Data Centre Projects: Infrastructure Builds, Innovations & Updates

WIOCC lands world’s largest subsea cable system into OADC Durban

WIOCC has landed 2Africa - the world’s largest subsea cable system - into OADC Durban, owned and operated by Open Access Data Centres (OADC), in KZN, South Africa. This offers the province and country an increase in international capacity and the promise of more reliable internet and other connectivity services. WIOCC Group Chief Executive Officer, Chris Wood, comments, “This latest major international cable landing is another example of WIOCC Group playing a key role in building Africa’s digital infrastructure, and accelerating the continent’s digital transformation through the delivery of converged open digital infrastructure. “We are pleased to be working with our partners in the 2Africa project, bringing faster, more reliable internet to local businesses and consumers, and making an enduring contribution to communications in Africa. The subsea cable system is enabling more communities to access transformative online resources, from education and healthcare to jobs and financial services, and experience the economic and social benefits of seamless connectivity.” Economic benefits The 2Africa cable project was launched in May 2020 to significantly increase the capacity, quality and availability of internet connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world, and a recent study by RTI International predicts that within two to three years of becoming operational, 2Africa will spur economic impact worth $26.2 billion to $36.9 billion, equivalent to 0.42-0.58% of Africa’s GDP. The arrival of the 45,000km, 180Tbps 2Africa cable system in Amanzimtoti, 25km south of Durban, will bring much-needed additional international capacity for internet and other services, support high-speed internet delivery and provide greater diversity, which will benefit businesses and individuals throughout South Africa.  Benefits of Amanzimtoti landing This landing, into OADC’s 4MW-capable open access OADC Durban facility in Amanzimtoti, is 2Africa’s fourth on the coast of South Africa - two in the western cape (Yzerfontein and Duynefontein) and one in the eastern cape (Gqeberha). ● Service uptime can be maximised by utilising this new OADC Durban-2Africa route for international traffic because, apart from the METISS system, no other international cable lands in Amanzimtoti.   ● Organisations can quickly and easily access 2Africa’s international connectivity to extend their operations in KZN and elsewhere in South Africa, as OADC Durban is open access and carrier-neutral. ● The cable system’s landing in Amanzimtoti also offers the potential for increased regional job creation in sectors that rely on direct international connectivity, such as data centres, call centres and software development, which can help contribute to both local and national socio-economic development. OADC Durban went live in April 2022 and will ultimately deliver 4,200m²  of flexible space, supporting 2,000m² of IT white space, as well as A-Grade tech park office space. It delivers the location, scale and client focus required to maximise opportunities for carriers, content providers, fixed and mobile network operators, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to host their equipment and applications, and to increase the speed and reliability of the connectivity and services they provide to their customers. Landing 2Africa into carrier-neutral OADC Durban ensures that service providers are able to access international capacity and onward, domestic and intra-Africa connectivity on a fair and equitable basis, which will encourage and support the development of a healthy internet ecosystem. Once the system has been fully deployed, businesses and consumers will benefit from improved quality, reliability and lower latency for internet services, including telecommuting, high-definition video streaming and advanced multimedia and mobile video applications.  The 2Africa project underpins the further growth of 4G, the continued roll-out of 5G and fixed broadband access, by providing improved connectivity to underserved and rural areas, and network resilience between KZN and the rest of South Africa. As a gateway to international connectivity, the cable’s landing in Amanzimtoti will also help to drive the upgrade and expansion of telecommunications networks in KZN and surrounding provinces. Chris concludes, “As a fibre pair investor in the 2Africa systems, we are greatly expanding and diversifying WIOCC’s capacity inventory to ensure that we continue to serve the evolving needs of our content provider and cloud operator clients, as well as those of the wider wholesale community.”

