Deciding where to locate your future Datacenter is the first strategic decision for any company seeking to optimize the value of its investment and secure its asset on a long term basis. This is a strategic equation that needs a careful due diligence process to assess critical factors. Among them are political stability, security, competitive and growing market, international laws and compliance, and many other key benefits such as cost, engineering capabilities, availability and quality of power, fibre connectivity, tax incentives... FRANCE provides significant guarantees and advantages to ensure successful strategic investments.

1. FRANCE
FOR DATACENTERS
France offers the best economic and environmental
advantages to build and operate your Datacenter

2. CONTENTS
Executive summary
p. 3
1.
1.1
1.2
Energy : the best quality for the lowest price in Europe
Electrical energy: the key issue for datacenters
Power Quality: another French asset
p. 7
p. 5
p. 5
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
Telecom Network: high quality, ubiquitous high bandwidth
telecoms and business opportunities
General context
What future developments can be expected?
What is the relative importance of telecom
in the development strategy of datacenters?
France’s advantages in terms of telecommunication networks
3.
3.1
3.2
Worldwide leaders on building, engineering and financing
The strengths of France in terms of construction
State of the art - Dynamic and comprehensive
p. 19
p. 19
p. 20
4.
4.1
4.2
Skills and best practices
Design, project and management conception
Operating capabilities, operation and maintenance
p. 23
p. 23
p. 25
5.
Risk assessment & Management
p. 27
“France for Datacenters” Workshop contributors
Paul-François CATTIER
Murielle COMBES
Jacques PERROCHAT
Gérard du BESSET
Sébastien ORIFICI
Julien PALENGAT
Ahcène LATRECHE
Nicolas ZERBIB
Roger DURAND
Michel GROSBOST
Luc PHILIPPE
Alain LE CALVÉ
André ROUYER
Pierre BISCARAT
Didier GALINDO
Eric STERN
Dominique ROCHE
Xavier MANCEAU
Serge SINAPI
Serge BRION
APC by Schneider Electric
APC by Schneider Electric
APC by Schneider Electric
APL FRANCE
AREVA T&D
BREZILLON
BULL
CORNING
COTEBA
CRIP
EDF
GIMELEC
GIMELEC
INEO
NEXANS
ORANGE
ORANGE
SDMO
STULZ
VINCI ENERGIES
p. 11
p. 11
p. 11
p. 11
p. 12

3. Deciding where to locate your future Datacenter is the first strategic
decision for any company seeking to optimize the value of its investment
and secure its asset on a long term basis.
This is a strategic equation that needs a careful due diligence process
to assess critical factors. Among them are political stability, security,
competitive and growing market, international laws and compliance, and
many other key benefits such as cost, engineering capabilities, availability
and quality of power, fibre connectivity, tax incentives...
FRANCE provides significant guarantees and advantages to ensure
successful strategic investments.
Five key competitive factors make France a strategic choice for
Datacenter investors:
1/ Electricity prices are by far the lowest in Europe and are guaranteed
on the long term thanks to France’s strategic energy policy.
100
France
100
124
Denmark
125
133
Portugal
135
United Kingdom
135
Sweden
135
167
389
200
Ita
Po
542
229
Italy
Sp
514
212
Ireland
De
361
206
Germany
Slo
347
Spain
150
Ire
306
165
100
Th
264
Slovenia
50
Ge
222
153
0
Un
167
141
Belgium
Be
139
Rumania
The Netherlands
Ile
250
Sw
694
800
Ru
600
400
200
Example of electricity costs for datacenters: (paid by members of the CRIP*)
…
* CRIP: Club des Responsables d’Infrastructures et de Production (includes some thirty members,
legal persons from the Datacenters world).
0

4. 2/ Ubiquitous high bandwidth telecom services offered at the most
competitive price, both for local and long-distance services.
3/ France is the place where your carbon footprint will be the lowest in
Europe. The Electricity Emission factor, as defined by the International
Energy Agency Data Services, 2006, listed France with only 87g per kWh,
compared to an average for Europe of 460g (TBC), or to Ireland with
573g/kWh or 467g/kWh for the UK.
4/ State-of-the art engineering skills guarantees high-level services
during design, construction phase and for operating even the most
complex datacenters.
5/ French regulations promotes a “Digital Economy Policy” and grant
barrier-free entry and legal protections to investors.
This document highlights the key arguments for locating a datacenter
in France.

