New Data Center opened in Biel - attractive IT workplaces created
On June 14, the hub:biel was opened in Biel's industrial quarter Bözingenfeld. On the one hand, the black cube houses the new headquarters of cloud specialist netrics, which aims to attract further IT talent with an exceptional working atmosphere. On the other hand, the hub:biel offers a highly efficient and secure IT infrastructure for companies of all sizes in the Espace Mittelland.
While the metropolitan areas of Zurich, Bern and the Lake Geneva region are well supplied with infrastructure for the digital economy, the Espace Mittelland region, and Biel in particular, have been shortchanged until now. Since mid-June, this gap has been closed. "With the hub:biel, companies will find the optimal IT infrastructure to digitally conquer Switzerland and the entire world from here," said a delighted Erich Fehr, Mayor of Biel. Adrian Roth, CEO of the DataHub Group, added: "The Biel region is known for precision work. We're keeping it the same way with our new data center, not only offering our customers the highest security for their data, but also operating our facility in an extremely environmentally friendly way." Due to its advanced technical design, the hub:biel was nominated for the prestigious British DCS Award in April in the category for new projects.
Working at "Amazon of Biel
As a managed service provider and cloud specialist, netrics AG offers a wide range of services for the digital age and is therefore dependent on the know-how of specialists. These specialists are sometimes rare. "To attract talent from the youngest generation, financial incentives alone are no longer enough," explained Pascal Schmid, CEO netrics AG: "The right working atmosphere is also needed, as well as the opportunity to engage with the latest technologies." netrics has seized the opportunity and offers its 60 employees a contrasting and relaxed ambience in the new headquarters. netrics serves many customers with high regulatory requirements. Here, the new data center offers strategic advantages: "For customers with high demands on compliance or specific security requirements, the hub:biel - combined with the offerings of netrics - is the ideal solution," Schmid added.
Highest energy efficiency - PUE* value below 1.25 and energy densities up to 20kW per rack
The hub:biel's power supply, fiber optic connection, cooling systems and air conditioning are redundant across the entire 3000 square meters of floor space (2N infrastructure). They meet the highest security standards. For high-performance computing, energy densities of 15 - 20 kW per rack are possible in the hub:biel. For comparison: in a conventional data center, 2kW per rack is common. In this way, a lot of space can be saved, which is particularly important in Switzerland. The very high energy efficiency results from a combination of precision cooling, a new type of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and systematic energy management. For the first time in Switzerland - and one of the first times in Europe - a UPS system from Schneider Electric with lithium-ion batteries is used in the hub:biel, which allows an efficiency of over 98 percent. The overall energy efficiency in the hub:biel is below 1.25 PUE*, which means customers save a lot of money on their electricity bills.
* PUE (Power Usage Efficiency) is the ratio of the total electrical energy consumption of a data center (IT equipment plus infrastructure components) to the electrical energy consumption of the IT equipment alone.
More information: www.data-hub.ch
