Data centre services company Open Access Data Centres (OADC) is preparing to launch the larger Phase 2 of its Isando information and communications technology (ICT) hub, in Gauteng, in the first quarter of next year, as its Phase 1 data centre is more than 90% full after one year of operation.

Design work for Phase 2 has been completed, and the required mechanical and electrical equipment has been ordered, said OADC holding company WIOCC Group chief business development officer Darren Bedford.

“Physical work is due to begin on site in December, with the project, which is a larger deployment than the first phase, comprising an additional 4 MW of information technology load and a further 600 racks,” he said.

The Isando site boasts 1 000 m² of office space and a 300 m² training centre. The site also has significant expansion capacity, which enabled growth of up to 3 000 m² and 7 MW in line with client demand.

“The traction we have obtained in the initial phase of this development has been such that the majority of the data centre is already occupied. The massive demand from customers of all sizes for additional access led us to rapidly progress the development of the second phase,” Bedford said.

The Isando area is also emerging as a key location, and is evolving into an ICT hub. The launch of Phase 2 will provide an additional boost to the region, he adds.

Meanwhile, OADC also has measures in place to deal with loadshedding, including bulk diesel storage and contracts with multiple fuel suppliers to ensure backup generators can keep running.

“This practice is applied across all our edge and core data centres around the country,” Bedford noted.

Further, OADC is a carrier-neutral operator in which no single fibre operator dominates a site, and any fibre provider can connect to any client in the data centre.

OADC Isando also has ISO 27001:2022 Information Security Management System certification and is a Tier 3-certified data centre.

“Additionally, with us being part of the Wired Group, our clients benefit from the group’s vast array of terrestrial and submarine assets, enabling clients to connect to the entire African continent and beyond,” he noted.

“We provide data centre infrastructure for businesses of all sizes, from small and medium-sized businesses, to enterprises, large Internet service providers and mobile networks.

“In a digitally transforming society, we see ourselves as an enabler of the cloud because we supply the physical foundations required, namely rack, power and cooling, to ensure our clients can leverage all the benefits of the cloud,” he said.