An investment of 4.5 million euros, all self-financing! The company XL 360 from Xavier Lafaure has not skimped on the means, far superior to the initial intention, to put on the market an offer that lives up to the promise. Inaugurated on May 18 in Toulon, this first data center in the Var, commonly called data centeris indeed particularly effective and carried out in an approach of energy saving and sustainable development thanks to the partnership of equipment and advice with Schneider Electric.
Toulon: the data center in the front line of work
This is the first brick of the digital microcosm allowing digital to develop and contributing to territorial attractiveness, commented in substance Hervé CoatmellecMediterranean regional director of the global giant, emphasizing the “ 3,000 tonnes of CO2 saved » building on the existing building. ” When rehabilitating a wasteland, as here, the soils have already been artificialized. We are careful, in addition to this gain, not to disturb biodiversity by reusing the footprint “, specified Damien Giroudsales director at Schneider Electric IT and sustainable development referent.
Both jointly praised the eminent role of a data center of this type, somewhere on a human scale compared to the behemoths of the big capitals, serving the SMEs and VSEs that make up the economy of France. Especially since the levels of connectivity, security, storage, bandwidth, energy availability (100% guarantee), resilience, etc. provide an opening onto the world at very high speed. To the point of locating Toulon 120 milliseconds from New York and Singapore, in particular via access by the Sea-Me-We-5 submarine cable to La Seyne-sur-Mer. The 105 computer bays (in total capacity) of the infrastructure are offered to all types of companies, knowing that about thirty have already found takers.
The Toulon data center, a must for the economy
Other function of the 1,600 m building2 : ses 1 000 m2 modular spaces dedicated to digital companies, fully marketed even before the market launch. The Toulon subsidiary of STMicroelectronics (following the takeover of Cartesiam) and THD 83, delegatee of the very high-speed network of the Toulon Provence Méditerranée Metropolis (TPM), are among the main occupants. In accordance with its commitments, Xavier Lafaure has maintained a low rental price (12 euros per square meter) and deployed a high quality work environment with an internal restaurant, rooftop terrace, shared and friendly places.
A digital business hotel in Toulon
The opening of this data center in Toulon is not a plus for the digital ecosystem, ” it’s a must,” commented Didier Goguenheim, director of TVT Innovation, active interface of the sector for 35 years and economic development agency of the Metropolis. ” Data is the black gold of the XXe century “, he added, affirming that with this tool it is the whole technological chain which aggregates and increases in power. This is good news for the ecosystem in question, which has been fertile in this area and has been around for a long time, well before the era of data, in a historical environment of Defense electronics whose shift towards civilian and digital markets is a success labeled French Tech.
(Credit: O. Réal)
Hubert Falco, mayor of Toulon and president of Métropole TPM, who acquired the fallow building from National Defense in 2014 before selling it to XL 360, recalled the key figures: “ 2,500 students, 1,500 companies, 6,000 digital jobs, 120 start-ups created per year, 550 annual events for innovative entrepreneurs. “And to congratulate the investor for his realization and his coming to Toulon, enriching a district of the upper town which is changing with the site of Chalucet, the vast Montety project, the axis of the stations in the immediate vicinity: ” You represent the world of today and especially that of tomorrow… »
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