Why did Zone´s development Manager dodged a visit to the most modern data centre in the Baltics for years?

Ardi Jürgens, Development Manager and Board Member of Zone.ee

"I was invited several times to visit the data center during its construction phase, but I always declined. I knew that if I saw it, I'd become so emotionally attached that it would be hard to remain objective afterward," says Ardi Jürgens, Development Manager and Board Member of Zone.ee, explaining how he long avoided visiting Estonia's most advanced data center.

In October, Zone—one of Estonia's largest internet infrastructure and support service providers—completed its move to the Greenergy Data Centers facility just outside Tallinn. This data center stands out for its unprecedented reliability and security in the region. It was undoubtedly a costly and labor-intensive step, taken with the hope and expectation that it will pay off many times over in the future.

Years ago, Ardi was among those who said, "This all sounds great, but come back when we can walk around your facility ourselves," as we've previously written in our blog. What changed his mind, and what opportunities does the move create? Read on in the interview.

How did the idea of moving Zone to Greenergy Data Centers come about? Why was it necessary?

"It was the result of long and thorough groundwork. The project was first introduced to us seven years ago, and we were rather skeptical about whether anything would come of it because we'd seen similar projects before. Several companies and investors have planned data centers in Estonia, but none had the persistence and dedication to endure all the setbacks and skepticism and push through the obstacles.

"What GDC has achieved today is truly next-level infrastructure in the context of Estonia and the Baltic region. Most of the so-called 'data center' infrastructure wasn't originally built to be data centers."

Where did you previously host your equipment?

"Zone is turning 25 at the beginning of December. When we started, it was with just one or two servers. Back then, there was a server provider called EstData that offered server hosting. In reality, this meant a room in the Institute of Cybernetics where desks were lined up, and you could place your server on or under a desk and connect it to the network.

"At one point, we rented our own room in the same building, initially combining people and servers in one space. Eventually, we had enough servers to dedicate a room solely to them. We operated with this makeshift hosting and infrastructure for several years.

"Our first move to a telecommunications building was through KPNQwest, which had hosting spaces on Ädala Street in the old communication center of the KGB. Later, we've hosted our servers at Telia's facility at Sõle 14, in the basement of the Tallinn TV Tower, on Sõpruse Avenue, and at Sõle 25, which was Linxtelecom's and later CITIC Telecom's space. The common factor among all these locations was that none were specifically built for equipment hosting. Existing spaces were adapted to host servers.

"Interestingly, GDC is the first purpose-built data center in Estonia where Zone is hosting its equipment. For 25 years, we've been moving around the city like nomads, but now we've finally come home."

How did you end up choosing Greenergy? What convinced you?

"Our site managers—those who actually handle the management and setup of data centers for us—played a significant role in bringing us to GDC. Since Zone's infrastructure isn't only in Estonia but also in Amsterdam (where we collaborate with Equinix) and Finland (where we work with Telia), our specialists have seen how things are done at a world-class level. When they saw GDC completed, it was a 'finally!' moment for them. Now they can operate at the same level with equally professional partners and top-tier infrastructure, just like they were used to in the Netherlands and Finland.

"To be honest, it took them some time to convince me that it was worth considering and taking seriously what had been accomplished. I was invited multiple times to visit the data center during its construction, but I always said I couldn't come—I feared that if I saw how impressive it was, I'd lose my objectivity. For me, the first time I stepped into GDC was essentially when we cut the ribbon for our team. This move is a very big and important step for us."

Why is this move so significant?

"On an anecdotal level, it's a massive advancement in terms of infrastructure continuity and security for both Zone and all of Estonia. I remember when most of Estonia's hosting and telecom infrastructure was concentrated in one block on Sõle Street: the Ädala government communications building, Telia's Sõle 14, and Linxtelecom's (later CITIC Telecom's) Sõle 25. The maximum distance between any two buildings was about 500–600 meters. All the fiber-optic cabling ran through the same conduits. Among telecom and IT folks, there was a saying that if you found the right manhole cover on Sõle Street and tossed a grenade in, you could essentially blackout all of Estonia. The concentration of critical infrastructure was very high.

