In celebration of Germany's first National Data Center Day, CyrusOne, in association with the German Data Center Association (GDA), welcomed over 20 members of the public to its first-ever data center Open House in Germany. The event sought to answer the question: 'Where does the internet actually live?'.
Taking place at CyrusOne's first site in Frankfurt - FRA1 - residents from neighbouring communities, families, and friends took the opportunity to join an exclusive tour inside this mission-critical facility. FRA1 was one of many sites across the country that opened to the public for the occasion, all in support of the GDA's goal to give communities the opportunity to better understand the role of data centers in modern society and allow people to see where and how data is stored and processed in real life.
Dispelling Data Center Myths
At the event, visitors learned how data centers truly are the backbone of our digital infrastructure. Whenever a television network broadcasts the weather forecast, a doctor accesses an online healthcare record, someone watches a show via an on-demand streaming service, or uses online banking, such activities wouldn't be possible without data centers. And that's not all - data centers enable the Internet of things, smart factories, automated driving, generative AI and so much more. As these activities increase so too does the demand for new data center construction to ensure a digital future for everyone.
"I read about this event in the newspaper. I live near Sossenheim and I've seen more and more data centers being built around here. I've always wondered what a data center would look like inside and was really happy to have the opportunity to see it for myself", one guest explained.
Since CyrusOne acquired the FRA1 site in 2018, we've added a further three operational data centers in the immediate vicinity of Sossenheim and have a further three in development. Just last month we announced our seventh data center in Frankfurt (FRA7), at Frankfurt Westside, which will have state-of-the-art technology providing 81 MW IT capacity and deploying innovative waste heat reuse methods.
Meeting the Team
The team at Frankfurt is passionate and motivated and they were delighted to introduce the community to the FRA1 location and explain all the operations necessary to keep the site running smoothly and safely. Starting the tour with the chillers, we gave visitors a rare glimpse of CyrusOne's owned and operated 110,000-volt substation and switchgear. We taught them about uninterruptible power supply and emergency power generators and then revealed the heart of every data center - the server room and the racks located within.
"I'm an engineer and I was really surprised how familiar the processes were that are needed to operate a data center. You would think that it's all about IT, but that's just the result. It's all made possible by engineering" ,said a guest after the tour.
Data Center Talent: More Than Meets the Eye
The Open House was also an opportunity for CyrusOne to showcase the skills needed to run a data centre, give insights into the responsibilities of managing one, and inspire people to consider a career in the industry.
"Managing a data center is a very interesting job. There's so much variety - no two days are the same", said Michael Diener, Regional Operations Director at CyrusOne. "We are keen to raise awareness of all the great roles available in the German data center industry and we hope to offer apprenticeships in the future so more people can benefit", Michael continued. "As a big player in this market, we recognize our responsibility to the community, and are motivated to do what we can to give young ambitious people the opportunity to embark on a career in this field."
New talent is highly sought after in the German data center market. With every new data center, the demand for skilled workers grows, and in light of this, CyrusOne has established a unique and popular in-house operational methodology to help attract and retain talent. This, combined with continued development and opportunity for progression as the company scales, has been our secret to keeping staff numbers stable. We are also making a continuous effort to recognize each team member on an individual basis for the unique strengths and contributions they make.
We are attracting new talent in a variety of ways, including looking beyond the existing data center talent pool in all EU regions by considering dynamic engineering talent from numerous other sectors, for example, those with a background in controls and building management, automation, or high uptime airport service maintenance. There are numerous reasons behind CyrusOne's success in maintaining its engaged teams. These include how we develop a pipeline of young and emerging talent, identify core transferable skills in potential hires and provide mentoring and development specific to the new sector they have joined, as well as invest in people on an ongoing basis.
Working Toward a Sustainable Future
Sustainability is always at the forefront of our new developments. For example, the Frankfurt locations have all run completely on renewable energy since 2021 and are designed with a low PUE, and measures are also taken to reduce water usage.
With the recently passed German Energy Efficiency Act, waste heat recovery has become a widely discussed topic. CyrusOne is already working in cooperation with local communities to reuse waste heat for neighbouring households or office buildings. For example, we will provide waste heat recovery at FRA7 which is located in Frankfurt Westside - a 73-hectare commercial and industrial mixed-use regeneration project managed by BEOS AG and Swiss Life Asset Managers - and deliver a potential 40MW of heat to the campus heating network when at full capacity. At FRA5 in Hanau, waste heat will be reused by local businesses and housing. What's more, all of CyrusOne's data centers are now built to capture waste heat from the outset, irrespective of whether the municipality is equipped to use it, as it will hopefully only be a matter of time.
This is Just the Beginning
Looking back, the first data center Open House was a resounding success.
"I never imagined that so many complex processes were needed to operate a data center",one guest noted in reflection of the tour.
Visitors received a unique perspective on the ins and outs of a data centre, and now have a better understanding of what goes on behind the curtain.
We are excited to say the next Data Center Open House will be coming soon and we hope to see you there!