable energy projects as it has contracted for another project in Central California with a capacity to produce 130MW solar energy. Similarly, Amazon has launched the construction of a wind energy plant in Texas, aimed at producing 253MW to power the company’s enormous cloud projects within the region.

These solar energy plants will go a long way in offsetting the energy consumption by the company’s existing and new data centers. According to latest sustainability report released by the company, a total of 54 million kWh was consumed by the data center in Oregon, 46 million kWh in Reno Nevada, 218 million kWh in Maiden North Carolina and 137 million kWh in Newark California in the year 2015. This depicts the need for an additional source of energy that will help the company to expand its internet and cloud business in different States.

The decision by Apple and Amazon to go for renewable energy as an alternative source of energy will not only offset the huge electric energy consumption by boosting the cloud business while making service delivery efficient. First and foremost, renewable energy will attract customers who depend on data centers for their daily business operations.

Such customers are likely to settle for a provider offering renewable energy that will aid them in achieving their individual sustainability goals. According to a recent survey, 70 percent of wholesale data centers customers are interested in doing business with data centers using renewable energy and the demand may increase significantly within the next 5 years.

Secondly, renewable energy plants will offer an alternative source of energy that will be cost effective for cloud and wholesale data infrastructure providers. The solar and wind plants will provide opportunities for wholesale data providers to have contracts for energy supply that will protect them from fuel and power price volatility that happens regularly in the market.

Renewable energy projects make Apple and Amazon major players to compete for customers with the leading data center providers such as Digital Realty Trust, Switch and Equinix who have made huge investments in renewable energy.

Working With A Data Center Partner

Working with a Data Center Partner

What to consider before choosing the right datacenter

When searching for a data center partner to work with, it is important to select a provider who can meet your business needs based on the demands of your specific industry.

First, you need to understand your business and its future growth path. Projecting into the future of your business helps in selecting a data service provider who can keep up with the pace at which your business is growing and current digital demands in the global market.  Choosing an efficient data center partner can help evolve your business by keeping your data to the edge.

Top considerations to make when selecting a data center partner

Working with data center partner enables you to make swift international business transactions while keeping your data secure. Identifying an efficient data center service provider is vital especially if you are planning to expand your business in numerous locations. The internet market has opened up opportunities for businesses to operate online meaning that if you have to be on top of the game, you need to digitalize your business. In the digital world, transactions such as placing orders, payments and banking are carried out through the internet. This translates to only one fact, that you need a data service provider who can facilitate transfer of massive data volume and secure it such that it cannot be erased or interfered with. Here are some considerations to make:

Good data center and cloud interconnects

A data center providing efficient services should be an open field that provides interconnects. Similarly, the provider should offer a platform to integrate with other cloud providers for hustle free data transfers and transactions.

In order to benefit from good interconnects and cloud integration, it is advisable to select a data service provider with technologies that offer CDN services. For instance, some of the major data service providers such as Amazon, Rackspace and Azure among others have CDN services that can benefit your business. However, if you plan to create your own CDN platform normally done by leveraging systems such as OnApp or CloudFlare among others, you still need to engage a data center for cost effective data distribution.

Heavy data distribution

A good data center service provider should have the capacity to handle heavily distributed data effectively. If you are dealing with heavy data distribution, a provider with few locations such as one or two may not help much. Therefore, you need to settle for a data service partner with numerous locations and offering powerful CDN services. Besides offering a platform for effective data delivery, the charges should be economical.

Data type to be delivered

In order to select the right data center partner for your business, it is advisable to consider the type of contents to be delivered. In this case, you may need to know the category of your business whether it is an international organization, financial institution dealing with complex transactions or a small organization. For example, if you have an international organization or a financial institution, it is important to select a data center partner who can handle enormous data distribution. On the other hand, providers such as Yottaa are ideal for small organizations dealing with web and mobile data distribution.