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The new “Merlin” data center – built on a brown field site in Swindon, near London - boasts a low power usage
effectiveness (PUE) annualised rating of 1.08 (factory tested): a worldwide industry first. As well as featuring a
smart modular design which can be individually tailored to suit client needs and is economical in space and
resourcing, the facility guarantees a high level of energy efficiency through its use of fresh air cooling, taking
advantage of Swindon’s ideal all-year round moderate climate. The data center was built using eco-considerate
materials and sustainable sourcing was encouraged at all points of the build. The electricity consumption of the
facility will be just half that of a traditional facility, while maintenance costs will only be a quarter of that of
older designs. Merlin is designed to support the full continuum of managed services from legacy and dedicated
client infrastructures through to utility and Capgemini’s latest cloud based services.

The new UK facility is a key component of Capgemini’s Global Infrastructure Outsourcing (GIO) strategy
which has invested €100million across a global data center portfolio of 25 facilities in Canada, China, Finland,
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United States, as well as the UK. Capgemini’s
GIO supports over 26,000 physical servers of which 8,000 are virtualized1. Capgemini’s key focus is on data
center optimization to respond to client’s demands for security, sustainability and cost efficiency.

“With global demand for our outsourcing and cloud services growing sharply, we needed more space to house
such services” says Capgemini’s CEO of Global Infrastructure Management, Richard Dicketts. “However, we
had to develop new facilities that could support the efficiencies our clients seek. Meeting the requirements of
21st century businesses in terms of agility, cost and risk management, fully managed, virtualized and private
cloud services need to be delivered alongside the more traditional data center services. The Merlin facility
represents a new generation of data center design, which redefines industry standards and has resulted from
both our long term drive to improve efficiency and the contractual imperatives to deliver environmental
efficiency. Using this blueprint we will be able to set up large or small facilities wherever they are needed
around the globe to fulfil demand for services.”

Key features of the “Merlin” data center

– Output: Merlin has a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating of 1.08 (factory tested)2. Whilst PUE
ratings are improving steadily, the industry standard remains between 2.0 and 2.5. The Merlin facility
represents a step-change in addressing this industry challenge.
– Fresh air cooling system: Each module is equipped with a highly dedicated Air Optimiser climate
control cooling unit which step-cools air in stages, with primary “fresh air” cooling and second stage
evaporative cooling.
– BMS and climate control: The bespoke building management system is one of the most sophisticated
ever designed. Fully managed hot and cold air flows enable constant peak operational efficiency.
– Certified Tier 3: Merlin will be certified as an Uptime Institute certified Tier 3 data center3, one of only
three such sites in the UK.
– 60,000 square foot technical floor capacity: The data center of over 100,000 square feet has the ability
to supply 60,000 square feet of available technical floor space, comprising 24 x 2,500 squarefoot
modules.