Chuncheon gets huge data center

From left: Hong Won-pyo, president and CEO of Samsung SDS, speaks to reporters at a data center in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Friday. Samsung SDS newly opened the data center in Chuncheon in July. [SAMSUNG SDS]

CHUNCHEON, Gangwon - Two hours out of Seoul in Chuncheon, Gangwon, stands Samsung SDS’s newest data center, opened in July.

Covering some 40,000 square meters (10 acres) of ground, the complex includes six server rooms, a solar array capable of producing 180 kilowatts of electricity and eight emergency generators that are able to keep the data center running for 12 hours in the case of a power failure, according to a spokesperson for Samsung SDS.

Samsung prides itself on several upgraded functions added to its Chuncheon data center that can help its partners operate their cloud-based business more efficiently.

The functions include a hybrid cloud platform, which ensures an easier migration of data between clouds and the hybrid cloud management that manages system dysfunctions via the monitoring of the server’s system resources. Samsung SDS also introduced its Platform as a Service (PaaS) system to the data center. PaaS is a cloud computing service in which cloud vendors provide developers with a platform to build apps without having to build or maintain their own infrastructure.

“We expect our data center in Chuncheon to play a significant role in the cloud business industry,” said Hong Won-pyo, president and CEO of Samsung SDS, at the press event in Chuncheon on Friday. “Some of our affiliates have already begun transferring their key systems [to the Chuncheon data center]. The cloud business has passed the first stage and stands at the beginning of the second stage.”

The first stage, according to Hong, is bringing IT infrastructure to the cloud, whereas the second stage refers to the application of IT solutions and services to the cloud system.

Implementing cloud native technologies like containers on Samsung SDS PaaS can help users cut down on the time required to distribute an app from the previous two weeks to a single day, according to Samsung. Containers are an executable unit of software that enables users to work with a program and its dependencies to allow it to be operated on any channel.

Samsung SDS currently operates 15 data centers with a confirmed plan to open another data center in Dongtan, Gyeonggi. The opening date for the Dongtan facility is not yet confirmed.

It has five data centers in Korea, including in Gwacheon and Suwon in Gyeonggi and Sangam-dong in western Seoul. It runs 10 data centers abroad - including in London; Frankfurt; Austin, TX; Hanoi, Vietnam; Beijing and Singapore - in partnership with local firms.

“Starting with Chuncheon, we’re transforming the hardware-based data center into a software-based data center,” said Yoon Shim, vice president of cloud business division at Samsung SDS.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]