Secure I.T. Environments completes data centre works for retailer

Secure I.T. Environments has announced the completion of a data centre floor plan redesign and build project, creating a new technology lab, and two UPS upgrades, for a UK retailer. The initial project involved reducing the size of an existing modular data centre, and creating a new technology lab that could be using for testing technology innovations the retailer has planned to deploy. Splitting the data centre meant redesigning lighting, structured cabling, fire suppression, air conditioning, new flooring, and environmental monitoring systems. A new fire-rated modular panel wall was installed to separate the existing data centre, forming the new lab room and storage facility. Some hardware was decommissioned, but wherever feasible, existing infrastructure was redeployed where it met the energy efficiency requirements of the project. All aspects of the new lab area were undertaken by Secure I.T. Environments, including the extension of structured cabling, lighting and AHU circuits, as well as fitting out with new bespoke lab workstations, new carpet tiled floor, fire protection and integrity testing. In addition to the data centre redesign, Secure I.T. Environments undertook two different UPS upgrades, aimed at helping the head office meet its commitments to carbon neutrality over the coming decade. The first UPS project, which took place in a live environment, involved replacing two 275kVA Eaton UPS systems with Riello 42kVA N+1 MPW CBC 130 MultiPower Combo Cabinet UPS and batteries modules. Old equipment was disposed of in accordance with ISO14001 Standards, and repairs were made to floor, given the new solution required a much smaller footprint. The second, smaller UPS upgrade, included the installation of new dual input power supplies and output cabling from an existing bypass panel to the new UPS. This also took place in a live environment. Chris Wellfair, Projects Director at Secure I.T. Environments, adds, “One of the best things about working with modular data centre solutions, is the ease with which they can be extended, or redesigned to meet the changing needs of an organisation. Our long-standing work with this UK retailer, meant that we knew the site well, our installation phase was very short, and we could move to making the upgrades possible in a live environment with a minimum of disruption.”

The Datum Group announces new data centre facilities

The Datum Group has announced plans to open two new data centre facilities in 2024. The move will see the company expand its colocation offering to meet the growing demand for data centre space. The two new facilities (FRN2 and MCR2) will be located on the sites of the Datum Group's existing data centres in Farnborough (FRN1) and Manchester (MCR1). They will provide Datum’s clients with even greater choice and flexibility when it comes to choosing a colocation provider. FRN2, link detached to Datum’s flagship Farnborough facility, will provide 600 footprints on the ground floor, with scope to double this capacity on the first floor. All data halls will provide an average power density of 3.5kW/footprint, capability to deliver high density compute of up to 30kW/footprint, and Tier 3+ resilience. MCR2 will be located at the Teledata site in Manchester and will offer up to 25,000ft2 of space, 4MVA of power and over 1,000 new server racks in both high and standard density. Datum Group's CEO, Dominic Phillips, says, "Our decision to open two new data centre facilities is a response to the strong demand we are seeing for our services and will allow us to support our clients’ growth by providing enterprise grade colocation through our network of high security data centres. By expanding our footprint across the UK, we will be able to offer an even wider range of services and solutions that can be tailored to individual client needs." Matt Edgley, Director at Teledata, comments, “This expansion will allow us to build on our excellent reputation in Manchester for providing premium colocation services. Our new facilities in Farnborough and Manchester will provide even more businesses with the high-quality data centre services they need to grow and succeed.”

Vertiv inaugurates new factory in Ras Al Khaimah

Vertiv inaugurated an expansion of its factory in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, to support its integrated modular solutions (IMS), low voltage switchgear and busway businesses. The latest addition will help the company proactively address the increasing demand for Vertiv products and services. This new facility will be strategic in Vertiv’s manufacturing network for its global business operations and it is strategically located to cater to the needs of customers in the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and South Asia regions. The site is an extension of the existing E+I Powerbar Gulf factory, providing an additional 5,700m2 of indoor space serving as a production and office area. Giordano Albertazzi, CEO, Vertiv, says, “I couldn’t be prouder to see the Vertiv fundamentals of high-performance culture and innovation being brought to life in this new addition in UAE. This expansion allows us to better support our growing customer base in multiple countries, with solutions that are critical to ongoing digital transformation. We will continue to strengthen our capabilities to innovate with and for, our customers.” The new factory will manufacture a series of power distribution and continuity solutions, including: • Low-voltage (LV) switchgear, which ensures a continuous flow of the electricity required to support hybrid workforces, power business operations, and deliver digital products and services. All LV switchgear is custom-built using a modular design that can be configured to suit site requirements. • Vertiv Powerbar iMPB busway system that allows businesses to cost-effectively optimise and adapt power distribution infrastructure over time, maximising availability with continuous power delivery to critical loads. • Prefabricated modular solutions which offer a complete turnkey package for data centres. Fully assembled power modules are engineered, built, and tested in manufacturing facilities, ready to be installed on-site as a complete pre-integrated unit.

