Generators inside an Equinix data center

Two days following the announcement of completion of its merger with Switch and Data, data center provider Equinix announced opening of a new data center in Zurich, Switzerland.

This is the company's fourth facility in the city.

The new $13.4 million data center's 25,000 square foot size more than doubles Equinix's capacity in Zurich.

It can support up to 500 cabinet equivalents.

 It is located on the same campus as the company's other two facilities, ZH1 and ZH2, and ZH3 is located about one mile away.

"Based in central Zurich, the ZH4 IBX data center will be able to support the established telecommunications and financial industries, as well as attract customers from other growth sectors," Equinix manager in Switzerland Frits van der Graaff said in a statement.

"At a time when demand for data center space in Switzerland is at an all time high, we are delighted to offer our customers and prospects a new IBX data center."

Equinix has been pursuing an aggressive expansion program in Europe, bringing online new data centers in Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, London, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, all within the last three months.

It has also expanded capacity in the US and expects the Switch and Data acquisition to add 34 data centers in the US and Canada to its inventory.

Real estate firm CB Richard Ellis expects growth in the European data center provider sector throughout 2010 and into 2011, after shrinking significantly last year.

Take-up of data center space in Europe decreased by 67 percent over 2009, CBRE said in its year-end analysis of the market.

The reduction resulted from smaller IT budgets, staff reductions and increased adoption of virtualization technology.