COLUMBIA, MISSOURI — October 28, 2020—Bluebird Network, a communications infrastructure provider and underground data center owner, is thrilled to announce the completion of its $11.5 million expansion of the Bluebird Underground Data Center in Springfield, Missouri. Announced in November 2019, this expansion underscores the company’s commitment to supporting rapidly growing customer demands and enables the company to more seamlessly meet the requirements of organizations moving to more data and bandwidth-hungry applications. The project delivers more than 11,500 square feet of additional white space, increased power capacity, and efficiencies to enhance the facility’s value, reliability and capabilities.
Now offering a total of more than 29,000 square feet of white space, the expanded Bluebird Underground Data Center features significantly increased mechanical, electrical and power generation capabilities—operating at full Tier 3 data center standards. The expansion includes: upgraded underground generating capabilities totaling 6MW of power, the latest lithium-ion Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), a third primary metered electrical grid connection – now totaling three diversified power utility feeds – and new intelligent management systems to improve overall facility efficiency.
“Our customers now and in the future will reap the benefits of a world-class data center with unparalleled security,” said Michael Morey, President and CEO of Bluebird Network. “Bluebird’s strengths and communications infrastructure offerings underpin the success of a digital world. We thrive on helping businesses, hospitals, governments and other operations run lightning fast every day while offering them a way to flexibly grow.”
As part of this transformation, the Bluebird Underground Data Center underwent a full Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) platform implementation, allowing the facility and Bluebird customers to benefit from enhanced, continuous operations monitoring. Already powered by 40 percent renewable energy, these monitoring capabilities offer a wealth of insight into how the facility can be further optimized for the utmost efficiency and reliability.
“Being 85 feet below ground, a unique data center like Bluebird Underground requires a unique expansion strategy to empower dynamic and growing requirements, and that’s exactly what this addition has accomplished for our customers,” said Morey. “Our tenants have everything they need, including colocation services, remote hands, high-bandwidth internet access, and multiple data transport options—all from the highly secure and highly reliable location that is the Bluebird Underground. We’re thrilled to bring these enhanced capabilities to market, building on our trusted partnerships with our customers and further establishing ourselves as a major provider in the Midwest.”
Bluebird recently unveiled the Springfield Internet Exchange (SpringIX) – the first exchange of its kind to support the region – hosted in the Bluebird Underground. Further supporting the communications infrastructure required for commercial success in the ever-connected world, members of the SpringIX will be able to offload local traffic and virtually peer with other content providers.
Since 2003, Bluebird Underground has provided customers with the operational advantages of a purpose-built, advanced data center that features all the protection and security inherent to an underground facility. Located 85 feet below ground and surrounded by solid limestone rock, the facility is highly secure and offers a consistent year-round environment to ensure mission-critical IT is protected, cooled and always on. Benefits of this data center include measured power usage for cooling and hardware, hot/cold aisle containment, private colocation suites, Level 1 Technical support and attractive wholesale kW power rates for larger customers.
With industry-leading and state-of-the-art fiber-based services, cutting-edge data center offerings, and ongoing network expansion, Bluebird continues to offer quality, continuity and performance across the Midwest through reliable, high-bandwidth communications services.
To learn more about Bluebird Network, please visit bluebirdnetwork.com.
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About Bluebird Network
Since 1999, Bluebird Network, headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, has provided internet and transport services, via its fiber infrastructure, to Carriers and Enterprises in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and the surrounding states. In 2014, an underground data center was acquired, adding the Bluebird Underground Data Center facility to the Bluebird suite of services. Bluebird operates over 9,800 fiber route miles of high-speed broadband and fiber-optic connections with over 60,000 on-net and near-net buildings, 151 Points of Presence (POP) sites spanning the Midwest, including the major cities of Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield (MO and IL), Tulsa, Peoria, Rockford, Bloomington, Normal and the Quad Cities. To learn more, please visit Bluebirdnetwork.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Media Contact for Bluebird Network:
iMiller Public Relations
Tel: 866.307.2510
Email: pr@imillerpr.com
Contact for Bluebird Network:
Sue Schaefer
Bluebird Network
Sue.Schaefer@BluebirdNetwork.com
816-237-2119
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