Data Foundry has announced the construction of its third Austin data center, Texas 2. The first phase of construction will begin this quarter, and upon completion of the third and final phase, the size of the facility will total 325,000 square feet. Data Foundry will invest approximately $200 million in the construction of Texas 2. The new data center will tentatively open its doors during the third quarter of 2017.

Texas 2 will reside next to Texas 1 on the Data Ranch in Austin, TX. The Data Ranch is a 40-acre data campus owned by Data Foundry, uniquely positioned to meet enterprise requirements for build-to-suit data centers. Texas 2 will provide retail and wholesale colocation space, and it is being designed with high density capabilities to support High Performance Computing (HPC) environments of up to 50 kW per cabinet.

Like Texas 1, the new data center will feature eight layers of security, concurrently maintainable power and cooling, diverse dual power feeds from two independent electrical substations and diverse network carrier entry points. Like other Data Foundry facilities, Texas 2 will be carrier-neutral and provide blended bandwidth Internet service. Data Foundry is implementing additional energy efficient features in the design of Texas 2, such as adiabatic humidification and cooling infrastructure that supports higher chilled water temperatures.

Austin remains a desirable location for disaster recovery, as it is located in a region that has a low incidence of natural disasters and a power grid that is independent from the rest of the country. In addition to 165,000 sq ft of total raised white floor space, the facility in its final phase will include over 40,000 sq ft of customizable dedicated office space for colocation customers as well as those seeking a secondary worksite for disaster recovery.

"Our expansion in Austin is proof of the demand for high-end colocation, and with the construction of Texas 2, we will continue to meet that demand. Texas 1's enhanced dual-feed design was a huge success. We are thrilled to incorporate this and other premium design features with the latest advances in data center technology in the development of Texas 2," says Edward Henigin, chief technology officer.

The design of Texas 2 is being managed by Corgan, a leading architecture and design firm with deep technical expertise that has consistently ranked as one of the top ten architecture firms in the country. The firm has been in business for over 75 years. The facility will be built by Structure Tone Southwest, Inc., based in Dallas. Structure Tone Southwest has been in business for 40 years and has expertise in mission critical facilities and healthcare construction.