LinkedIn opens data centre in S’pore, its first outside US

SINGAPORE — Professional networking platform LinkedIn on Wednesday (April 6) unveiled its new data centre in Singapore, its first outside the United States.

The new centre, which went online in last month, occupies a 23,500 sq ft (2,183 sq m) lot in Jurong, and processes all of LinkedIn’s online traffic in the Asia Pacific region.

LinkedIn has invested S$80 million so far in the new data centre, which aims to improve the speed and reliability of access to LinkedIn’s services for the more than 85 million of users in the region. Singapore currently has more than 1 million LinkedIn users.

Mr Olivier Legrand, Managing Director of LinkedIn in Asia Pacific, said in a press release: “Singapore is the natural choice for us to locate this new data centre, as it is already our Asia Pacific Head Quarters, and it offers the cutting-edge infrastructure and talent we need to continue to improve the service and global connectivity we provide to our members and clients.”

In 2011, LinkedIn became the second online networking site to set up shop in Singapore at AXA Tower after Facebook inaugurated its Asian sales office in 2010. LinkedIn then made a move to Marina Bay Financial Centre, Tower 2, in November 2014.

On LinkedIn’s blog, Mr Michael Yamaguchi, Director of Data Center Services, noted that Singapore is the “landing point for the trans-pacific fibre”, which allows for faster transmission speeds.

The new Jurong facility, which has 4.2 megawatts of allocated power, features a smart design that is expected to reduce the annual energy consumption of the data centre by a magnitude that is equivalent to powering about 100 private homes in Singapore, added LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has five other data centres in the US, including in Virginia and Texas.

The Economic Development Board, which worked with LinkedIn to set up the new data centre, said the establishment of the data centre reinforces Singapore’s position as the region’s leading data management and connectivity hub.