Q9 Networks Inc. (Q9) is pleased to announce its sixth data center in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Q9 will invest $125 million in the new 6,500 cabinet equivalent, 240,000-sq-ft facility. This announcement represents Q9's largest-ever investment in new data center capacity serving the GTA. The first phase of capacity will be available to customers in January 2011.

Today's announcement is in response to continued strong demand for Q9's high availability data center services and follows the August 2009 opening of the first phase of the company's third Calgary data center, a $50 million investment. Including the facility announced today, Q9's investments in data centre capacity total more than $335 million, further enhancing Q9's leadership position as Canada's largest commercial data center operator. Q9 recently secured $210 million in new financing and is backed by private equity investment firm, ABRY Partners, which has $4.4 billion of capital under management and is committed to Q9's continued expansion.

The new GTA data center will be built to the same exacting standards as all Q9 data centers and will include such features as outside air cooling capability to maximize energy efficiency, biometric security systems, multiple connections to the Internet, redundant power, HVAC and fire suppression systems, as well as 24/7 on-site security and technical support teams.

"Canadian businesses of all sizes are increasingly recognizing the inherent value of outsourcing to a data centre and hardware infrastructure specialist like Q9," says Osama Arafat, chief executive officer. "With more than a decade of experience, hundreds of blue chip customers and an enviable track record of uptime, Q9 is the clear choice for organizations with mission-critical IT operations. Today's announcement further strengthens our market leadership and demonstrates our commitment to meeting the needs of our customers well into the future."

Q9 designs, builds and operates its data centers to meet the most demanding IT infrastructure requirements, including the increased power and cooling demands of today's high density computing devices. Customers connect to the Internet via Q9's unique network and are protected by Q9's 100%, SLA-backed uptime guarantees on both power and network availability. Customer equipment and data centre environmental parameters are monitored 24/7 by Q9's Control Centre, staffed by experts versed in all aspects of IT and facilities management.