Sri Lanka’s first carrier-neutral and high-density data centre debuts at Orion City IT Park

Source:FT

In a major step forward in Sri Lanka’s rapid transformation towards becoming a South Asian hub for IT and tech-enabled services, Digital Reality Ltd. yesterday launched the country’s first carrier-neutral, high-density data centre built to TIA Tier-3 standards and a capacity over 200 racks at Orion City IT Park – Colombo 09 under the brand name ‘OrionStellar’. 

The launch event featured Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Chairman/Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Director General Oshada Senanayake as Chief Guest, in addition to attracting enthusiastic participation from numerous high-ranking representatives from Sri Lanka’s burgeoning IT, telco, and corporate sectors, as well as academia and key Government officials.

Addressing the gathering, Senanayake said: “The launch of Sri Lanka’s first carrier-neutral data centre is part of an interesting paradigm shift that is already underway. So, it is great to see entrepreneurs stepping into this vital space and taking up the challenge of establishing the vital infrastructure necessary for Sri Lanka to unleash its true potential. Particularly in the context of unprecedented volatility, technology has been a key enabler in Sri Lanka’s ambitious transformation towards a $ 3 billion digital economy   

“We have continuously and aggressively invested in the next generation of technologies, and today, many of the essential components, including seven submarine cables that connect us to the rest of the world, are now in place for Sri Lanka to become one of the region’s most attractive destinations for data hosting. This in addition to digitising Sri Lanka’s public and private sector. However, we cannot afford to be complacent. Other SAARC countries too are making bold advancements and we cannot afford to fall behind.    

 “We see immense growth potential for Sri Lanka through the embedding of artificial intelligence and machine learning into public and private sector operations. Together with the robust 5G capabilities that are being set in place today, we believe that Sri Lanka will be able to unleash hyper-growth. Today’s launch of a truly globally competitive data centre is a vitally important advancement in this direction,”   

The newly launched high density data centre is designed to offer world-class services to support the rapidly escalating demand for computing power in an increasingly digital Sri Lankan economy. It promises the highest energy efficiency and power density up to 15 kW per rack with a total power capacity of 1.5 MW.

“The launch of Sri Lanka’s first, and most power efficient high density data centre and the impressive capabilities it offers represents a historic milestone in the development of the island’s IT infrastructure. It is also a momentous step in our mission to radically simplify digital infrastructure challenges for local and regional enterprises, and drastically improve the speed at which they conduct their business,” Digital Realty Chairman Rajendra Theagarajah said. 

 “Sri Lanka enjoys several uniquely valuable natural and cultivated advantages which make it an ideal option for safely and reliably storing data at scale. Geographically, we are situated just offshore of one of the largest emerging IT economies and in close proximity to key markets in Asia,” Orion City Founder/Director and Digital Realty Managing Director Jeevan Gnanam said. 

“Our nation also possesses outstanding IT talent and adopts one of the most proactive stances in the region with IT and connected infrastructure. With our DC now online, we will be able to provide clients with best-in-class, globally competitive services to accelerate their digitalisation journeys, rationalise core infrastructure costs, and establish stronger levels of security and redundancy, all while reducing energy costs and contributing towards a green and prosperous economy,” Gnanam added.

Built in compliance with the latest ISO 27001 standards and global data centre standards (TIA-942 Rated 3), the new data centre will deliver the highest levels of reliability, efficiency, and redundancy with 99.98% uptime. The centre features power infrastructure with two (N+1) UPS systems with 30 minutes battery backup up time, and an N+1 generator system supported with 72-hour fuel bulk tanks ensuring reliable and uninterrupted power supply. 

Notably, the facility was also designed with an unmatched focus on environmental sustainability enabled by an in-row cooling system with best-in-class efficiency ratings. As a result, OrionStellar guarantees the best power usage efficiency (PUE) with a design PUE of 1.4. This will translate to power savings up to 40% for clients migrating their IT loads to OrionStellar. The facility also features an unloading bay ready to receive customer inventory for hosting and a staging area to test equipment prior to entering the data hall.

OrionStellar is poised to offer an array of digital infrastructure solutions and value-added managed services to enterprises. It will support the rapidly escalating demand for computing power in an increasingly digital Sri Lankan economy and the region at large, with a special emphasis on providing highly cost-effective data offshoring services for regional enterprise powerhouses.

The long-term business purpose is to “simplify enterprise digital infrastructure challenges to accelerate digitalisation and growth,” according to OrionStellar COO Nalaka W. Bandara, a specialist in enterprise communication solutions and data centre businesses with over 20 years of collective experience.

OrionStellar colocation solutions have been designed to meet the needs of different business segments with varying requirements. The facility has already designated white-labelled space for telcos and larger MNCs, featuring dedicated cages with biometric access control for large enterprises. Individual racks with biometric or lockable doors and U-level hosting for SME and start-up hosting needs are among the product options complemented with ‘Remote Pair of Hands’ service as a value addition.

Notably, each co-location space or rack will be individually monitored, even to U-level, for power delivery and consumption to ensure that clients only pay for what they use, enabling cost visibility and control in their digital infrastructure investments.

Further, the OrionStellar data centre offers an array of value-added services, including storage as a service, back-up as a service, to secure mission critical enterprise data, disaster recovery solutions during unexpected downtime and cost-effective data centre migration services with minimal disruption to core business functions.

Orion Towers at Orion City is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and a full spectrum of services, offering prime workspace solutions ranging from custom-built, office spaces, dedicated seating space, shared seating and BCP Seating. OrionStellar client companies can conveniently co-locate their IT Network Operations Centres (NOCs) closest to the data centre with convenient access to banks, shopping centres, recreational facilities, food-courts, and fine-dining restaurants.

“The OrionStellar data centre is guaranteed to unleash a new wave of tech-enabled opportunities across the entire spectrum of local enterprises – from SMEs and tech-startups to large corporates and regional MNCs,” Gnanam asserted. He further explained that “with the launch of this high-density data centre, we aim to establish the most secure and scalable infrastructure to position Sri Lanka as a hub in this digital economy.”