Windstream to Build Charlotte Data Center

News from the data center industry includes Windstream expandING again in North Carolina with a 72,000 square-foot facility, Expedient juggles four data center expansion projects, and a second Equinix data center is selected by online game developer, Wargaming.

Windstream to build Charlotte data center. Windstream Hosted Solutions, announced plans to build a new enterprise-class data center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 72,000-square-foot facility has already started construction, and will be completed in a phased approach, with 10,000 square-foot suites. This will be Windstream's fourth data center in Charlotte and seventh in North Carolina. It will be equipped to handle Windstream’s full suite of cloud computing, dedicated hardware, data storage and managed services. "Many of our customers have already realized the benefits of integrated, personalized solutions from Windstream Hosted Solutions, and demand for those services has continued to increase significantly year over year,” said Chris Nicolini, senior vice president of data center operations for Windstream Hosted Solutions. “This newest data center represents our commitment to providing customers with the highest level of services and reliability in order to meet the changing needs of their businesses.”

Expedient announces four expansion projects. Expedient announced another round of data center footprint expansion, adding capacity in four of their six core markets. The company will add a second data center in Baltimore, add 8,000 square feet to its Pittsburgh facility, complete an infrastructure upgrade in Indianapolis, and begin a phase II expansion in Columbus, Ohio. “We are very fortunate to have an enthusiastic corporate sponsor who understands the significant capital commitment required to meet the ever increasing capacity and reliability demands of our customers. We’ve conducted significant facility expansions, as well as significant investments in hardware and software to support our managed hosting and cloud platforms, in every one of our core markets at some point in the last three years,” stated Shawn McGorry, Expedient President and COO.

Equinix selected by Wargaming in Europe. Equinix (EQIX) announced that Wargaming, an online game developer in the free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) market, is expanding into Equinix's Campus Kleyer data center in Frankfurt, Germany. Already a tenant in Equinix's Amsterdam facility, Wargaming will expand into Campus Kleyer to take advantage of two Equinix data centers and benefit from access  to an even greater number of network partners along with additional capacity to grow its business. The expansion into Equinix's Campus Kleyer data center in Frankfurt was the next logical step in our commitment to providing the best possible experience for our players," said Andre Reitenbach, managing director, Wargaming Interactive GmbH. "Equinix Amsterdam proved it could deliver a reliable, reduced latency service helping us to drive a better gaming experience and give us an edge against our MMO gaming competitors. Frankfurt is the most important interconnection hub for networks throughput in Europe and locating there provides access to all the major providers and peering partners, allowing us to optimize connectivity to all gaming markets in Western and Eastern Europe."