LinkedIn chose Singapore for its first data center outside the US

Photo credit: Ben Scholzen.

LinkedIn has opened its first data center outside the US, and it’s right here in Singapore, according to a press release. The facility is located in Jurong, at an industrial business area in the west of the city state, and takes up 2,180 square meters of real estate.

LinkedIn says it uses smart design to ensure reduced power consumption by a percentage equivalent to the power used by about 100 private homes in Singapore.

LinkedIn has so far invested US$59 million into the facility.

According to an additional post, the company says it chose to work with Singapore as it ranked the highest in their search for reliable and fast infrastructure. Singapore is also the landing point for the trans-pacific fiber cable, which makes the location very desirable for faster transmission speeds.

The professional social network has so far invested US$59 million into the facility, which will process all of LinkedIn’s online traffic in Asia-Pacific. It will also help handle LinkedIn’s increasing storage and processing needs, which the company said grew 34 percent in 2015. LinkedIn is working with Singapore’s Economic Development Board to establish its presence in the country.

See: Singapore Budget 2016: What’s in store for startups

The company says the number of its members in Asia-Pacific has more than doubled since January 2013, reaching 85 million at the end of 2015. Of these, over 16 million members are in Southeast Asia (more than 1 million in Singapore), over 34 million are in India, and over 7 million are in Australia.

Singapore has renewed its pledge to support local tech entrepreneurship and innovation, and moves like this certainly point toward that goal.

Converted from Singapore dollars. US$1 = S$1.35.