EMC Wants to Build New Ireland Data Center

Storage and cloud giant EMC is in the process of acquiring planning permission for a new data center and office in Ireland. The planning application would mean an expansion of EMC operations in the country.

The planning application for an EMC data center was submitted to Cork County Council last week to develop a site next to its Ovens plant, the Irish Times reported.The company is planning a data center and office block, and if planning is successful, EMC will have 10 years to develop additional facilities at the site.

Cork and Ireland in general has a booming IT scene. EMC is already a large employer there, employing over 3,000. The new data center and office would represent a major expansion.

Cork is located in the southwest region of the country and is also home to European headquarters for Apple and Logitech. Amazon has also set up shop in the Cork Airport Business Park. A new submarine cable is in the works, which will boost direct connectivity to North America for Ireland greatly, making it an even more attractive destination for data centers.

The Ovens plant, where the future EMC data center will be built of the company gets the official approval, is one of its eight global “centers of excellence.” It is used for research and development projects.

EMC has two other plants in Cork: at Mahon and Ballincollig.

DCK provided a photo tour of the Cork Internet Exchange in 2007 (to give you an idea of how long ago that was, Digg was popular).

Cork is an alternative to the current data center capital in the country, Dublin. Microsoft has a data center there, and so do Google and Amazon. Digital Realty Trust launched a brand new facility in Dublin in September.