5. Skills
best practices
Ubiquitous
high bandwidth
Energy cost
and reliability
Low barrier regulation
Worldwide leaders on
Building, Engineering
and Financing

6. The best quality for the
lowest price in Europe
1.1 Electrical energy:
the key issue for datacenters
The 225 and 400kV electricity
transport networks
AVELGEM
SELLINDGE
ACHENE
Whether managing, reconfiguring, operating,
or implementing a new datacenter, energy is
the key issue.
UCHTELFANGEN
EICHSTETTEN
The increase in electrical power required
to operate computer equipment (servers,
blade servers, and mainframes), energy-efficient cooling, and associated equipment has
weighed more heavily in the energy costs in
recent years. Energy is becoming an “operational cost” in some cases even exceeding
equipment depreciation costs.
Competitive electricity prices…
The organization of the electricity sector,
the structure of generating facilities in
France and the technologies used (nuclear
power plants) offer competitive prices to its
European customers, including industrial and
service companies.
The comparison drawn by the Energy
Observatory in January 2007 illustrates these
facts by comparing the electricity price for
industrial use including transportation and
distribution (excluding VAT and all taxes).
Among the countries of the EU 15, France, and
Finland, are the countries whose electricity is
ROMANEL
VERBOIS
RONDISSONE
VENAUS
HERNANI
0
100
400 kV grid
225 kV grid
UK-France interlinking
(270 kV DC)
200 Km
VICH
Source: RTE
Electricity price €/MWh (without taxes)
120
Average price for UE 15: 80,3
Average price for UE 27: 78,6
111.5
104.6
98.3
100
92.7
80
75.4
70.9
69.8
73.5
73.3
63.1
54.1
60
56.0
54.8
54.0
93.2
90.1
85.8
83.4
75.2
73.8
70.0
58.7
48.4
44.0
40
35.9
20
0
nd
nd
Au
st
Be ria
lg
iu
Bu m
lg
ar
ia
Cz
ec Cyp
h
Re rus
pu
bl
De ic
nm
a
Es rk
to
n
Fi ia
nl
an
Fr d
an
Ge ce
rm
an
Gr y
ee
Hu ce
ng
ar
Irl y
ea
nd
It
al
y
La
Li tvia
t
Lu hua
xe nia
m
bo
ur
g
Ma
lt
Po a
la
nd
Po
rtu
Ru gal
m
an
Sl ia
ov
a
Sl kia
ov
en
ia
Sp
ai
Th
n
e Sw
Ne ed
Un th en
ite erla
d
n
Ki ds
ng
do
m
For a foreign investor, the choice of location
of a datacenter is strategic. France is highly
competitive in terms of energy (see map).
LAUFENBURG
ASPHARD
BASSECOURT
Source: Eurostat

7. Evolution of power quality in Europe
Unplanned interruption excluding exceptional events:
minutes lost per year
least expensive (54 €/MWh), well ahead of
Germany (92.7 €/ MWh), Ireland, Italy and
Belgium (83.4 €/ MWh).
500
…independent of the changes in the
price of fossil resources and supplies…
400
The nature of electricity generation in
France - 80% nuclear - makes electricity
somewhat independent of price changes
for fossil resources. This is a guarantee of
price stability in France in an environment
in which energy prices in Europe are very
volatile and dependent on supply, safety
and pressure from investors.
300
200
100
... and electricity production emits
less CO2
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Unplanned interruption excluding exceptional events:
number of interruptions per year
6
5
95% of electricity from the French utility
company EDF is free of CO2 emissions through
nuclear power and hydropower. EDF emits an
average of 8 times less CO2 than the European
fleet: 42.5 CO2/KWh (IEA source).
1.2 Power Quality:
another French asset
4
3
2
1
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Austria (HV, MV)
Italy (HV, MV, LV)
Denmark (HV, MV)
Lithuania (HV, MV, LV)
Estonia (HV, MV, LV)
Portugal (HV, MV, LV)
France (LV)
Spain (HV, MV, LV)
Iceland (HV, MV, LV)
UK (HV, MV, LV)
The voltage level (LV, MV, HV) is related to where the incidents occur.
The French values in the figure are lower than the reality
Datacenters are very sensitive to power
quality and cannot operate with interruptions
of current or voltage dips (short interruption,
long outage, etc.), which explains why
datacenters power supplies are redundant
– i.e. doubled for safety – and facilities are
secured by uninterruptible power supplies
(UPS) against short interruptions (less than
3 minutes) and generators in case of long
outages (over 3 minutes).
The quality of electricity supply is judged
by the continuity of supply (no short
interruptions or long outages) and the
characteristics of the supply voltage
(voltage fluctuations such as voltage dips
that can affect the proper operation of
equipment).