AirTrunk enters Malaysia with new 150MW hyperscale data centre

AirTrunk has announced its entry into Malaysia with plans to develop a 150MW data centre. Named AirTrunk JHB1 (JHB1), the facility will be the company’s first in Malaysia and ninth in APJ, taking its data centre platform to over 1.35GW of capacity. The JHB1 campus will span 10.3 hectares of land in Johor Bahru, a strategic location at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Servicing a major cloud availability zone for AirTrunk’s customers, the facility will also offer strong domestic and international connection to regional technology hubs including Singapore, with an end-to-end cross border connection strategy. Driven by rapidly increasing cloud adoption in Southeast Asia, JHB1 will be anchored by one of the world’s largest technology companies. AirTrunk Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Robin Khuda says, “It is an exciting time for our business as we announce a new data centre in a new country with a large anchor tenant. AirTrunk continues to develop critical digital infrastructure to support accelerating digitalisation in the region.” JHB1 will be funded under AirTrunk’s sustainability linked loan framework and will include a number of sustainable innovations to ensure AirTrunk continues to deliver the most sustainable data centres in the region. Sustainable innovations include a landmark cooling solution that utilises a combination of indirect evaporative cooling (IEC), and direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology. The liquid cooling technology will enable AirTrunk customers to deploy high density racks, reducing energy consumption by up to 20%. In addition, the data centre will feature a solar-ready roof, equipped to add 5MW of solar panels. The facility is designed to AirTrunk’s industry-low power usage effectiveness of 1.15, and renewable energy supply options will be available to customers. AirTrunk Chief Technology Officer, Damien Spillane says, “With its flexible designs and innovations driving energy and water efficiencies in tropic climates, JHB1 will be the most sustainable data centre in Malaysia. In line with our net zero by 2030 target, we are working with our customers to source renewable energy to match electricity consumption at the data centre.” The initial phases of JHB1 will provide 50MW of capacity, with construction commencing shortly and due for completion in 2024. The data centre is ready to scale out to a total capacity of more than 150MW, with further expansion based on customer demand. 

University of Kent mitigates cyber attacks with Britannic

The University of Kent has deployed a cloud telephony and contact centre solution from Britannic to mitigate risks of growing cyber attacks. Traditionally, higher education institutions significantly underfunded cyber security efforts, even though the different academic and admin departments are siloed and often operating on different systems and servers, resulting in them being vulnerable. The pandemic accelerated cyber attacks, especially when staff and students were working at home and their systems and networks become prime targets for ransomware attacks. Many of which bought down lots of universities telephony, websites and IT systems, resulting in lessons cancelled and closure until they were back up and running. Around six in 10 (62%) higher education institutions reported experiencing breaches or attacks at least weekly (according to gov.uk, July 2022). Richard Charley, Telecoms Manager from the University of Kent comments, “We are aware of the growing number of cyber attacks that have taken place over the last couple of years, and we didn’t want to fall prey to one and suffer damage such as lost data or disruption from having our systems bought down. The staff and students have been through enough disruption over the last couple of years, we need to bring stability. "We are a long-term customer of Britannic and decided on a solution whereby we have added in a cloud telephony and contact centre solution from 8x8 to work alongside our on-premise Mitel solution. By combining local and cloud communications we will have ultimate resilience in security and flexibility to evolve our communications need.” The hybrid communications model will cater for 19,000 students and 3,000 staff across the two campuses in Kent and four additional sites in Europe. The university has a Mitel MiVoice communications platform that it has virtualised and resides in its two data centres and utilises Britannic’s netX2 SIP service to provide the university with the flexibility and control it requires. SIP gives the control to route call by location, day shift pattern and much more. “The addition of the 8x8 UC and contact centre provides the University of Kent with the perfect back up service - should the other system suffer an outage they will always this one to fall back on. It is also a modernisation of the contact centre that enables them to add on licences when required which is vital in the clearing period when it’s all hands are on deck and relies on a robust solution,” comments Jonathan Sharp, Director, Britannic. In 2025 BT will switch off all ISDN and PSTN networks and replace it with full fibre. Now is the time for universities to review their networking infrastructure and modernise it with cloud telephony to increase security and resilience, and add flexibility for staff, students and the contact centre, and in a different way than previously.

