Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings officially opened the state’s first electricity network backup facility, the $8.5 million Derwent Park Data Centre (DPDC), in February.
The centre has been built to service Aurora Energy’s growing data needs as well as commercial hosting space for content providers and carriers seeking to leverage the National Broadband Network roll-out throughout the state.
The DPDC is connected to separate distribution zones with two backup 650kVa generators. The duplicated power supply and backup is complemented by advanced cooling, security and fire suppression systems.
Aurora chief executive officer Dr Peter Davis said the data centre already had 62 server racks in place, with 50 already allocated to Aurora and other customers using the commercial space. As customer demand grows, the data centre has the capacity for a further 70 racks.
“The facility’s two separate power supplies and backup generators can operate continuously in the event of a prolonged power outage,” Dr Davis said.
“The cooling system in the data centre includes dry cooler technology that takes advantage of Tasmania’s cooler weather to reduce energy consumption and operational costs.
“This data centre should be the first choice for customers seeking data security and reliability for their critical Tasmanian IT services.”