8. This quality depends on:
• the performance of public power
distribution network,
• how electricity is used by the client;
some equipment may impair the quality of
voltage, such as the start of large motors
that can lead to voltage dips or the presence
of electronic equipment which may impair
the quality of the voltage waveform.
Number of power interruptions (long cuts 3 minutes
per low voltage customer and duration in minutes)
in Europe and United States
SAIFI
SAIDI
(number of interruptions)
(minutes)
Including
Major Events
Excluding
Major Events
Including
Major Events
Excluding
Major Events
Finland
4.1
2.3
183
109
France
1.2
1.2
53
45
UK
0.8
NA
70
NA
Italy
In average, the total interruption duration
for a low voltage customer is one hour per
year. This duration has decreased by a factor
of 6 in 20 years. In this respect, France is in
the forefront in Europe (see figures on p.8).
For medium voltage customers in France
(from 20,000 V), the total downtime is even
less than this value. In the U.S., downtime
is higher with a value close to two hours per
year (see following table).
Country
3.8
3.4
203
160
Ireland
1.3
NA
236
81
Netherlands
0.5
0.6
29
33
Norway
2.7
NA
218
NA
Portugal
7.5
NA
531
413
Spain
3.3
2.9
179
139
United States
1.1
1.1
214
107
SAIFI: System Average Interruption Frequency Index
SAIDI: System Average Interruption Duration Index
Reference: EPRI Solutions (CIRED 2005 conference)

9. 10

10. High quality, ubiquitous high bandwidth
telecoms and business opportunities
2.1 General context
A major characteristic of datacenters is
their need for communication, via networks,
with other datacenters and with the “rest
of the world”.
Therefore, such facilities are dependent
on highly efficient telecommunications
infrastructures. Datacenters requires multiple
access points and the existing networks
must be able to provide high bandwidth and
to guarantee the availability and quality
of service.
2.2 What future developments
can be expected?
Several structural evolutions in the future
will lead to increased geographical dispersion
of the physical components of the telecom
infrastructure. This is due to the:
• growth and diversification
of points of access to information,
• arrival of more powerful, more flexible
servers closer to the customers,
• growth of services within the network
(storage, virtualisation, calculation, etc.)
Finally, the new services related to grid
and cloud computing require strengthened
security, increased interoperability, and
physical locations as close as possible to the
end users to guarantee the interactivity of
these services.
What is the impact of openness toward
telecom infrastructure?
Electronic exchanges with customers (B2C),
suppliers and partners (B2B), and between
machines (M2M) impose new demands in
terms of connectivity, availability, security
and absorption of random loads. The
infrastructure must be flexible and adaptable
enough to guarantee maximum quality of
service at all times.
This requires that datacenters be connected
to a telecommunication infrastructure that
can meet these constraints both in terms of
quality and geographical coverage to ensure
several pathways for routing data in case of
access point failure or traffic overload.
2.3 What is the relative importance
of telecom in the development
strategy of datacenters?
The following figures are taken from the
CRIP White Paper on Datacenters (http://
www.crip-asso.fr/). With 25%, Telecom is
a decisive factor in the choice of location
of a Datacenter (see graph next page).
11

