Tech Stories Digest

Issue #52

Hello Reader,

It's hard to believe we're already halfway through the year. Today, I want to talk about Equinix outage on Saturday, as well as how prefabricated, modular components made it possible to build a new data centre in Johor in just eight months, foundation included.

Thank You!

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Equinix SG1 outage

It started with a text from a long-time friend:
"Not sure if you know about this. Many network services affected."

Attached was a screenshot of an Operations Incident Report from Equinix, detailing a “power disturbance” at its SG1 data centre.

I thought back to an email alert from my Alta Labs Internet router that morning. Scanning my inbox, I quickly found it - timestamped 11:11am. The cloud service powering my router had flagged that the appliance had dropped off the Internet. It was sent exactly two minutes after the SG1 outage began.

What followed was a blind query to another contact, who confirmed: yes, there had indeed been an outage at SG1. I reached out to the PR agency representing Equinix in Singapore, and within an hour, I had official confirmation and a brief statement.

The incident brought back memories of the last Equinix outage in Singapore, which I reported on for DCD in 2014, almost 11 years ago. It turned out not to be an outage, but a case of some customers improperly using the backup power points as the primary one. It didn't go well when these were powered down for scheduled maintenance.

The incident brought back memories of the last Equinix “outage” in Singapore, which I reported on for DCD in 2014. That one turned out not to be a true outage, but a case of some customers using backup power points as their primary source. It didn’t go well when those circuits were powered down for scheduled maintenance. You can read about it here.

Unfortunately, this time, the outage was real. Thankfully, only two data halls were affected, and services were restored after just over an hour. Far be it from me to mock a data centre operator grappling with an outage, but I think this incident brings into sharp focus a broader structural issue that calls for urgent review.

Specifically, SG1 opened in 2000 and, over more than two decades, has grown into one of the key network hubs for a large number of telecommunications, network, and even data centre operators here. Its role underpins a significant portion of Singapore's digital infrastructure, making it one of the most vital data centre assets here.

The uncomfortable question is this: Are we too dependent on a single data centre?

A public LinkedIn post by the CTO of SIMBA. Note that I don't know Benjamin personally and am unaware of the motivation behind his requirement - the newer SG3 data centre is located right beside SG1.

How to build a data centre - in 8 months

On Tuesday, I also dropped by Johor for the launch of the BrightRay MY-01 data centre. What makes MY-01 stand out is that it was built in just eight months using prefabricated, modular parts shipped from China. By the way, that eight-month construction timeline includes laying the foundation.

I had the privilege of a site tour, though I do wish it had included specific equipment rooms and had more time allocated for it. Still, I picked up a few new insights. What struck me wasn’t how extraordinary it looked, but just how ordinary everything seemed.

Yet this three-storey data centre comprises over 428 precision-manufactured steel structure modules and some 216 steel skids, all produced at BrightRay’s Yangzhou production line. These were stack-tested, refurbished, equipped with critical systems, then packed and shipped to Malaysia.

In short, MY-01 was constructed unlike any other data centre in the country.

Truly, the only thing holding back the rapid rollout of massive new data centres is power provisioning - nothing else. Perhaps unsurprisingly, MY-01 is currently running on “temporary” power - I didn’t hear any diesel generators though - while its on-site 132kV substation is constructed.

You have a wonderful week ahead.

Regards,
Paul Mah.