University receives £5.8m in big boost to cyber and digital 

University of Gloucestershire’s computing and digital technologies programmes have received a multi-million pound boost that will support a strong supply of skilled graduates, following a successful Office for Students (OfS) capital funding bid.  The £5.8 million award, announced buy the OfS, will enable the University to make a major investment in the further expansion of its successful computing, engineering and digital technologies portfolio, and help to tackle the UK’s skills gaps.  The OfS funding will be used to build a specialist three-storey facility at the University’s Park Campus in Cheltenham, extending the existing accommodation for the School of Computing and Engineering and provide a high-quality teaching and learning space for students in Cyber and Technical Computing, Advanced Emerging Technologies, Game Technologies, and Engineering Technologies.  Students benefiting from the state-of-the-art building will include those studying traditional degrees (BSc/MSc), higher apprenticeships, professional short courses, Digital Skills Bootcamps, and new Higher Technical Qualifications.   Vice-Chancellor Stephen Marston says, “The University is delighted that this funding will allow us to take the next major step in the University’s strategic goal to be a centre of excellence for computing and digital technologies, supporting this key economic priority for Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and the region.  “The University has made huge progress in recent years in expanding the range and quality of both our teaching and research in cyber, computing and digital.    “We selected that as a strategic investment priority because it is so important to have a strong local supply of skilled and qualified graduates to support the ambition to make Gloucestershire a world-class hub for cyber and computing.   “The University has been awarded one of the highest funding allocations in the OfS capital programme, to support a step-change in the quality of our specialist facilities and therefore the quality of programmes we can offer for students.”   Professor Kamal Bechkoum, Head of the University’s School of Computing and Engineering, says, “The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) skills gap is well documented, both by the government and the private sector, amid ongoing concerns about the supply of STEM skills in the workforce, particularly with the growth of new technology such as artificial intelligence and cyber security.   “The new facilities will provide students with a learning space that resembles as closely as possible the environments they will experience in real-life scenarios while working in industry.  “The new labs will provide innovation testbeds for the application of advanced and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain, and cyber physical systems.   “These testbeds will be used as learning spaces for the development, and the delivery, of multi-disciplinary subjects such as HealthTech, EduTech, LegalTech and Bio-Informatics.”   The OfS funding award will cover the costs of the building work and key specialist equipment that will be housed inside. The project involves the demolition of an existing single storey building at The Park Campus that is no longer fit for purpose.   The project is expected to start in summer 2023, with students gaining access to the new facility in spring 2025. 

STACK Infrastructure and ESR expand their partnership into Japan

STACK Infrastructure and ESR Group have announced a joint venture to develop a 72MW data centre campus in Osaka. STACK and ESR will jointly develop and deliver 72MW of data centre capacity in Osaka’s eastern suburb of Keihanna. Construction of the first of three buildings will commence in Q4 2023 and will be ready for service in Q2 2025. The facility will be operated under the STACK brand and further expands STACK and ESR’s APAC partnership, which currently includes a 48MW data centre development in Incheon, Korea. The strategically located campus will feature robust access to power and network to ensure strong reliability. Available solution options, from colocation to custom build-to-suit, provide hyperscale, cloud, and large enterprise clients with the scalability to meet future growth demands. Higher rack densities and PUE, WUE, and building standards support evolving workloads while achieving sustainability targets. “Osaka is STACK’s sixth APAC market in 12 months since our entrance into the region, including the expansion of our footprint in both Japan and Australia to over 100MW each,” comments Pithambar (Preet) Gona, Chief Executive Officer of STACK APAC. "This campus further deepens our partnership with ESR, allowing us to combine our capabilities to meet our clients’ strategic requirements in existing and emerging Tier 1 data centre markets.” “ESR’s strong regional development capability in Tier 1 data centre markets ensures we are well-positioned to continue to aggressively develop data centre facilities across Asia Pacific,” says Diarmid Massey, CEO of ESR Data Centres. “Our partnership with STACK enables us to leverage our respective strengths to target hyperscale customer growth in key markets.”