11. 2.4 France advantages in terms of
telecommunication networks
Concerns of Datacenter owners
3%
2.4.1 Coverage of networks
France is a critical European hub for data
communication infrastructure networks. The
country is served by transatlantic long distance fibre connection links such as shown
in the COGENT international infrastructure
below (source COGENT), which, in this case,
connects directly into the Paris area high
bandwidth capabilities.
5%
25%
5%
10%
12%
25%
15%
France has a telecommunications infrastructure that is particularly efficient and
competitive. The coverage of the entire
territory provides the possibility of having
several data routing paths at most points
in the network, reducing the impact of a
local/regional network breakdown.
Telecoms
Energy
Access to Vendors,
Manufacturers,
and Publishers
Accessibility of site
Environment
Quality of life
Access to personnel
Absence of natural
risks and loss events
France’s incumbent long standing operator (France Telecom/Orange) stands out in
Source CRIP White Paper – Datacenters – May 2009
Cogent Communication’s fibre network
Seattle
Stockholm
Portland
Toronto
Milwaukee
Chicago
Cincinnati
Kansas City
Marina Del Ray
Los Angeles
Cleveland
Pittsburgh
Newark
Copenhagen
Stainford
Garden City
Pennsauken
Wilmington
Herndon
Washington
Dayton
Denver
New York
Toledo
Columbus
Boston
Albany
White Plains
Troy
Detroit
Schiller Park
Sacramento
San Francisco
Santa Clara
Buffalo
Baltimore
Lille
San Diego
Phoenix
Atlanta
Caen
Rennes
Rouen
Paris
Tours
Dallas
Nantes
Austin
Bordeaux
Orlando
Houston
Vigo
Miami
North America IP Capacity: 80 Gbps
Transatlantic IP Capacity: 4 x 10 Gbps Paths
European IP Capacity: 40 Gbps
12
Essen
Brussels Düsseldorf
Frankfurt
Reims
Zürich
Poitiers
Lyon
Lisbon
Avila
Madrid
Gerona
Barcelona
Tarragona
Castellón
Valencia
Geneva
Albacete
Alamansa
Marseille
Berlin
Dresden
Mannheim
Strasbourg
Dijon
Bilbao SanSebastian
Burgos
Toulouse Montpellier
Palencia
Valladolid
Porto
Pamplona
Tampa
Source Cogent
Hamburg
Bremen
Dortmund
Amsterdam
London
St. Louis
Grenoble
Nice
Sophia
Stuttgart
Nürnberg
Munich
Vienna

12. Europe for the quality of its network and
its level of coverage. It provides network
backbones as well as local access points and
offers connection potential able to meet
datacenters telecom requirements.
Since 1996, alternative service providers
have appeared. They also offer optical infrastructures covering the entire country.
They have joined with major infrastructure
networks (electrical, railway, waterway, motorway, etc.) to deploy more than 86,000 km
of optical networks, thus providing competitive quality services in Paris and most large
French cities.
2.4.3 Competition of networks
in large cities
The connection of a datacenter to several
operators secures the availability of service
in case one of the networks breaks down.
The number of operators who have their own
infrastructure in a given territory is therefore
a major factor of competitiveness.
In France, the incumbent operator is present
in all urban areas, and several alternative
operators are present in most big cities, as
illustrated by the table below.
2.4.4 Competitive TELECOM rates
Moreover, France has many public-initiative
networks which have been deployed since
1999 throughout various regions of the
country. These networks reinforce the competitive coverage in France, providing fibreoptic access to more than 2,600 business
parks where datacenters can be installed.
In addition to the technical aspects and
the quality of the service provided, the cost
aspect is a decisive for choosing a datacenter
location. The cost/quality ratio makes France
a world leader in particular due to a highly
competitive local market.
Coverage of incumbent operator’s fibre network
Dunkerque
Fibre-optic networks in France’s major urban areas
City
France Telecom
Network
Alternative
networks
Paris
1
13
Marseille
1
10
Lyon
1
8
Toulouse
1
10
Nice
1
9
Nantes
1
8
Strasbourg
1
9
Montpellier
1
7
Bordeaux
1
6
Lille
1
9
Rennes
1
8
Reims
1
6
Le Havre
Seclin
Boulogne
1
0
Saint-Etienne
1
3
Toulon
1
5
Lille
Amiens
Le Havre
Rouen
St-Lo
Caen
Brest
St-Brieuc
Lens
Arras
St-Quentin
Beauvais Compiègne
Evreux
Rennes
Auxerre
Vannes
Nantes
Dijon
Poitiers
Nevers
Chateauroux
Montluçon
La Roche s/Yon
Niort
Besançon
Chalons s/Saône
Bordeaux
Annecy
Lyon
Limoges
Angoulême
Périgueux
Lons le Saulnier
Bourg en Bresse
Mâcon
La Rochelle
Saintes
Mulhouse
Belfort
Chaumont
Bourges
Angers
St-Nazaire
Epinal
Orléans
Blois
Strasbourg
Nancy
Troyes
Laval
Lorient
Metz
Paris
Alençon
Chartres
Le Mans
Quimper
Charleville
Reims
Chambéry
Clermont-Ferrand St-Etienne
Grenoble
Le Puy
Rodez
Agen
Biarritz
Montauban
Auch
Albi
Valence
Avignon
Montpellier
Toulouse
Digne
Aix
Nîmes
Sophia
Bastia
Nice
Cannes
Pau
Tarbes
Foix
Béziers
Narbonne
Perpignan
Ajaccio
Marseille
P-Pass
Gen PE
10 Gb/s link
Source France Telecom
1 Gb/s WDM metro
Source: TACTIS, www.Data Centermap.com
300 Mb/s GE/IP
13

