GDS is one of the largest private data center players in China. As of the end of 2011, it had 15 data centers and a network covering Northern China, Eastern China, Southern China, Southwestern China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

In total, the company can provide more than 30,000 sq m of data center and currently has 100,000 sq m under construction.

Established in 2000, and headquartered in Beijing, GDS specializes in providing integrated solutions, consultation and training services in areas of data center design, build and operation, colocation, IT managed services, business continuity management and disaster recovery and cloud computing. Its services have been applied to a wide range of industries, including banking, insurance, securities, energy, manufacturing, logistics and internet.

As a high-availability IT service provider, GDS is an active participant in developing national standards for data center industry in China. A case in point is its participation in developing National GB/T 20988-2007 Information Security Technology-System Disaster Recovery Standards.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Data Center

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Data Center is a good example of a GDS data center operation. The data center is strategically defined as a large commercial data center, national data storage center and national information disaster recovery center.

Once it is fully build, the data center will cover 100,000 sq m^. It is currently being built out in three phases, and once complete, it will be one of the largest data center clusters in China and Asia.

GDS first started building the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Data Center in January 2010. It opened its doors in December 2011. So far its 24,000 m² construction area is made up of one office building and one data center building, offering a total of 6,432m² of data center space.

The data center has been built to a Tier III standard. It has a floor load bearing capacity of 900kg per sq m and follows a Grade 8 anti-seismic standard, with a total power capacity of 32000 kVA and a power density of more than 1.4kW/sq m.

The data center is qualified to apply for LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building council.

Working with telcos and cloud

China Telecom’s Shanghai branch signed a strategic cooperation agreement with GDS at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Data Center for in-depth cooperation in financial colocation, IT and disaster recovery. This announcement was regarded as pioneering, with third-party service providers and Telecom operators in China rarely working side by side.

GDS Shanghai Waigaoqiao Data Center also wants to develop as an advanced cloud computing service provider, and hopes to make substantial contributions in Shanghai’s effort to become a Cloud Computing Model City. In doing so it has been working closely with Japanese IT investment company Softbank Cand Alibaba Cloud Computing, a subsidiary of one of the largest online transaction players in China, Alibaba Group, for high-end cloud computing services.