Listen to this articleROOT is a next-generation data center company that provides colocation solutions that extend beyond security and reliability. ROOT currently operates two data centers in the greater Montreal area. The facilities exceed Tier 3, carrier-neutral and are designed to achieve an energy-efficient PUE of 1.17. Customers benefit from ROOT’s unmatched deployment speeds and locally sourced, low-cost renewable hydro-electric power. Below is our interview with AJ Byers, President and CEO of ROOT:
Q: Who are the primary users of ROOT Data Center and what are some of the key challenges you are helping them solve?
A: ROOT offers industry leading deployment speed. For example, we can deploy retail-sized customers in less than 24 hours and deliver a new facility for large-scale deployments in 90 to 120 days. Committed to energy efficiency, our data centers consume 30 percent less energy than the industry average. Energy efficient technologies reduce carbon footprint and operational costs, while ROOT’s high-density environment allows for efficient use of cabinet space, futureproof dense servers and greater scalability.
ROOT has the ability to accommodate and grow the most advanced and high density servers today. The scalability and performance of our high density power solutions guarantees long-term growth for our customers. ROOT’s maximum capability can reach the 40 kW range, depending on customer requirements.
Our customers include cloud hosting providers, telecommunications service providers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), multinational enterprises, and one of the largest hyperscale technology providers in the world.
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Q: What makes ROOT Data Center unique in the market?
A: ROOT’s facilities are located in Montreal along one of the most heavily-trafficked routes on the internet connecting Europe with the U.S. This makes our data centers optimally positioned to ensure low-latency connectivity for international business operations, while simultaneously delivering affordable, green energy and world-class network infrastructure. At the forefront of the green revolution with free air-cooling systems and low-cost, renewable hydroelectric energy resources, ROOT Data Center facilities provide customers with cost-effective power in a highly-secure and reliable colocation environment with storage solutions designed to suit businesses of any size.
Additionally, ROOT Data Center leverages the cool, Canadian climate for cost-effective energy efficiency.
Q: What are your plans?
A: ROOT is launching one of our Montreal data centers as an AI-supported facility. We are working with a company in San Francisco to develop a test on generator monitoring. We plan to monitor generators by installing microphones by each, listening to the sound of the units to determine if there are issues, and reporting back with data concerning any abnormalities. Utilizing machine learning in addition to the dedicated, human work this will help improve ROOT’s incredible uptime even more.
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Q: What’s the best thing about ROOT Data Center that people might not know about?
A: ROOT Data Center leverages a unique systems design that facilitates free air-cooling for 90 percent of the year. Consistently cool temperature in the data center, as well as in each cabinet with a maximum power load per rack of 40kW compared to the 3kW to 5kW capacity of most other North American data centers, allows for cost savings of up to 20 per cent.
Also, of all the major North American markets, Montreal boasts the lowest power costs for data center operations. Four times lower than in California, 3.7 times lower than New York, and twice as low as Toronto where energy costs have almost doubled since 2006.
Moreover, Quebec relies on hydropower which provides stable electricity rates that are unaffected by fluctuating oil prices. Almost 100 per cent of the energy generated by Hydro-Quebec comes from hydroelectricity, a clean form of energy that produces greenhouse gas emissions that are 50 times lower than natural gas, five times lower than solar power and about the same as wind power.
Additionally, preferential rates are provided by Hydro Quebec for large-power customers such as data centers, including ROOT Data Center.
