The building that hosts ESpanix Datacentre ESpanix, Spain reference neutral node, was established on May 13, 1997, but the datacentre where it was established dates back a few years earlier, 1988 to be exact. Since its construction, the facility has been operating without interruption thanks to its modern design focused on high availability.

The building belongs to a campus that at the time was owned by Banco Español de Crédito, which decided to build it to replace the previous datacentre, which dated back to 1970 and was located on the same campus.

The new building has two electrical connections from two different substations with a total contracted power of 8 MW. This configuration is unusual in Spain, as each location typically is linked to the nearest substation only, even if it is connected with two separate link. This is one of the most important aspects that allows the building to remain operational indefinitely, but it is not the only one.

The power generators are installed in a 2+2 configuration, very unusual for terrestrial datacentres (more common for submarine cable landing stations), and the fuel tank is sized to ensure operation for days. During the April 28th power outage, they responded in just 4 seconds thanks to the generators’ constant pre-heating, during that time the UPS system guaranteed uninterrupted power supply.

At current consumption levels, the generators last approximately seven days without refueling, and for the peace of mind of all clients hosted at the center, periodic power tests are performed on the generators.

The recently renovated inside of the buinding In 2019, following the latest renovation carried out by ESpanix, the power proceeds entirely from renewable sources, and with the modernization of the cooling system, the datacentre is compatible with Tier IV specifications, the highest level in the industry.

“We’ve never experienced a power outage at this facility,” acknowledges Alberto Segado, ESpanix’s operations director, who has been working here since 2004. He adds, “During the 2019 renovation, we have been running without grid power for more than three weeks when we had the connections replaced”.

The building is located near the top of one of the hills on which Madrid rests, thus avoiding any problems related to rain and flooding.

Furthermore, the centre was built to prevent possible terrorist attacks, in fact the street leading to the campus is winding and gently sloping, and the walls surrounding the building are made of reinforced concrete over 70 cm thick, capable of withstanding a nearby explosion.

Regarding fibre optic connections, the campus has separate entrances from two of the streets surrounding the property and a 400m tunnel brings fibre optic cables to the building. Over the years, almost any fibre and connectivity operators have connected to ESpanix, so today it is one of the locations with the highest network count in the country.

The creation of the neutral node has been a major attraction for all telecommunications operators, which, since the liberalization of the sector in 1997, needed a neutral point – that is, one not under the influence of any operator – in order to exchange traffic.

Today, ESpanix is ​​interconnected with the country’s main operators as well as most local and regional operators, and government entities. Over time, the main international operators, content distribution networks, streaming, cloud, and AI providers have also connected.

ESpanix Datacentre has space and electrical capacity for new and expansion projects.

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Email: press@espanix.net