Equinix acquires land for third data centre in Malaysia

Equinix has acquired land to build a third data centre in Malaysia, near to its Cyberjaya data centre.

In a press statement today, Equinix announced an investment of RM23M (~US$5M) to acquire land from Cyberview for a new data center in Malaysia

New data centre

The new facility will be located in Cyberjaya, within a stone's throw of its existing KL1 data centre.

• Land area of 14,300 sqm.
• Less than 1 kilometre from KL1.
• Will complement the capacity of KL1.

Equinix says the additional land will address rising demand for its data center services in Malaysia, Southeast Asia.

More space needed

In Malaysia, Equinix currently has two data centres in Johor (JH1) and Cyberjaya (KL1).

• JH1 offers 500 cabinets; 1,960 sqm of colocation.
• KL1 provides 900 cabinets; 2,630 sqm once fully built.

When I heard from the grapevine that JH1 is already fully subscribed, I couldn't believe my ears. After all, it launched barely two months ago in May.

With the latest announcement, it does sounds like Equinix couldn't get enough capacity for its data centre customers.

And the sharp-eyed observer would already have noted that this new data centre is substantially larger than its two existing facilities combined.

Malaysia, data centre hub

I wrote last week how Malaysia is forced to move quickly regarding data centres.

The massive surge of new, hyperscale data centres means Malaysia is coming up against the same issues as Singapore - but within a far shorter period of time.

Specifically, deeper questions are now asked about sustainability and availability of water and electricity. Interestingly, solar is not seen as a viable long-term solution for data centres, according to MDEC.

Notably, there are signs that Malaysia is working to draw up a national guideline for data centres.

I'll share my thoughts once I hear more about it.