Switch expands with 500,000-square-foot data center in Las Vegas

By Daniel Rothberg

Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015 | 1:24 p.m.

Las Vegas-based technology firm Switch opened a new data center Thursday, bringing its total square footage in the Las Vegas valley to more than 1.5 million. The company expects its newest facility, Supernap Las Vegas 9, to receive similar credentials to its other data centers, making it one of the highest rated data centers in the world.

The facility opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday. Gov. Brian Sandoval, Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak and Nevada Sens. Michael Roberson and Aaron Ford were among those in attendance.

Switch’s new Supernap will span about 500,000 square feet. With the company having recently committed to a goal of running its data centers using only renewable energy, the facility will operate at a power usage effectiveness below the industry standard. The company provides data services to a vast array of international and Nevada-based clients, including Google, Boeing, Blue Cross Blue Shield and major Las Vegas resorts.

“Switch was started with the idea that data centers needed to not only be able to handle the scale of the Internet but do so in the most efficient manner possible,” Switch CEO and founder Rob Roy said in a news release. “We want to power the next evolution of the Internet sustainably and with respect for our natural resources.”

Switch’s data center operations have attracted several businesses to expand into the state. In July, for instance, officials for Machine Zone Inc., the company behind “Game of War: Fire Age,” the top grossing iPhone game in 30 countries, said Switch was a significant factor in its $50 million expansion into Southern Nevada.

Officials from UNLV’s Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday. The university’s Metal Rebel robot, which placed eighth at a DARPA challenge in June, sliced the ceremonial ribbon.

“We’re excited to continue our ongoing partnership with Switch in making Nevada a U.S. technology hub,” Paul Oh, director of UNLV’s autonomous systems labs, said in the news release.

Switch plans to open three additional centers in Las Vegas, which will add another 700,000 square feet to its campus near Decatur Boulevard and the 215 Beltway, in addition to opening as many as up to seven centers near Reno.