Ctrl S Data sets up tier-4 storage facility

Hyderabad-based Ctrl S Data Centers Limited has set up the country's first tier-4 data centre in Hyderabad.

The facility, which uses two systems to protect the data while eliminating the remote possibility of human error, can host up to 1,000 racks of servers. The company plans to set up similar facilities in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad in the next three years.

Speaking to mediapersons after the inauguration of the centre on Saturday, P Sridhar Reddy, chairman and managing director, Ctrl S Data Centers, said the company had already signed up more than 10 customers, including a $125-billion US global telecom giant.

"We are primarily targeting large enterprises such as telecom companies that uses multiple racks of servers. We expect to sign up for the full capacity of data storage at this facility in the next six months," he said.

Promoted by the Rs 500-crore Pioneer Group, a Hyderabad-based company, along with other investors including the $33-billion Och-Ziff Capital, New York, Ctrl S had so far invested Rs 25 crore in its Hyderabad facility. It plans to invest Rs 200 crore in the next 12 months.

"We hope to become a 1 million-sft Tier 4 data centre player in five years," Reddy said.

All the existing data storage centres in India are tier-2 and tier-3, while the tier-4 facility is the highest category of data centres anywhere in the world, according Reddy. With 99.995 per cent availability, it provides highest levels of performance for mission critical IT systems, he said.

While it costs 30-40 per cent higher than the other two categories of facilities, the company proposes to reduce the costs by 10 per cent by improving efficiency in a bid to make service costs competitive. It has invested Rs 25 crore in building the infrastructure of the facility, he said.

Och-Ziff Capital has already released around Rs 50 crore of the Rs 250 crore it plans to invest in the company as equity, while IDBI is providing loans.

The equity component would exceed Rs 200 crore as the company aims to invest over Rs 1,000 crore in data storage facilities in the next five years, according to company officials.