13. The graph below is taken from an internal
study made by a major corporation in France.
It compares telecommunication costs in
several European countries (with baseline
100 corresponding to the Paris region).
According to this data, the relative share of
telecoms in the total cost of a datacenter
in France is only 28%, which is lower by
comparison to all other countries (from 35
to 91%).
The next graph, from the same source, shows
telecoms costs compared to the annual cost
of a datacenter (amortization operation).
For telecoms, the base used is a 2 x 4 Gbps
link between the Paris region and the country
in question. Again we see clearly that France
is highly competitive.
2.4.4 Opportunities related to the
internal telecommunications market
France’s high-performance telecommunications infrastructures create an opportunity
for locating datacenters. The high rate of
penetration of broadband in France (19 mil-
Comparison of telecommunications costs in several European countries
Ile-de-France
100
Belgium
125
United Kingdom
139
Germany
167
The Netherlands
222
Ireland
264
Slovenia
306
Denmark
347
Spain
361
Italy
389
Portugal
514
Sweden
542
Rumania
694
0
200
400
600
800
Telecoms costs compared to the annual cost of a datacenter (amortization operation)
2008
2015
Datacenter
Telecoms
Total
Datacenter
Telecoms
Total
USA
108
-
-
129
-
-
Brazil
88
165
253
95
140
235
China
67
-
-
83
-
-
India
76
487
563
95
414
509
Japan
130
162
292
157
162
319
France
100
39
139
106
39
145
Spain
111
59
170
126
59
185
Romania
77
113
190
102
96
198
Morocco
91
979
1070
95
-
-
Source: French company affiliated with CRIP
14

14. France Telecom coverage and Local loop unbundling (LLU) - October 2009
Coverage ratio
Population
Firms
DSL
98,75%
98,94%
LLU
70,34%
70,85%
Source: Tactis www.tactis.fr
15

15. lion subscriptions, of which nine million are
for unbundled ADSL access), and more generally triple-play offerings (85% of all lines are
eligible for 3 Mbps), has created a dynamic
internal market for suppliers of content.
Today France is one of the major Video-OnDemand markets in the world (80 Million € in
2009), and this market will be worth 500 Million € per year in 2012. In Europe, this market currently amounts to 700 Million € and
will be worth 2.4 Billion € in 2012.
Consumption of streaming video is also more
developed in France than in the United
States, with 79% of French Internet users
using it.
The density of datacenter network throughout
France makes it possible to offer a high quality
of service to consumers, and in particular
to those requiring low latency times and
high data rates. Distribution of audiovisual
content (Video-On-Demand, YouTube, etc.)
and online applications (cloud computing),
for example, would greatly benefit from the
multiplication of datacenters.
The internal market will also be boosted by
the massive mid-term deployment of FTTH
Overall availability of the incumbent operator’s network
Unavailability (10-6)
8
‘IP’ ENU service 8am - 7pm
7
IP ENU (NBH) 10-5: objective
6
IP ENU (NBH) 10-5: realized
5
IP ENU (NBH) 10-5: 6-months moving average
4
3
2
1
0
12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2007
Source: France Telecom
16
2008
2009

