Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing recently opened its Tier IV data center -- the centerpiece of the firm's HK$3 billion ($386.8 million)Orion Technology initiatives -- in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.
The five-storey, 31,400 square meter-facility consolidates primary data centers -- previously in two different Hong Kong locations -- for all of HKEx's markets and clearing house systems under one roof, as well as majority of IT development and support staff, said HKEx.
Since last October, the firm has already signed up 100 market participants for the data center's hosting service that provides low-latency co-location with HKEx markets, said HKEx, adding that the service occupies two dedicated floors and can support up to 1,200 racks. The customer base is split between large brokerage houses and small ones, HKEx revealed.
"HKEx is at a transition point in its development. With the acquisition of the London Metal Exchange, HKEx Group is a major global player in the exchange space," said HKEx chairman C K Chow. “Robust IT infrastructure is the foundation of any modern exchange. Without it, we would not be able to embark on our business expansion plans."
In addition, the new data center enables high capacity trading and ultra-low latency price information with a suite of market data products, giving market participants more options for trading and data services, HKEx added.
The HKEx data center is said to meet the LEED gold standard, which is part of an internationally-recognised green building certification scale. It is also among the first Exchange-built data centers in the Asia Pacific to reach Tier 4 data center standard