Equinix, Inc. has announced plans to build a tenth International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Washington, D.C. (DC10). DC10 will provide approximately 77,000 sq fe of customer floor space, built out in multiple phases. Targeted to open in early 2012, the first phase is expected to cost $34 million in expansion capital, which is already reflected in the company’s guidance.

DC10 will offer Business Suites, which is a targeted service offering designed to meet a complete range of application needs for strategic Equinix customers primarily in the content & digital media, cloud and federal markets. The Business Suites offering is ideal for customers with multi-tier architecture requirements that combine network nodes as well as service nodes that may require a larger footprint and can be directly tethered back to an IBX. The DC10 facility will support growing demand for colocation and Business Suite services from customers who are looking to Equinix as their strategic infrastructure partner. Equinix has previously offered Business Suites in certain markets in EMEA.

“As the most interconnected site on the East Coast, the Ashburn campus has long been a location of strategic importance to us,” said Charles Meyers, president of the Americas for Equinix. “With strong demand for Platform Equinix in this market, we continue to invest in the D.C. metro area to support the requirements of our expanding customer base.”

The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which serves as the eastern hub of Internet traffic exchange in the United States, is an important metropolitan area for Equinix and its customers. Together, the existing nine IBX data centers in the D.C. metro area serve nearly 600 customers and represent many of the largest Internet exchange points in the world. Equinix IBX data centers in the D.C. metro area include rich ecosystems that allow network and content services providers, cloud and IT services, and enterprise and federal government customers to quickly and efficiently exchange critical business data with their strategic partners.

Equinix also announced the availability of its Business Continuity Services in Milan, Italy, which is a leading European finance and technology hub. The new Business Continuity facility will protect customers’ mission critical operations in the event of a major incident or disaster. Equinix Business Continuity Services are located in secure facilities that meet or exceed industry standards to allow customers to meet regulatory requirements for business continuity, and ensure operations will continue in a secure and reliable environment. In addition to Milan, Equinix offers Business Continuity services in Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, and New York.