Paratus pioneers Africa’s digital transformation with world class data centre dubbed Armada

Paratus launched its newest Data Centre (DC), named Armada, in the first week of August. Signalling the country’s readiness to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Armada is Namibia’s largest carrier-neutral DC and up to global standards with Tier III equivalent data centre infrastructure.

Located just outside the capital city, Windhoek, Armada DC offers Namibian businesses hosting services and digitally resilient infrastructure with complete connectivity freedom. The purpose-built facility enables the hosting of ICT infrastructure in the latest physical and virtual security and highest possible uptime. The DC will also offer a colocation environment with a resilient infrastructure environment which minimises the IT capital expenditure and operating costs associated with on-premise data storage and management.

Paratus Group CEO Schalk Erasmus said upon launching the facility: “The Paratus Armada DC is the safest and most secure environment for any business’s most precious asset – its data. The resilience we offer at Armada is unmatched in Namibia. This is the archetype of modern technology at work, and Armada is another example of how the Paratus mission to transform Africa through excellent infrastructure is being realised. As a state-of-the-art facility and one in which we have invested around N$123 million, Armada is a one-of-a-kind, one-stop shop for businesses of all sizes to compete at world-class levels. This is a proud day for Paratus Group.”

The state-of-the-art data centre is propelling the Namibian economy into a new era of data centre offerings. As a carrier-neutral DC, Armada offers users the ISP resilience that a single-carrier DC cannot. Having connections to multiple carriers backed by critical IT Infrastructure means that even if one carrier has an outage, customers' connectivity is not interrupted, and better resilience is assured for all. The Paratus Armada DC encourages interconnectivity between multiple telecommunications carriers, allowing multiple service providers to use the facilities and thereby enhance service offerings to colocation clients. This broadens the appeal of the Armada DC because it can serve any business – small, medium, or large enterprise.

Paratus Armada Data Centre specs:

• 2-Megawatt power capacity (Phase 2)

• Diverse A&B utility power supply (Phase 2)

• Dedicated generators – per A&B feed, for comprehensive resilience and 72-hour fuel autonomy

• Diverse power feed design throughout, from utility to cabinet level

• Fully inter-resilient 500 kVA UPSs per feed (A&B) dedicated to the Data Centre

• Separate utilities UPS to ensure electrical autonomy

• Dual UPS feeds per cabinet to deliver up to 3.3kVA

• Cold aisle containment and inter-resilient CRAC cooling units at N+1

• Multiple diverse carrier routes with separate meet-me rooms (A&B) as well as access to tower across diverse infrastructure from fibre to microwave

• Direct link to the new Equiano cable and CLS in Swakopmund

• Access to Paratus backbone network linking multinational customers to the Paratus Data Centres in Angola and Zambia

Data Centre Security:

24-hour perimeter security, facility, computer room, and cabinet controls to prevent unauthorised entry into the Armada DC. Further security is provided within the inner layers of Armada, including battery backups, generators, cages, and data racks. Reliable and carefully monitored power supply and cooling systems ensure that optimal temperature and humidity for all equipment is maintained, mitigating the loss of data due to any equipment failure caused by the lack of power or equipment overheating.

Green credentials:

Armada has also been designed to mitigate environmental impacts. Trees that needed to be uprooted during construction of the DC have been replanted, a large duck pond has been created on the campus and, to help offset its carbon footprint and reliance upon fossil fuels, a sophisticated set of renewable solar energy systems has been incorporated. “Our customers may be reassured of our good environmental governance, and indeed that local communities have been empowered through the creation of Armada”, Erasmus adds. “What’s important here, too, is that the Armada DC removes the need for businesses to build their own facilities to house and protect their data.”