Ireland's 'naturally cool' weather a factor in siting of data centre

Ireland's temperate climate has helped in getting a new, multi-million dollar data centre set up in Shannon.

Mentor Graphics Corporation, who design electronic hardware and software, today officially opened its new regional data centre at East Park, Shannon, which will serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The facility in Shannon houses densely packed banks of computers and storage, backup power supplies, environmental controls including cooling systems and fire suppression, plus security devices.

Martin Gennery, Global IT Director and Irish Site Manager said: "A number of sites competed for the regional data centre; eventually Shannon won out for a number of reasons, with superior infrastructure one of the key determining factors."

Ireland’s temperate climate was also a factor in the site decision. The concentration of so many computer servers in a single place can require huge amounts of power both to run the computers and to keep them from overheating.

Mr Gennery said: "Our naturally cool weather minimises reliance on air-conditioning units, making the data centre more cost-effective and environmentally friendly to run."

The regional data centre is built on a two and half acre site next to Mentor Graphics' base, purchased by the company from Shannon Development two years ago.

The company has been in Shannon since 1999 and employs more than 100 highly skilled staff.