Australian ASX 100-listed data centre operator uses Vertiv prefabricated modular infrastructure to speed Port Hedland facility build time and strengthen data centre performance in the Pilbara region .

The new deployment supports the region ’ s need for robust data centre support to allow local government and industry to continue digitalisation growth and the adoption of AI .

NEXTDC operates 16 data centre facilities throughout Australia with another five sites currently in the planning and development stages .

PH1 Port Hedland is NEXTDC ’ s Port Hedland data centre , located in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia , which services the port operations of local mining , oil and gas and Federal Government sectors . Within the facility , Vertiv ’ s integrated modular data centre solutions operate close to the region ’ s Vocus telecommunications fibre network , helping to make cloud-based services – including AI and machine learning – vailable to NEXTDC ’ s PH1 Port Hedland customers . modular , rugged data centre for Stage 1 of the facility ’ s total capacity . The prefabricated approach allowed NEXTDC to overcome logistical issues because of the area ’ s remoteness , using capital city-built pre-engineered components and on-site standardised construction processes to reduce remote assembly costs and speed time to deployment . As a scalable , modular solution , the Vertiv deployment can be rapidly expanded to support additional growth . Meanwhile , the solution ’ s ruggedised design is tailored to withstand the Pilbara desert ’ s harsh environmental conditions .

The modular solution is Tier III Uptime Institute-certified and uses refrigerantbased air cooling . It also promotes scalability , should NEXTDC introduce increasingly popular alternative liquid cooling methods . Other features include a high-efficiency UPS system , which supports the environment ’ s high-density power requirements , and lithium-ion batteries for longer-lasting power .

The enablement of AI-driven , real-time data processing will play an even more prominent role amid NEXTDC ’ s second edge data centre build in the Pilbara region . NEXTDC ’ s NE1 Newman facility also leveraged the strong partnership between Vertiv and NEXTDC . Located 600km from Port Hedland and near several mines , the NE1 facility is almost identical to the PH1 facility with additional Stage 1 capacity .

Tony Gaunt , Vice President of Asia , Vertiv , said : “ NEXTDC is bringing metrolevel compute modular data centres to geographically dispersed and previously isolated locations .

“ Together , we ’ re making access to the major cloud providers the new status quo for Australia ’ s most prominent and founding industries and allowing local businesses to capitalise on AI technologies with high-speed connectivity .” �

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Adam Gardner , Head of Product , NEXTDC , said : “ NEXTDC ’ s PH1 empowers the region ’ s businesses and allows them to innovate and optimise like never before . Vertiv ’ s strength in Edge data centre builds – particularly in far-flung locations like Port Hedland -meant they were an ideal partner for NEXTDC ’ s in-house expertise . The Vertiv prefabricated infrastructure solution at PH1 optimised build time and was a great fit to service the region ’ s operational , safety , and productivity needs .”

Vertiv designed , procured , and implemented a complete prefabricated

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