Strengthening the Heart of Digital Infrastructure

In a blog post last week, Equinix’s SVP of Sales for the Americas, Arquelle Shaw, explained that the Washington, D.C. region has become a powerhouse in connecting the world online. She cited that 70%[1] of the world’s internet traffic now funnels through data centers in Loudoun County, VA, just outside of the D.C. metro.

The enormous growth and scale of this region is quickly becoming the stuff of legends.

200 Million Reasons to Love D.C.

Today we announced the opening of DC21, our newest International Business Exchange™ (IBX)  data center in the region. DC21 is part of our Ashburn, VA, campus and home to the largest internet peering point in North America. When you combine DC21 with DC15—a new IBX data center that went online earlier this year—it represents a $200 million investment from Equinix in the D.C. metro area in 2020.

Ironically, DC21 comes exactly 21 years after we began bulking up in the region. We opened DC1 in Loudoun County in 1999 and now have 16 densely interconnected data centers across four cities. Those 16 data centers house more than 200 network service providers, far eclipsing anyone else in the area. The Equinix Ashburn campus is the single most-dense interconnection hub in the U.S.

So why are some of the biggest companies and government organizations establishing and strengthening their presence in D.C.? Before I get to that, let me tell you about DC21.

Modern, Massive and Collaborative

DC21 is as modern as it is massive. It’s custom designed with advanced efficiencies around space, cooling and power, and offers both large- and small-capacity deployments, with more than 124,000 square feet of colocation space.

But data centers should be more than sleek buildings with cool designs. They should also be gathering places for ideation and collaboration.

Just as we interconnect customers through our data centers, we’re now connecting great minds in our data centers. The Equinix Ashburn Campus includes a Co-Innovation Facility or “CIF.” This Star Wars-sounding acronym is simply a place where tech companies can build, test and demo new ideas with us and each other. Here we’ll roll up our sleeves to create the data center of the future, tackling issues together around energy efficiency and sustainability. Bring your energy drinks people.

We ♥ D.C.

So why are the biggest companies and government organizations establishing and strengthening their presence in D.C.?

The answer is simple: D.C. is the beating heart of digital infrastructure. Yes, there are critical arteries all over the world, but with the possible exception of London and Singapore, no single place is more important to the future of digital business. D.C. should be relevant to every enterprise on the planet. If you haven’t thought about establishing and fortifying your presence there, you probably should.

I’m excited about today’s announcement, but it’s by no means revolutionary. It’s part of our ongoing regimen to strengthen our customers’ ability to digitally transform and power their business. The increased square footage available from our expanding presence is about more than space. It’s about delivering a relevant, interconnected ecosystem of dense capacity that powers business—in perhaps the most important place on earth.

To learn more about DC21, check out our product page to download the data sheet and schedule a virtual tour. See you there!

Here’s a few photos to give you a preview to what we have in store!

[1] “Data Centers,” Loudon Virginia Economic Development, accessed Nov. 1, 2020, https://biz.loudoun.gov/key-business-sectors/data-centers/.