Geographical distribution
At the beginning of 2012, LCL purchased a data centre in Aalst in a bid to serve the region west of Brussels as well as East and West Flanders. LCL opted deliberately to spread its data centres geographically. In case of power failures or other faults in a given region, customers can rely on LCL's disaster recovery solutions. This geographical spread gives LCL a unique position within the data centre market.
The new data centre in Aalst uses the most recent technology and occupies an area of 1200m², which can be expanded up to 2500m². Currently, already five major telecom operators (Belgacom, Eurofiber, Telenet, Evonet and Syntigo) are connected to the data centre and two large customers are being served.
Optimal security
To achieve a high-performance data centre that meets the most stringent quality requirements, LCL invested heavily in several modifications to the building. For example, the data centre's cooling system was improved. Whereas in the past, the air conditioning system used outside air, the building is now equipped with a cooling system that recycles indoor air and thus prevents air pollution. The second alteration was to install a second power generator and a diesel tank of 10,000 litres, enabling the data centre to continue operating independently for three whole days without having to rely on power supply from the electricity grid. In addition LCL optimised the security of the data centre, the access system was adapted and a fence was put up around the building. Finally, the so-called 'meet me rooms' were provided with cabling.
With this range of three high-quality, carrier-neutral data centres, LCL is now one of the largest players on the Belgian market.
