Data Centre Projects: Infrastructure Builds, Innovations & Updates

RWO wins ‘next generation’ data centre work

North East engineer, RWO, has won work to support the development of the first of a new generation of data centres, strengthening its position as a growing provider of services to the sector. The Newcastle-based firm is providing an undisclosed package of civil, structural and geo environmental engineering services for the Latos Data Centres hyperscale data centre in Cardiff, a Tier III asset designed to meet the needs of the most demanding global technology companies. The move follows the Stockton-based IT services and consulting specialists’ announcement to deliver 40 new data centres across the UK by 2030. Cardiff will be the first of its data centres to go fully live later this year, and it's set to offer a total of 90MVA across 50,400 square metres of floor space. Power for the site will come from a 100% renewable energy supply from the National Grid, supported with a backup feed from the neighbouring 1000MW Tremorfa Energy Park - which is one of the world’s largest battery energy storage facilities. RWO’s work, which is being undertaken in conjunction with Teesside architect, Create Architecture, sees the provision of engineering expertise to bring forward state-of-the-art facilities to meet strong demand for domestic data processing and storage capabilities. The data centre market is poised for significant growth in the coming years, with forecasts indicating a substantial increase in demand, particularly when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI) - with the European AI market expected to grow by 25.9% in 2024, with annual growth of 15.9% until 2030. The Cardiff project comes as RWO continues to expand operations beyond its traditional North of England heartland. Ross Oakley, Managing Director of RWO, says, “Securing this work is another big step forward for us as we continue to grow our presence in the burgeoning data centre design and build sector. Our involvement through the planning and pre-construction phase, coupled with our in-depth knowledge of highly-specialist industrial and temperature-controlled facilities such as this, has enabled us to bring forward an effective programme of engineering to deliver the project.” Latos plans to open its purpose-built data centres across the UK by 2030 as part of a mission to enable UK businesses to capitalise on the power of advanced computing, including AI. For more from Latos Data Centres, click here.

Healthcare organisation reduces storage costs with DS3 platform

Cubbit, a geo-distributed cloud storage expert, has announced that ASL CN1 Cuneo, a North Italian healthcare public service organisation, has reduced its storage costs by 50% thanks to Cubbit’s fully-managed S3 cloud object storage, DS3. ASL CN1 Cuneo now stores all of its 110 TB of backup data on Cubbit as part of its 3-2-1-1-0 backup strategy orchestrated via Veeam. DS3 delivers exceptional resilience against client-and server-side ransomware attacks and disasters, ensuring top-tier security (NIS2 standard), GDPR compliance, and adherence to regional public sector regulations while allowing the company to choose the exact geographical perimeter of data storage. By adopting Cubbit, ASL CN1 Cuneo has avoided the hidden costs typically associated with S3 - such as egress fees, API calls, deletion, and bucket replication fees. ASL CN1 Cuneo manages healthcare services across 173 municipalities and employs over 3,500 staff members. As most of its data is health-related (80%), it is therefore classified as “critical” by the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN). Thus, compliance with stringent GDPR and NIS2 data sovereignty and security guidelines and ACN certification (Italian public sector requirement) was non-negotiable. Prior to selecting Cubbit, ASL CN1 Cuneo had considered various other storage platforms. The healthcare company previously relied on hyperscaler services, but found that egress costs and API call fees were inflating expenses. On-premises solutions offered control and compliance but carried high upfront costs, demanded heavy IT resources, and proved challenging to maintain - difficulties especially significant for a public healthcare entity with limited IT resources regarding employees and budget. Since the adoption of Cubbit’s technology, ASL CN1 Cuneo has reaped the benefits of an S3 cloud object storage that meets national and European sovereign requirements, keeps data within Italian borders, and ensures full regulatory compliance. With Cubbit fully-managed object storage, fixed storage costs include all the main S3 APIs, together with the geo-distribution capacity, enabling ASL CN1 Cuneo to save 50% on its previous storage costs for equivalent configurations, while enhancing data resilience and security. Additionally, achieving the comprehensive security and compliance standards enabled by Cubbit’s DS3 solution aids in mitigating the risk of non-compliance fines to GDPR and NIS2, which can reach up to €10m (£8.5m) or 2% of the global annual revenue, whichever is higher. The cost efficiencies enabled by Cubbit allow ASL CN1 Cuneo to reinvest savings into its core mission of delivering quality healthcare services. “Finding a storage solution that met our strict compliance needs, elevated our security to NIS2 standards, and cut costs was no easy task,” says Andrea Saglietti, Head of Innovation and Information Security at ASL CN1 Cuneo. “We’ve used US-based cloud storage providers for a long time, but they didn’t offer the sovereignty, resilience, or economic advantages that can be achieved with Cubbit. This has enabled us to generate 50% savings on previous costs for the equivalent configuration. The speed of deployment and ease of use make Cubbit’s DS3 far more manageable than complex on-prem systems, while maintaining sovereignty and giving us full control over our data. Today, we have greater peace of mind knowing our data is stored securely, compliantly, and cost-effectively.” Alessandro Cillario, Co-CEO and Co-founder of Cubbit, adds, “Healthcare organisations in Europe must navigate a dense framework of regulatory requirements while grappling with surging data volumes and sophisticated cyber-threats. With Cubbit, ASL CN1 Cuneo can ensure that its critical healthcare data is safeguarded, compliant, and cost-efficient - without the unpredictability of hidden fees or the burdens of on-prem infrastructure. We’re proud to support ASL CN1 Cuneo and European healthcare and public sector organisations in evolving their storage strategy.” For more from Cubbit, click here.