16. networks in France, in particular thanks to
public-initiative projects like the one in
the Paris area Hauts-de-Seine department
(800,000 connections), which will be
accelerated by the contribution of the French
government investment plan (2 Billion €
devoted to VHB infrastructures in addition
to 2 Billion € dedicated to digital content).
Locating a datacenter in France, with its
strategic position in the heart of Europe and
its telecom networks, will make it possible
to reach a significant percentage of a highpotential market for network-hosted services
and content. According to Cisco, each month
466 PB of data related to video streams pass
through the networks. Increasing the number
of datacenters would limit congestion in the
network core and increase the quality of
service to users.
2.4.5 Availability and quality
of the network
France is recognised as one of the countries
where the quality and availability of the
telecom network are among the best in the
world.
Furthermore, the diversity of the networks
existing in France and their direct
interconnection with the principal points
of exchange of world traffic result in the
availability of a large bandwidth capacity
and short latency periods.
17

17. 18

18. Worldwide leaders on
3.1 The strengths of France
in terms of construction
3.1.1 High education level in
engineering and construction
France is historically well-structured to
provide the best capabilities related to
engineering and construction.
France provides a large number of highly
specialized schools in civil and structural
engineering, in electrical and mechanical
engineering, as well as in construction
management.
The construction sector directly employs
about 1,550,000 people and is a leading professional branch in France.
It is noteworthy that the biggest construction
companies worldwide are French and
that France also has many world leaders
(Source: Fortune Global 500) in the areas
of construction materials: concrete, glass,
electrical equipment, water treatment...
Large construction companies in France
guarantee investors high-quality construction
and timely execution.
3.1.2 Construction standards
and regulations
The construction sector in France is one
of the most regulated and standardized in
the world.
The French Construction Code provides a
transparent framework for the construction
sector. Technical standards and mandatory
audits surveys by certified third-parties
guarantees solidity and safety and a legally
binding 10-years guarantee on all new
constructions limits the risks for foreign
investors.
19

19. 3.1.3 Construction methods
for Datacenters
France promotes durable construction
methods, including concrete. This has
several advantages:
• Reinforced concrete is a material that
has very good fire stability and natural
protection capabilities.
• Precast concrete shorten construction
times.
The combination of specific construction
methods and skills, with high production
capacities allows high-quality constructions
to be completed in a short period of time
(typically 10 months construction).
3.1.4 Construction costs for Datacenters
in France
Construction cost of datacenter depends on
several factors:
• Expected service level (Tiering grade by
Uptime Institute)
• Power ratio
• Associated areas and technical premises
(ie: offices, common services)
Various studies show that construction costs
in France are generally lower than in other
EU countries hosting datacenters (United
Kingdom, Netherlands ...) in terms of investment / development land / power / Tiering,
with an approximate 15% benefit compared
to UK and 10% benefit compared to the
Netherlands.
3.2 State of the art Dynamic and comprehensive
The French commercial real estate market is
very well structured and legally secure for local and foreign investors:
• Freehold property only, with involvement
of Notaries in all transactions means transparency.
• High protection of the landlord and his
property means security of investment.
• Secured cash flow through legalized lease
contracts and clear responsibilities of the
landlord and the tenant means security of
return on investment.
20

20. Investment vehicles for a Datacenter in
France:
• Direct ownership (possibly through a
Special Purpose Vehicle, a French Joint
Stock Company such as “SA” or “SAS”)
• Private real estate vehicles such as an OPCI
(similar to US REITs) or a SCPI (investment
company floated on a specific market)
Financing options available
on the French Market
Depending on the requirements of the private investor, various types of investment
vehicles are available with different characteristics regarding:
The French banking system has a large appetite for real estate projects. Moreover, all
international banks operate in France.
• Liquidity of the asset
In the special case of investment in a
datacenter project, all classic financing
options are available:
• Number of partners
• Corporate financing
• Tax optimization
• Project financing
• Leasing
• Mortgage
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21. 22

