Digital Realty's Interxion is opening the first phase of MRS3, its third data center in Marseille.
The Marseille region has direct access to 14 submarine cables connecting cloud and digital media users across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The facility will also come with more than 150 connectivity providers and with links to France-IX, DE-CIX, NL-ix, Hopus, and NetIX.
French sub base
MRS3 is built upon a former WWII Nazi submarine base - formally known as Martha, it used to store U-boats and now has been restored and converted into a data center by Interxion.
Abandoned for decades, this bunker complex was built to withstand 10-tonne bombs, is around 250 meters long and comes with a 12-meter high surrounding wall.
MRS3 will hold a 16.5MW facility (with a 24MW grid connection) and comprises around 7,100 sq m (73,000 sq ft) of fully equipped IT space to be delivered in three stages. This first phase, comprising approximately 2,300 sq m (25,000 sq ft), will be followed by two additional phases next year.
"Our Marseille campus is well known for its national and international community of leading global digital media and cloud services providers, with a growing presence from enterprise customers seeking to evolve their hybrid cloud infrastructures in a secure and highly connected environment," Fabrice Coquio, Interxion France MD, said.
"Given the scale of the campus, this project has been a formidable undertaking, transforming the site into a best-in-class, modern data center purpose-built to provide our customers with the digital infrastructure requirements to scale at the speed and bandwidth they need.
"Thanks to the support of the local public authorities and the enthusiasm of our customers, Marseille has grown to be the world's ninth-largest Internet hub. Our goal is now to see the city enter the top five within the next three years."
