As part of Continent 8 Technologies’ continued global investment and expansion, its 9th data centre worldwide has been officially opened in Dublin by the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny in the company of Michael Tobin, CEO and co-founder of Continent 8 Technologies.

Continent 8 is focused on the delivery of market-defining Internet technologies, products and services providing companies with secure and reliable facilities from which to host their online operations. While the official opening only just took place, Continent 8 has been operational in Dublin for over 5 months now. Michael Tobin, CEO of Continent 8, stated; “When Continent 8 decided to invest in Ireland and expand our global data centre footprint we looked for a facility that had comprehensive and diverse connectivity, whilst deploying the latest in data centre cooling technologies to drive overall efficiency for our customers. This facility allows us to deliver on these requirements and continue to develop our global portfolio of managed services and solutions.”

The new location, which is also home to Continent 8’s newly established EMEA operations centre, is the greenest and most environmentally friendly data centre in Ireland. The country’s climate provides the facility with free air-cooling and boasts a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.3.

With over 80 percent of the world’s top ICT organisations choosing Ireland as a base, customers can be assured of a robust location and supportive business environment. Continent 8’s latest investment in Dublin’s data centre belt sits in good company alongside organisations such as Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Yahoo.

The facility is connected to Continent 8’s global MPLS and DDoS prevention network with redundant local connectivity from multiple carriers through the local T50 network.

Continent 8 currently has operations in London, Paris, Dublin, Montreal, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Malta, and Singapore with further planned and imminent launches in USA, Canada and the Far East.

Multi-jurisdictional hosting provider Continent 8 Technologies showcased its new Cloud Backup product at the European iGaming (EiG) Congress and Expo in Barcelona this week (8-10 October).

Continent 8 Director of Global Sales Peter Williams, who was one of seven Continent 8 representatives to attend, said “Our Cloud Backup provides the ideal solution for any organisation that is concerned with data loss and regulation requirements, whether they have a data centre presence or not.3

“It allows our clients to quickly recover lost files, documents and critical data, protecting them from potential business disruption and long-term damage that lost data can cause,” he continued.

This week’s event was the fifth time the company has exhibited at EiG. The annual three-day expo offers a platform for top gaming networks, operators and service providers from around the world to mix with start-ups, regulators and new entrants.

Mr Williams said “EiG is one of the biggest trade shows in our calendar and it has been another positive year for the team. As a data centre provider to the online gaming industry, it’s a very important opportunity for networking and meeting potential customers face-to-face.”

This year, Continent 8 was selected as one of seven companies on the Executive Network Tour, an exclusive sneak preview of the exhibition given to VIPs before the doors opened to the delegates on Tuesday.

Mr Williams commented “This year, EiG has allowed us to highlight the ongoing expansion of our global private network, as well as the opening of our new Dublin data centre and the completed major expansion of our Isle of Man facility. Overall, we wanted to show that we are continuing to develop our product set to allow online gaming companies to operate across multiple jurisdictions.”

He added “Regulation in the global online gaming industry continues to be one of the major talking points at such events, with the focus this week being on the process of regulation beginning in the US recently.”

The 12th annual EiG event, which took place at Fira de Barcelona exhibition centre in Spain from October 8-10, was opened by Olympic gold medalist and six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker.

Continent 8 Technologies has completed a major expansion of its Isle of Man data centre. The hosting provider, which has been headquartered on the island since 2006, has increased the capacity of the facility as part of its diversification strategy and in order to reach growing demand.

Having been successful in delivering data centre services including Co-location, Managed Services, Distributed Denial of Service protection, Disaster Recovery, MPLS services and Content Delivery to online gaming companies across the world for more than 15 years, Continent 8 now plans to use its proven expertise to reach out to new sectors.

Head of product at Continent 8 Stephen Trimble, who joined the company in July this year, commented: “The data centre upgrade, alongside an aggressive product development roadmap, is key to showing that not only is Continent 8 truly global, but we are also investing heavily in and committed to the Isle of Man.”

Members of the island’s Department of Economic Development, including Minister John Shimmin, were some of the first to view the facility in the capital, Douglas, in September.

The upgrade programme has seen Continent 8 double the capacity of its state-of-the-art data centre on the island and bring new people on board. Using its recently opened data centre in Dublin as a blueprint, a key element of the Isle of Man upgrade is the introduction of fresh air cooling, via a dedicated air handing unit (AHU). Trimble explained: “The Isle of Man is the ideal climate for this type of super-efficient cooling system given that, in general, outside air is cooler than the temperature required in the data centre.

“Using the latest hot aisle containment technology, heat is extracted directly from the rear of the equipment racks, drawn out of the room and across the heat exchanger system in the AHU. The fresh air from outside is brought into the AHU is filtered, mixed with as much warm air as required, if any, and supplied into the room. During high external ambient temperatures, the AHU systems are assisted by an evaporative adiabatic cooling array.” Trimble added: “All systems are fully redundant in an N+1 configuration, meaning that no failure of any individual component would affect the system’s operation.”

With a truly global footprint, the company also has a private network that links all of its data centres – London, Paris, Dublin, Montreal, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Malta and Singapore – allowing its customers to target their key markets or replicate their data anywhere across Continent 8’s network. Using this network the company can provide an end-to-end global solution, which is ideal for international businesses.

“We have built a fantastic asset here on the island, to world-class levels, which is already being used by leading international businesses and can now be utilised by other sectors too,” said Trimble. “While we are looking forward to continuing our leading technical and visionary reputation within the online gaming industry, we are now diversifying outside of this niche sector – it’s an exciting time.”

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