22. 4.1 Design, project and
management conception
Specialized French designers and consultancy companies can help investors assess
their Datacenter projects in a worldwide
competitive market. French companies can
collaborate in a multidisciplinary and multinational team to offer adequate services
throughout the implementation of datacenter projects. French professionals apply
best international practices for reliability
and efficiency.
French Consulting and Contractors Companies collaborate to design and build cuttingedge datacenters, satisfying investor’s major
requirements:
• High availability of physical infrastructure
for critical IT operations
• Zero operation downtime
• High power efficiency by introducing
energy optimization at the earliest
phases of design and construction
• Cost-effective investments through
life-cycle-cost analysis
• Thorough commissioning for quality
assurance
Consulting Services
A Datacenter project starts with determining
investors’ objectives and availability requirements. Qualified and experienced French
companies offer a broad range of consulting
services to carry out the pre-design, budget
and general planning of datacenter projects:
• Feasibility studies
• Cost budgeting
• Infrastructure availability
• Technical systems analysis
• Risk assessment
• Continuity and recovery requirements
• Site selection
• Master plan
• Project Planning
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23. Design Engineering Services
(For traditional ‘‘design – specify – bid – build’’
solution)
• Security systems
Specialized French companies are currently
involved in the renovation and upgrading
of existing datacenters as well as the design
of new facilities. They offer comprehensive
architectural and technical services to
develop datacenter design in accordance with
the needs and programs of the investors.
• Etc.
They manage datacenter projects during the
design, engineering and execution phases:
• Green datacenter
• Survey of existing systems and facilities
• Architectural design
• Structural design
• Electrical design
• Mechanical design
• Fire protection
24
• Cabling systems
• IT systems
Design and Engineering services can cover all
aspects of design:
• Comprehensive design services for upgrading and renovating existing facilities
• Maximizing free cooling and facility
efficiency with dynamic simulation
• Improving datacenter power efficiency
(PUE)
• Schematic design
• Design development
• Equipment and facilities specifications
• Procurement and bid evaluation

24. Project Management and Construction
Management (PM/CM)
French specialized consulting firms and
contractors offer all capabilities and
experience for Project Management (PM) and
Construction Management (CM) in accordance
with international standards.
PM/CM services optimize the implementation
of complex datacenter projects, reduce
capital spending, delivering the project ontime and within the budget according to the
investor’s scope:
• Design management, involving
multidisciplinary project team
• Management and coordination
of contractors
• Coordination of equipment delivery
• Equipment installation
• Full scale testing and commissioning
Construction
No matter what solution investors choose
for the construction of their datacenter - the
traditional “design – specify – bid – build”
solution or the “design and build” solution,
various French contractors provide specialized
expertise and experience with separate trades
or packages or general contractor for complex
datacenters :
• Detail specification and shop drawings
• Procurement
• Equipment supply and rigging
• Equipment installation
• Datacenters commissioning
4.2 Operation and maintenance
French companies offer monitoring and control for operation and maintenance services
in order to ensure reliable operation of the
critical systems installed:
• Infrastructure Management Control
• Performance Management
• Site monitoring and control
• Preventive maintenance services
• 24/7 emergency services
• Corrective maintenance services
These companies provide management
staff and field technicians for all types of
equipment and trades. They offer a wide range
of services including specific preventive,
24/7 emergency and corrective services for
supply of critical equipment:
• HVAC and mechanical
• Fire protection
• General contracting
• Electrical equipment, UPS batteries,
generators, ATS
• Construction management
• Communication and cabling
• Turn key construction
• IT equipment
• Security and access control
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25. 26

26. Risk assessment
Management
France is one of the EU leaders in data protection and fully complies with the most
stringent Health, Safety and Environment
(HSE) standards.
Datacenters, part of the “New Economy”,
protect and provide the technical elements
necessary to deliver computing and telecom
services and are critical assets for companies’
operations. Such facilities need to meet the
highest standards.
Therefore identifying and preventing risks are
of prime importance; risks can be sorted and
classified in 3 main categories:
• Natural risks such as climate disorders
(storms, droughts, blizzards, etc.),
geological
accidents
(earthquakes,
volcanoes, tsunamis...), or hydraulic
(flooding, avalanches...)
• Risks of human origin: sabotage,
terrorism, mistake, poor understanding
of operational instructions
• Technical risks : related to any threat
generated by equipment breakdown or
failure, obsolete equipment, etc
France has set up a specific organization
and corresponding procedures and regulations to cope with such risks, in particular
with regard to security and safety.
The French Agency DRIRE (Direction Régionale de l’Industrie, de la Recherche et
de l’Environnement) is a public organization delivering permit for safe operation of
industrial premises.
Datacenter installations and equipment
have to comply with regulations related to
stocking inflammable liquids, accumulator’s
battery, cooling refrigerant, etc… through
a “ICPE” permit file application (ICPE
Installations Classées pour la Protection de
l’Environnement).
27

