UQ has opened a new data centre to better protect its most important computer systems, and has set a new standard in data centre design in the process.

The 90sqm ITS-designed facility, shared with the School of Medicine, is designed to withstand disasters.

Director of the University's Information Technology Services (ITS) Nick Tate said the data any university held on its central computer systems was vital to its viability.

"This point was highlighted when a number of U.S. universities lost their records and were forced to shut down in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," he said.

"The new data centre plays a part in protecting UQ's most critical assets and the business continuity of the enterprise.

"The loss of our data centres would have a significant impact on our operations.

"The new data centre is well out of the flood zone, and because it is not at the main St Lucia campus, ITS may use it to keep the University informed in the event of a crisis at the main campus.

"A unique feature of the new data centre is its ability to cool using battery power, avoiding a melt-down in the event that both mains power and the backup generator fail.

"This gives staff vital time to attend to repair the generator or safely shut down systems."

Mr Tate said the new data centre would help provide better protection for UQ's mission-critical computer systems.

"It's setting a new standard for data centres at UQ,” he said.

ITS currently runs six University data centres across four campuses.

Mr Tate said he hoped the new data centre would be a model for a new state-of-the-art facility at least 10 times larger, currently under consideration.

The new facility is required to replace UQ's current primary data-centre which was the first in Queensland, and after half century of service is now due for replacement. The average life of a data centre is 11 years.