US Signal recently began construction on a new 20,000-square-foot data center in its hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich.
The company has one of the largest data transit networks in the Midwest, with 14,000 miles of data center fiber optic cables stretching across 10 states. US Signal's newest facility is one of eight in the nation, providing customers with cloud hosting, network services and partner solutions.
US Signal executive VP of operations Dave Wisz told the Grand Rapids Business Journal that the MIchigan data center will add greater capacity to ensure the company meets customer demands.
"Our data centers are all located in the Midwest, and make it possible for our customers to transmit and house their data entirely on our network and within secure facilities," Wisz said.
The Michigan data center will open in July 2014 and will have the capability to expand to up to 40,000 square feet. Wisz said US Signal needed to expand its footprint and chose the company's hometown because of its central location.
"Grand Rapids is near and dear to our heart because we're in the local area," Wisz told The Grand Rapids Business Journal. "It's a dense area for us, and it's at the heart of our area in the Midwest."
However, Wisz said the new facility is "a significant investment into the business," and preferred not to make the address of the newest data center public.
While US Signal does not have an exact figure as to the jobs which the new facility will provide for the area, Wisz said the business will create enough employment opportunities to guarantee customer satisfaction, according to the Journal.
Data Center Design
The data center layout for the facility includes access to more than 600 point of presence (POP) sites and multiple carriers as well as the capacity to deliver up to 100G services to US Signal customers.
In addition US Signal is building the data center according to meet standards for Tier 3 certification. The Data center design of the facility will include some Tier 4 features as well.
The facility will have an N+1 resilience HVAC system, temperature and humidity controls, and a power usage monitoring system. Additionally, the data center will feature electrical and mechanical system monitors and 24 inch raised flooring with antistatic tile.
The Michigan data center will also have certain security measures in place, including a guard station, a biometric iris scanner and a surveillance system to monitor indoor and outdoor activity.
