Mellon Expands Year-Old Data Center

Mellon Financial Corp. plans to invest $70 million to expand and upgrade a Pittsburgh-area data center that is less than a year old, the company said today. The move is driven by Mellon's pending merger with the Bank of New York, and is expected to create more than 200 new jobs in Armstrong County. But the expansion will also feature "a number of utility improvements related to power delivery, distribution and climate control." The face that the center was built in early 2006 and is already getting infrastructure upgrades demonstrates how quickly data center power and cooling requirements have escalated.

The project will more than double the amount of data center space at the site, which currently stands at 120,000 square feet. Mellon says the expansion will take about 36 months, with work starting early in 2008.

"Our decision to expand this new facility makes great business sense, given its excellent performance since startup, the expandability of its design and the high level of technology skills and experience supporting global operations available here in the Pittsburgh area," said Mellon Chief Executive Robert Kelly. "Mellon's information technology group has done a great job with startup, and this major expansion will continue and strengthen the momentum of our data center development project."