Dubai-based colocation provider Gulf Data Hub is building a 27,600 sq m (297,000 sq ft) data center at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the intention of providing for the university, the research park’s tenants and for external customers.

A data center fit for kings 

The facility will be operated by Data Hub Tech and built by contracting firm Ashni. Its users will include Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco, the Dow Chemical Company and SABIC – a manufacturing company, also prominent in the chemical industry – to name a few.

“As a vendor-neutral facility, the KAUST data center will solve a range of data storage needs, while maintaining the flexibility to accommodate a wide range of future research parks and external partners,” GDH CEO, Tarek Al-Ashram told Arab News. 

Jason Ross, the university’s recently appointed CIO, sees the facility as “a game changer” for research and innovation infrastructure at KAUST - and gladly so, as he was employed to bolster and encourage both.

According to CEO of Dawiyat Telecom Company Adhmed Sindi, the facility is part of GDH’s business expansion plans in that it provides the company with international connectivity and a possible location for a future landing station.

The project is due for completion in 2019.