German data fortress continues to grow: Deutsche Telekom opens new cloud data center

• Investment in growth area of cloud computing
• 150 petabytes of storage volume at Biere data hub
• Germany's position as IT powerhouse reinforced

T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom's corporate customers arm, continues to expand Germany as a cloud host. Dr. Thomas Kremer, Member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management, and Dr. Reiner Haseloff, Premier of Saxony-Anhalt, launched operations for the next expansion stage of the high-performance data center in Biere, near Magdeburg, on schedule after 18 months of construction. With this step, Biere now provides 150 petabytes for processing and storing cloud data. In comparison: That's about 200 times as much data as the extensive digital collection held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the state library of the Free State of Bavaria.

Since the commissioning of the "high-tech Fort Knox" in 2014, global demand for cloud services has continued to increase hugely. In response, T-Systems has systematically developed into a multi-cloud provider and collaborates with leading international providers of cloud solutions. Biere has already gathered more than 100 cloud offerings under one roof, offering a "cloud of short distances." With its investment in the Biere campus, T-Systems is building on the locational advantages offered by Germany's strict data privacy laws and laying the groundwork for continued growth as a strong, reliable partner for managed cloud solutions for German and international companies in the future.

"European businesses, German SMEs, the public sector want and need a highly secure and highly reliable IT. With our data hub in Biere, we are meeting this demand. That's why we have invested another three-digit million euros here and strengthened Germany as an IT location," said Dr. Thomas Kremer, Member of the Board of Management at Deutsche Telekom.

"Within just a few years Biere developed to a high-performance data center that provides secure data storage for companies around the world. This is a success story that we want to continue. We also expect the commitment of Telekom for fast internet everywhere in Saxony-Anhalt, ", said Dr. Reiner Haseloff, Premier of Saxony-Anhalt.

T-Systems produces IT services at eleven cloud locations on four continents. The Biere site plays the role of a crucial data hub in the company's data center infrastructure. With the completion of the second construction phase, Biere now boasts an IT production area of over 11,000 square meters, providing enough space for up to 100,000 servers. The campus has the potential to grow to nearly 40,000 square meters.

Biere 2 has also been designed as a "data fortress," subject to the strict data privacy standards of the "high-tech Fort Knox": The buildings are protected by ultramodern security systems and access is strictly controlled. The servers can only be physically accessed via bridges, while powerful emergency generators ensure a constant power supply. On top of that, Deutsche Telekom gives its networks and data centers the highest possible level of technical protection from hacker and cyberattacks. The Open Telekom Cloud, the public cloud offering from Deutsche Telekom, is the only cloud available in Germany that has received the "Trusted Cloud" certificate issued by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. 

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