A new disaster recovery center with the ability to withstand a Category 5 hurricane will open in Jacksonville in mid-September.

Colo 5's 122,000-square-foot data center, which is housed in the former Barnett Bank Data Center in Spring Park Road near Interstate 95 and University Boulevard, has two underground diesel fuel tanks capable of powering the building and its contents for more than a week. The facility also has 18-inch-thick walls, windscreens capable of withstanding 225 mph winds, and all exits have metal rollup doors.

About 35,000 square feet of the building is raised, allowing easy acess to cabling.

"We spent about $2 million in upgrades external and internal," said David Muyres, the company's co-owner and chief financial officer.

Colo 5's CEO and president, Doug Recker, said the data center has three fiber carriers, so that if a Comcast fiber is disconnected, its contents can be rerouted to the other fiber carriers -- AT&T and Level 3 -- or vice versa.

The company has seven tenants lined up, but expects to have about 50 by the end of 2009. Recker said the company is well funded with more than $2 million in financial backing.

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