JLand signs with Mitsui to develop hyperscale data centre

JLand Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mitsui to jointly explore prospective business opportunities and strategic project developments in Ibrahim Technopolis (IBTEC), including Sedenak Tech Park (STeP), over the next two to three years. Within the immediate term of the MOU, JLG and Mitsui will conduct a joint feasibility study on the development of a hyperscale data centre, as well as a renewable energy (RE) facility in the form of a captive solar farm to power the data centres in STeP. Following the completion of the study, JLG and Mitsui and its co-developers will form a joint venture partnership to invest, develop and operate these projects. Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim, President and Chief Executive of JCorp and Chairman of JLG says, “This strategic collaboration with Mitsui is a testament to our sustainability-driven projects and dedicated focus on enabling corporations to meet their ESG goals. In an increasingly data-dependent digital economy, we are proactively identifying and implementing renewable energy sources for the future of decarbonising data centres. This initiative is one of the major milestones for JCorp’s vision of a sustainable future, while ensuring the state and country meets its decarbonisation aspirations.” Akmal Ahmad, Director, Real Estate and Infrastructure Division, JCorp says, “The MOU between JLG and Mitsui reflects the commitment displayed by responsible corporates to shift towards cleaner energy sources to power their businesses. Our strategic partnership to develop these high value sustainable projects brings together collective industry knowledge and technical expertise to further transform the energy industry. JLG is proud to reinforce our contribution to Johor’s renewable energy goals, while catering to the growing needs of industrial customers in STeP that requires green and clean energy as secondary power supply.” “The positive boom of the data centre sector over the past years has brought the importance of sustainability and renewable energy to the fore, as data centre operators explore cleaner technologies to turn operations green. We are proud to be among the pioneers in hyperscale green data centres in Johor and are excited to partner with Mitsui and RE co-developer to advance the decarbonisation of data centres through clean power procurement,” adds Akmal. Under this strategic collaboration, STeP - the flagship 700-acre data centre hub - is poised to attract the global hyperscale data centres, not only by offering future availability of RE, but also with comprehensive supporting packages including competitive green project financing from the market. This will provide excellent opportunities for regional customers seeking green data centres to meet their needs. The collaboration will also involve other industry partners as co-developers, who will contribute sector expertise and knowledge transfer throughout the project investment, design, development, and maintenance phases.

Understanding intelligent buildings

By Inderpall Sall, Technical Operations Director at NG Bailey IT Services Smart buildings are often at the centre of discussion these days. Dare to search the term ‘smart building’ and you’ll be confronted by 305 million results, most of which will daze and confuse all but the most technical and IT-minded amongst us. Combine this ‘bleeding edge’ terminology with the aging buildings across most estates, and the resulting gap appears both expensive and complex to navigate. In fact, the gap deepens when different terminology is used, with everyday consumers now more used to always connected devices and believing a smart building is just one which features the ability for you to control it from your smart phone. We need to reset our view on smart and intelligent buildings. Is a building smart just because it is chock-full of technology? Well, sadly not. A building is smart if it contains appropriate levels of monitoring, control, and visibility of systems to maximise performance, optimise user comfort and support a journey - which in the current climate is most commonly a net zero one. It becomes intelligent when this data then allows it to have some autonomous control. Behind both smart and intelligent buildings is not just technology the consistent creation of millions of points of real time data. This data is what sits at the heart this smart and intelligent revolution and gives a building owner, landlord or facilities manager a new weapon in their arsenal. However, collecting the data is not enough alone, users must think about what they do with it, after all it’s no good just sitting in the cloud, on a database or even a spreadsheet, it needs to be understood and utilised in decision making. NG Bailey IT Services has been working with clients on such systems but also to develop ways for them to understand the millions of data points and automated activity easily and in one place. This has meant creating solutions which allow a user whether that be a MD, FD or facilities manager to look at a dashboard and understand the trends, interrogate the statistics and use the information to make real time dynamic decisions that can have a real impact. This approach to visualising data and sharing it across function is not new, however, the company firmly believes that it plays a pivotal role in the UK not only having better buildings but better businesses too. The opportunities offered by smart and intelligent buildings, however, aren’t restricted to those built in the years since the digital revolution. As a country with a heritage that spans centuries and a plethora of buildings which can span similar time periods it’s critical that smart and intelligent systems can be integrated no matter the age. We regularly hear it said, “The building’s old, it’s design means there are black spots of connectivity, it can’t be smart” - this isn’t the barrier many perceive it to be. Through NG Bailey IT Services' work with network partners and clients, the company has been developing solutions that transform connectivity, unlocking the potential of the existing built environment. Using the latest technologies from 5G to private wireless networks and other systems, the company has been able to retrofit older buildings to improve their connectivity further. The ability to continually upgrade connectivity is going to remain at the forefront of the industry moving in to 2023, as the whole of the UK prepares for the great Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) and Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) switch off in 2025. This change will bring to an end the traditional landline telephone system, which despite decades of updates is essentially the same setup and design as the original phone lines of the 1800s. Replacing it with a system designed to meet the needs and uses of modern digital technology. The challenge of adapting traditional systems such as lifts and door controls to a new infrastructure will also present an opportunity for them to embrace smarter and more intelligent solutions. NG Bailey IT Services says that it is clear from the work it's seeing with clients that embracing automation and intelligent buildings and systems will continue to be at the heart of this decade’s advancements as businesses continue to embrace Industry 4.0 and capitalise on the resilience and efficiencies this brings.