Behind the scenes of the first high-capacity data center in Reunion Island

The Océinde group has just inaugurated a cutting-edge technological infrastructure on Wednesday November 13, in the heart of the Port's economic and industrial activity zone. Omega 1, that's its name, is the first high-capacity Tier 3 data center in operation in Reunion.

An international classification that has four levels (1 to 4) based on criteria relating to power supply, fault tolerance, heat dissipation capacity, and availability, with a downtime of approximately 1, 6 hours per year.

In this building with a surface area of ​​1,579 m2, local and regional businesses will be able to store their data in the 120 “bays” offered to customers with high requirements in terms of fluidity of IT processes and e-commerce.

Watch the report from Réunion La 1ère:

A first Data Center, Omega 1, is set up at the Port for Reunion Island businesses

“A bay is a location in which we can install computer equipment”explains Guillaume Blanc, head of Omega 1. “This equipment, due to the data center environment which is secure and redundant in energy, will allow these customers to be able to operate their business with complete peace of mind.”

For an investment of 10 million euros, including 3.5 million lent by the French Development Agency (AFD), the Reunion industrial group has acquired an ultra-modern and secure building, where customers will be able to move completely independently.
“Oméga One Data center is a place designed to be open to its customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To reach their bay, customers have several access points by badge and fingerprint which will allow them to secure all the route to arrive in front of their bay”illustrates Guillaume Blanc.

As useful as they are, these technological structures nevertheless consume energy and operate without interruption. In addition to the electricity supplied by EDF, the new Porto data center therefore has its own photovoltaic farm, installed on its roof. A small factory, which provides 5 to 6% of the 1MW that powers the site.

As for the heat produced by the servers, it is channeled by a cooling system. In the “cold aisle” of the data center, cold air comes from the raised floor and circulates through the racks to keep the computer servers at an acceptable temperature.

And in order to break the effects of the surrounding heat, the surroundings of the building were planted with water-saving endemic species, such as potatoes in Durand. Initiatives that have made it possible to obtain a good rating in PUE (power usage effectiveness) or, in French, data center energy efficiency indicator.

“The lower the PUE, the more virtuous the data center”continues Guillaume Blanc. “In mainland France, the average PUE is around 1.5 to 1.6. Here, we are aiming for 1.38, thanks to greenery but also the photovoltaic plant”he assures.

Connected directly to the Metiss submarine internet cable, the most powerful of the cables which arrives in Reunion Island in Port Bay, just three kilometers away, this first high-capacity data center intends to make Reunion Island a digital hub in the Indian Ocean , and thus respond to the challenges of digital sovereignty.