"The fact that GDC built a new facility outside the city center and sufficiently far from other data centers gives us—who serve half or more of Estonia's internet for small and medium-sized enterprises—the opportunity to improve our infrastructure's continuity. We're one of the keepers of Estonia's societal operations. The location alone is invaluable to us. It's far from places it needs to be far from and close to what it needs to be close to."

How did the move to GDC proceed?

"We're relocating services and equipment to GDC from two other data centers. We'll still have two data centers in Tallinn, which is important for our operational continuity. We've executed the move in a hybrid fashion, meaning we've moved both physical equipment and data and services. We built an entirely new network at GDC and brought in brand-new servers. This means that, for the most part, we didn't physically move old servers from one place to another but transferred data from old servers to new ones. With GDC's robust 100-gigabit network, the move was extremely fast and efficient. Of course, our technicians are still driving around at night with physical boxes."

Were there any service interruptions during the move?

"Prior to the move, we conducted thorough planning to minimize the impact on active services. Fortunately, we've considered this in our information system's design. One of our most critical services is email. People often think of Zone as a web hosting provider, but every service we offer is multifaceted. It includes web hosting, email hosting, database hosting, cloud file storage, and more. However, email is the service people interact with most directly.

"Thanks to foresight and planning, we've managed to carry out the move in such a way that we could simply shut down part of our email infrastructure, pack it into a car, drive to GDC, set everything up again, and reconnect it to our infrastructure without anyone noticing that their mailbox was moved overnight from one data center to another."

What opportunities does the move create?

"With any critical infrastructure, you don't want to be constantly tinkering with it. If possible, you bundle upgrades or paradigm shifts into a unified effort. For example, alongside the move to GDC, we've made several fundamental changes, such as upgrading the backbone network in the Tallinn area to 100 gigabits, enhancing our core network, and transitioning to a fully optical network architecture at GDC. We've also made significant advancements in the processor architecture of our new servers.

"The move is a massive undertaking, but it actually creates opportunities. Our infrastructure team, architects, engineers, and site managers have dreamed of perfecting certain aspects. Moving between data centers has given them fantastic opportunities to do just that. In some ways, we've been able to start with a clean slate and build world-class infrastructure in a world-class data center.

"It's like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon—we were caterpillars in another data center, and now we've spread our wings at GDC with completely new network and server infrastructure."

What has improved for Zone and its clients with the new data center?

"It's hard to list everything this move has enabled. There are so many benefits, including environmental sustainability. New servers and network devices are much more eco-friendly than the old ones.

"Our task now is to figure out how to repurpose the hundreds of servers remaining in the previous data center—how many we can rotate into scenarios where their lifecycle doesn't end at the landfill. In the past, Zone has donated hardware to schools, hacker clubs, and enthusiasts. Servers are built to operate for decades; they don't physically deteriorate quickly, but they do become outdated technologically.

"One thing we have to consider is the economic aspect. Our clientele—small and medium-sized enterprises—are sensitive and vulnerable to price increases. Especially lately, with inflation constantly eroding entrepreneurs' finances, taxes rising, and expenses growing, we're trying to find ways to control costs in our services.

"With our server fleet, we're a significant energy consumer. What Greenergy offers us is reliable energy infrastructure and reasonable electricity prices. The electricity cost from Greenergy is something we can rely on in the long term. Unfortunately, we've experienced situations where energy-related costs were unpredictable or unstable, leading to unpleasant scenarios, especially during the energy crisis prompted by the war in Ukraine.

"Stability and predictability of energy prices are key components for us. Everyone wants to see their spreadsheets in the green. GDC provides us with a bit of certainty and stability in an uncertain world."

Is the benefit measurable for Zone?

"In the short term, the move is definitely a cost. It's always tempting to postpone moves and big decisions. But in the long run? It's challenging to put exact numbers on it, but a significant leap in infrastructure opens up new opportunities whose value is hard to estimate today.

"Looking at Zone's development perspective—in addition to the Estonian market, we sell our services across Europe—one of the biggest gains is the reliability we achieve in the eyes of our international clients thanks to the GDC data center. They see that it's possible to build world-class hosting and cloud services from Estonia on top of world-class data centers. In this respect, I believe this investment will pay off many times over. Hopefully, we'll eventually measure this move's impact in millions of euros of additional revenue for Zone and contribute to Estonia's exports more broadly. That's why we're striving, building, and investing—not to quietly idle in a corner, but to grow and do exciting things."