Finding a Top Location for a Datacenter in Aargau, Switzerland


Tuesday, November 01, 2011 by Aargau Services

Internet service provider green.ch recently inaugurated the largest commercially available datacenter in Switzerland. The building in Lupfig, in the Canton of Aargau, stretches over an area the size of several football fields. With over 37,000 m³ of construction volume, the building represents an investment of more then CHF50m. The project was realized in record time - thanks to excellent local conditions and quick decision making by cantonal authorities.

Second largest web hosting firm in Switzerland

The first of three envisioned compounds making up the datacenter was completed with a grand opening on March 30, 2011. CEO Franz Grüter says: "green.ch has previously been primarily an Internet service provider. With about 60,000 websites and 100,000 e-mail accounts, we are the second largest webhoster in Switzerland today. The new datacenter now provides an additional pillar for our business. The first compound contains 3,300 m² of usable datacenter space. When all three compounds are finished, we will have a usable surface area of more than 10,000 m², representing a CHF100m investment."

Rapidly growing demand

With cloud services becoming increasingly popular, demand for datacenter capacity has been rapidly rising. It is therefore not surprising that 40 percent of Compound A was already reserved for commercial clients the day the facility opened.

Companies of all sizes are looking for reliable and secure datacenter services. "By possessing a state-of-the-art datacenter we have entered one of the fastest growing markets. In a way we consider ourselves to be like hotel owners. Instead of guests, however, we accommodate servers", Grüter notes. Grüter founded his first company at the age of sixteen in his home town Lucerne. Today he is in discussions with Chief Information Officers of banks, insurance companies, energy and IT service providers, all anxious to find a secure primary or secondary location for their enterprise's data.

A clear decision in favor of Lupfig

Having evaluated earthquake and flood risks as well as many other geographic factors for several months, the choice for a building location was made in favor of Lupfig. "The conditions in Lupfig are virtually perfect for our purposes", says Franz Grüter. The large business centers of Zurich, Basel and Bern are nearby, two main highways cross in the vicinity, and the fiber optical networks as well as power lines pass through the area. Another factor in favor of Lupfig was the business-friendly environment created by the local authorities in Aargau. "The fact that we were able to realize this project so rapidly can be primarily attributed to the unusually open attitude of the Aargau officials", says Franz Grüter. "In Zurich, I would not have been able to accomplish what I have achieved here." As a next step Grüter will build an office tower next to the datacenter, providing offices for up to 400 employees, as early as 2012.

Pioneering spirit of the Swiss Farmers' Association

"The formation of green.ch is an unbelievable story that I like to tell again and again", Grüter says. "In 1995, the Swiss Farmers' Association decided that it will offer its members the possibility of accessing the Internet for the price of a local phone call. In order to do this, the Internet service provider agri.ch was formed and belonged to the Swiss Farmers' Association. At that time, it was a pioneering achievement," Grüter says. "Soon, it wasn't just the farmers who used the internet services, but also personal users and small businesses." As a result, agri.ch became one of the most successful Internet service providers in Switzerland.

Down-to-earth company culture

During the Internet hype of 1999, the Farmers' Association sold agri.ch to the British network carrier Cable & Wireless. Two years later, the company was bought back by the original management and rebranded as green.ch. Grüter added: "The name of the company comes from its initial association with agriculture. We respect this heritage and cultivate a down-to-earth culture in the company. The original spirit needs to be retained because our customers appreciate it. We deliberately want to offer an alternative to the big providers."