Colocation · Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center

The primary digital gateway of the Middle East, housing the UAE-IX regional peering exchange

Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center on the mapmap: Natural Earth (public domain)

The story

Located in Dubai Production City, Equinix DX1 was established in 2012 as an alliance between Equinix and UAE telecom provider du to build the first carrier-neutral digital hub in the Middle East. Hosting UAE-IX (managed by DE-CIX), DX1 revolutionized internet routing across the Gulf by keeping regional data traffic local rather than routing it through European exchanges. It interconnects global cloud platforms, financial trading hubs, and major Arabian Gulf subsea routes.

Notable

The premier carrier-neutral interconnection hub in the Middle East, connecting over 50 network providers.
Houses the UAE-IX (United Arab Emirates Internet Exchange) operated in partnership with DE-CIX.
Acts as the digital crossroads bridging subsea cable systems across Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Anchors enterprise cloud routing and latency-sensitive financial networks across the GCC region.

Expansions

2018: Completion of DX2 and DX3 interconnection bridges within Dubai metro
2023: Subsea cable landing expansion connecting SeaMeWe-6 and 2Africa branches

Operator	Equinix
Owner	Equinix Inc.
Type	Colocation
Location	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Opened	2012
Status	operating
IT power	20 MW
Total power	28 MW
PUE	1.38 (reported)
Site area	30,000 m²
Building area	15,000 m²
Cooling	magnetic bearing chillers, chilled water, hot aisle containment
Power	grid source: DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) · renewable pct: 40 % · onsite generation: dual 11 kV substations with automatic static transfer · backup: diesel
Certifications	ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type II

See it on the earth

Record confidence: high. Values marked "estimated" are estimates in the source data.

Sources

DX1 Dubai International Business Exchange Specification Sheet · Equinix · 2024-01-15
UAE-IX Enabled Sites: Equinix DX1 Dubai · UAE-IX / DE-CIX · 2024-02-01
Equinix expands Dubai data centre footprint amid soaring regional demand · Arabian Business · 2022-05-10

Part of the open famous data centers dataset (CC BY 4.0). Updated 2026-10-15. A correction? da@mustardseedmt.com

Questions people ask

What is Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center famous for?

The primary digital gateway of the Middle East, housing the UAE-IX regional peering exchange

Where is Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center?

Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (25.032, 55.195). It is operated by Equinix.

How much power does Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center use?

About 20 MW of IT load and 28 MW in total, according to the sources listed on this page.

What is the PUE of Equinix DX1 Dubai Data Center?

1.38, reported.