Prévessin Data Centre Powers Up

CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

Published online: 7 October 2025

Abstract

CERN’s state-of-the-art Prévessin Data Centre (PDC) is now operational, complementing CERN’s Meyrin Data Centre Tier-0 facility to provide additional and sustainable computing power to meet the needs of High-Luminosity LHC in 2029 (expected to be ten times greater than today). In 2019, it was decided to tender the design and construction of a new, modern, energy-efficient (PUE of ≤ 1.15) Data Centre with a total of 12 MW IT capacity spread across six IT rooms. As it stands, two out of six IT rooms are production ready with a combined 4MW of IT capacity, with the remaining to be commissioned in two phases over the next ten years. To begin, we will guide you through the commissioning of the Data Centre, with explanations of the various steps taken to equip the IT rooms. We will outline the acceptance process and the comprehensive trial operation tests which ensured a smooth transition into Operations and Maintenance (O&M) mode. O&M will be handled by Service Provider, EQUANS, in a collaborative partnership with the CERN IT department. This approach is the first of its kind at CERN and in this talk, we’ll delve into how the contract was established. We will finish by providing an overview of our progress in the first operational year with a look forward to scalable growth through the phased deployment of the remaining four IT rooms that will meet the anticipated need for physics computing into Run4.