Major upgrade for Sydney and Canberra data centres

Macquarie Data Centres has completed major upgrades to its data centre campuses in Sydney and Canberra, to expand their capacity and improve security posture and compliance.

The multimillion-dollar project included the addition of two further ultra-secure zones to the Sydney and Canberra campuses plus significant power upgrades and increased operational efficiency to support new and existing customer growth. The zones have been added to meet the requirements of the highest levels of the Australian Government’s Protective Security Policy Framework. This framework considers both the physical security and cybersecurity standards underpinning Macquarie Data Centres’ operations.

The upgrades also increased rack capacity and expanded other secure zones in campuses across Sydney and Canberra, all of which are ready for occupancy. This will help customers plan for additional capacity as they use more data-intensive workloads such as artificial intelligence (AI).

“These upgrades give our local and international customers the capacity they need to scale their businesses and expand their Australian footprint,” said David Hirst, Group Executive, Macquarie Data Centres.

Current data centre customers include 42% of the federal government as well as some of the world’s biggest hyperscalers and large multinationals.

“Capacity planning is one of the key issues organisations face when making data centre investments — whether they’ll have sufficient runway to scale for the data demands that will impact them over time,” Hirst said. “They need expert colocation partners that understand not just capacity, but the related security, compliance and sovereignty considerations. This investment is a testament to our ability to be that trusted partner.”

These major projects were undertaken in operational data centre halls and were completed within six months without any outages or disturbances to Macquarie Data Centres’ existing customers. The project was completed ahead of time, under budget and importantly, with zero lost time injury (LTI) or any medical treatment injuries (MTI).

“Anyone who works in the data centre industry will know the level of planning, expertise and collaboration needed to undertake a project of this magnitude,” said Gavin Kawalsky, Head of Projects, Macquarie Data Centres. “The project’s success is down to our team’s tireless work, expertise and experience.”

The upgrades to Macquarie’s Data Centre Campus located in the Sydney North zone come ahead of the construction of its largest data centre, IC3 Super West.

They also follow Macquarie’s recent parent company name change to Macquarie Technology Group, representing its evolution from telco to a complete digital infrastructure technology business focusing on data centres, cloud, cybersecurity and telecommunications.

Image caption: Macquarie Data Centres’ impending IC3 Super West data centre. Image: Supplied.