APL assists Poulina Group Holding (Pgh) with designing and constructing the largest Tier IV data center in Tunisia

Customer name :	DataXion (Poulina Group Holding)
Area of business :	IT hosting
Accompanying mode :	Consulting - Project Management Assistance - Training
Type of service :	Design and construction of scalable, eco-efficient data center with a high level of service continuity

Poulina Group Holding, the largest private capital group in Tunisia, wants to continue its diversification strategy, position itself on the IT and service market, and develop activities that will create skilled jobs.
In 2011, the Group decided to enter the IT hosting market. It solicited APL to help design a 3760 m² site, including 1200 m² compute space devoted mainly to colocation.

Project objective

Build a new site that will offer hosting services and house the Group’s own IT production
Create a data center that meets the needs of the hosting industry: a very high level of service continuity (TIER IV), scalability, and flexibility (particularly in terms of capacity: area, electricity, climate control)
Attain a high level of energy efficiency, despite extreme external conditions

Services provided

Training workshops on state-of-the-art designs for data centers
Expression of needs, feasibility studies, and drafting of specifications
Drafting of the preliminary proposals
Project management assistance : selection of technical solutions, estimated PUE, assistance during the works phase, tests, trials runs, and the acceptance phase
Definition of operating procedures for computer rooms
Transfer of responsibilities to in-house teams, so that they can operate and maintain the data center over the long term and in an industrialized fashion
Support for Tier IV certification of the data center by the Uptime Institute

Client benefits

Wide-ranging assistance, from the determination of needs up to delivery of the data center
Design based on international standards related to security and continuity of service (Tier IV)
Modular site design, in order to gradually absorb load spikes
An eco-efficient data center: target PUE below 1.8 at 80% load, despite external temperatures occasionally exceeding 45°C (110°F)