27. As a result, France provides a set of regulations in compliance with European directives
and best international standards.
French manufacturers and contractors fully
comply with such requirements (such as
Product Environment Profiles (PEP), WEEE,
and RoHS, calculation of Life Cycle Assessments-LCA).
For Datacenters, the complete life cycle from
design to recycling has to be taken into consideration given the rising global concern
for the environment and the use of natural
resources, including emission of CO2 and
other greenhouse gases. In the wake of this
growing awareness and important measures
that will follow, the Carbon Footprint of a
datacenter throughout its entire life-cycle
must be considered such as main following
aspects:
This application includes different aspects:
• Materials
• Neighbourhood
• Design and construction
• Health
• Equipment manufacturing
• Safety
• Transportation / installation
• Protection of the nature
and the environment
• Operation and consumption
• Conservation of sites and monuments
Sustainable development is key in all
construction projects thanks to the French
government’s strong commitment and
involvement in terms of protection of the
environment. France is at the leading edge
of these works and has many experts working
in various technical committees related
to this matter. This includes works with
standardization bodies at the French level
with AFNOR or UTE, at the European level
such as CEN or CENELEC or at the international
level with the IEC, ISO or ITU.
EU WEEE standard: Waste of Electronic
and Electrical Equipment, which implies
the complete selective treatment and
recycling of products
EU RoHS standard: Restriction of
Hazardous Substances in electrical and
electronic equipment which concerns
lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls
(PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether
(PBDE), with maximum permitted concentrations of 0.1% by weight of homogeneous material.
EU REACH standard: Registration Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals.
28

28. • Maintenance
Life Cycle of products
• Disposal, with recycling
Transport
Installation
Use
ibr
a
Wo tion
rk
Design
Maintenance
Cal
Therefore, all manufacturers commit themselves to providing carbon assessments for
products embedded in datacenters and reduce carbon footprint in the manufacturing
process.
In datacenters, electrical energy is the base
of operations. In this context, relevant information is regularly released to implement
best operating behaviors and practices for
energy saving.
Material
Recycling
French stakeholders have been involved in
the drafting of the European Code of Conduct
29

29. on Energy Efficiency for Datacenters with
qualified representatives participating in the
working groups.
Such a “voluntary scheme” will provide a
platform for bringing together European
stakeholders to define and implement
voluntary actions toward energy efficiency.
They are invited to enforce appropriate
measures to control and monitor Health
Safety procedures, as a vital part of
Datacenter Management.
30
Participants are invited to continuously
monitor energy consumption and adopt
energy saving management to improve
energy efficiency. The Code of Conduct
will use the metrics recommended by the
Green Grid, referring to two related metrics
recently introduced in the Industry: “Power
Usage Effectiveness” (PUE) and “Datacenter
Infrastructure Efficiency” (DCIE).
-oOo-

31. 03/10 Photos credits : contributors, Getty images, Phovoir, Fotolia
France: Genuine attractiveness
A Datacenter is a complex systemand such complex facilities need to be located in an
adapted environment. Taking these criteria together, France’s attractiveness emerges
very positive:
• Highly reliable electric network
• Stable, competitive and low electrical energy rates
• Electrical energy produced with low carbon footprint
• Reliable telecom infrastructure and open to competition
• Broadly deployed fibre-optic infrastructure, connected directly to countries which are
major players in the digital economy
• Low per-m2 real-estate rates
• A geostrategic position at the crossroads of Europe
• Highly educated staff to design, build and operate datacenter
• Credibility in terms of sustainable development
The sum of all these advantages makes France a very competitive
location for Datacenters.
Welcome to your Datacenter in France
The “France for Datacenters” Club is hosted by:
Gimélec - French industry association for electrical equipment, automation and related services
11-17 rue de l’Amiral Hamelin F-75783 Paris cedex 16
Contact: tel. ++ 33 1 45 05 70 77
www.francefordatacenters.fr