Datacenters

From Colocation Data Centers to Hyperscalers

The Netherlands is home to around 200 data centers. Most of these are known as colocation data centers or multi-tenant data centers, providing space, storage, and data services to multiple clients. There are also a few hyperscale data centers operated by major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook (Meta), serving clients on an international scale. Another category is enterprise data centers, which are single-tenant facilities belonging to universities, research laboratories, research institutes, and multinational corporations.

Advantages of the Netherlands for Data Centers

Several factors make the Netherlands an attractive location for data centers, including:

• Central location in Europe
• Open economy
• Political stability
• Presence of mainports in Rotterdam and Amsterdam
• Connectivity to (inter)continental internet cables
• High percentage of fiber-optic connections
• Population’s proficiency in English
• Moderate climate (simplifying cooling operations)

Dutch Data Centers: A Reliable Foundation

The digital sector now accounts for approximately a quarter of the Netherlands’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Data centers are the beating heart of the digital society. Without data centers, all aspects of daily life in the Netherlands would come to a halt – traffic lights would stop working, bridges would not open, ambulances would cease to operate, and internet communication channels such as email and messaging would be interrupted. In short, the entire nation’s digital activities would grind to a halt.

As a result, the reliability of data centers is of utmost importance. Various precautions and safeguards are in place, from high-quality systems and security measures to backup systems and twin-concepts, where a customer’s data and systems are replicated across two different locations. These measures ensure uninterrupted operations, even in the event of fires or widespread power outages.

The reliability of data centers is expressed through TIER certification. In the Netherlands, TIER III is the highest achievable level (TIER IV requires the presence of two independent electricity providers, which is not feasible in the Netherlands). As an example, Bytesnet’s data centers meet TIER III standards with an availability of 99.982%.

Spreiding door heel Nederland

De eerste datacenters zagen het levenslicht op internetknooppunten: waar kabels en verbindingen samenkomen. Zoals in Amsterdam (AMS-iX), Rotterdam (R-iX) en Groningen (GN-iX). Daar wilden bedrijven hun apparatuur zo dicht mogelijk bij installeren, zodat er nauwelijks vertraging (latency) bij het verzenden en ontvangen van data was.

De eerste jaren zorgde dat voor een concentratie van datacenters rond die knooppunten – met name in Amsterdam. Naar mate de technologie verbeterde, verdween de vertraging via de kabels en dus waren datacenters niet meer geografisch gebonden. Zodoende kwamen er door het hele land nieuwe bij. Nederland heeft nu een groot aantal en geografisch goed gespreide datacenters. Binnen een straal van 30 kilometer is in ons land altijd minimaal één datacenter te vinden.

Als dichtbevolkt land is Nederland inventief in het efficiënt gebruik van de beschikbare ruimte. Dat is terug te zien in een datacenter: hier is de rekenkracht per vierkante meter ongeëvenaard hoog.

Geographic Distribution Across the Netherlands

The first data centers emerged at internet hubs, where cables and connections converged, such as in Amsterdam (AMS-iX), Rotterdam (R-iX), and Groningen (GN-iX). Companies wanted to locate their equipment as close to these hubs as possible to minimize latency when transmitting and receiving data.

Initially, this led to a concentration of data centers around these hubs, particularly in Amsterdam. As technology improved, cable latency became less of an issue, and data centers were no longer geographically confined to these hubs. Consequently, new data centers were established across the country. The Netherlands now has a significant number of geographically dispersed data centers. Within a 30-kilometer radius, there is always at least one data center available in the Netherlands.

As a densely populated country, the Netherlands is known for its efficient use of available space, and this efficiency is reflected in its data centers, with exceptional computational power per square meter.

Dutch Data Centers: A Powerful Ecosystem

All these national and regional data centers together form a robust and interconnected ecosystem, providing government agencies, businesses, and other organizations with a reliable platform to process, store, and share data. Dutch data centers facilitate regional economic growth and connect local businesses, healthcare and educational institutions, IT service providers, hosting companies, cloud service providers, app developers, and software vendors. Local IT service providers, hosting companies, cloud service providers, app developers, and software vendors also benefit from the proximity of their regional data centers.

Economic Growth Through Digitalization

Data centers are under increasing demand, with rising numbers of racks and servers, greater computational power, and larger connectivity capacities. Data centers are adapting to meet the needs of businesses and government entities, as the digitalization of the economy and society continues to expand.

New technologies such as robotics, the Internet of Things, 5G, cloud computing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence require extensive data and enhanced computational power, both of which converge in data centers. Researchers and scientists are increasingly using High-Performance Computing to process vast amounts of data quickly. The healthcare sector is also leveraging digitalization for various purposes, including CT scans, surgeries, and diagnoses.

Efficient Energy Usage

Dutch data centers are recognized internationally as pioneers in sustainability, particularly in terms of energy consumption. Data centers are sometimes falsely perceived as energy-wasting facilities. However, the opposite is true. If all customers continued to operate their own servers on their premises, twice as much electricity would be required, not only for IT equipment but also for cooling and other related operations.

At both the company and sector level, data centers in the Netherlands are making substantial investments in improving energy efficiency. For example, the Save Energy Foundation was established in 2022 to assist data centers in making more efficient use of energy. One critical tool in this effort is the measurement and improvement of the Server Idle Coefficient (SIC) and the Data Center Idle Coefficient (DcIC). Most servers do not need to operate at maximum capacity during off-peak hours (at night and on weekends), resulting in lower energy consumption. This allows for significant electricity savings. Bytesnet was one of the first entities to join this initiative.