Funding to develop next-gen wireless communications systems

Researchers from the UK and Ireland are collaborating on a new project to develop a key technology which will reportedly enable the next generation of wireless communications. Engineers from the University of Glasgow are teaming up with colleagues from the Tyndall National Institute’s Wireless Communications Laboratory (WCL) for the project, called Active intelligent Reconfigurable surfaces for 6G wireless COMmunications (or AR-COM). Together with key industry partners, they will work to improve the design of smart materials called intelligent reconfigurable surfaces (IRS), which are expected to play a key role in the ultrafast 6G wireless networks of the future. Tyndall’s WCL, based at University College Cork, was founded in 2020 by three former scientists from Nokia Bell Labs - Holger Claussen, Lester Ho and Senad Bulja - to boost Tyndall’s research activities in the communications space. AR-COM is supported by £1m in funding from UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in addition to €500,000 (£415,000) from Research Ireland. Over the next three years, the AR-COM partners will develop new materials and methods to help IRS technologies achieve their full potential in the millimetre-wave and terahertz ranges of the communications spectrum. Intelligent reflecting surfaces are capable of intercepting weak wireless signals both indoors and outdoors to actively guide them to devices, boosting the strength of the signal in the process to maximise performance. In the future, as demand for improved indoor wireless signals increases, IRS devices could provide better mobile coverage in buildings with poor reception, enable more reliable high-speed internet connections and support new 6G applications which will require extremely reliable wireless connections. AR-COM will move through four key stages of research and development. In the first stage, the researchers will focus on creating advanced switches engineered from materials called transition metal oxides (TMOs) to enable precise and rapid control over wireless signal strength. The second stage will develop technology to control the direction of wireless signals. The researchers will study how signals move through carefully designed layers of metal and TMO materials, and find new ways for signals to be steered around obstacles in complex indoor environments. In the third stage, the team will develop miniature signal amplifiers built using devices called resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs), which can boost weakened signals while requiring very low amounts of power to operate. Finally, the team will integrate all their newly-developed elements into a fully-functional IRS system which can effectively manipulate wireless signals with no signal loss and low latency, and maximise signal quality even in the most challenging environments. The project is the latest development in cutting-edge 6G research from the University of Glasgow’s Communications, Sensing and Imaging (CSI) hub. Professor Qammer H. Abbasi, Director of CSI Hub at the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering, is the AR-COMS’s principal investigator. He comments, "Current materials used in wireless communications face significant limitations, especially at the higher frequencies that 6G networks will require. With AR-COM, we’re building on the expertise of the University of Glasgow and the Tyndall Institute with the support of key industry partners to develop truly next-generation technologies.” Dr Senad Bulja will lead Tyndall National Institute’s contribution to AR-COM. He adds, “Resonant tunnelling diodes, which can amplify signals while using very little power, and transition metal oxides which can act as ultra-fast switches, have a great deal of potential to help overcome the bottlenecks of current generations of IRS technologies. Together, these technologies will help us create surfaces that not only redirect signals but also boost them with minimal energy consumption, which will help them find use in a wide range of devices in the years to come.” Professor Muhammad Imran, Project Co-Investigator and the head of the James Watt School of Engineering, concludes, “Intelligent reconfigurable surfaces will be key to solving the challenges of delivering robust 6G networks and enabling the next generation of wireless applications. Ultrafast, ultra-low latency wireless networks will underpin new forms of communication and sensing that will transform how we interact with each other in the years to come.”

R&M to support digitalisation of railway traffic

R&M, a Swiss developer and provider of high-end infrastructure solutions for data and communications networks, is supporting the digitalisation of the railways. R&M is committed to sustainable infrastructure development through advanced cabling solutions for rail transport. With the modernisation of communications networks on the railway lines and in trains, railway companies are starting a new era, and passengers will be able to take advantage of seamless high-speed mobile connections in the future. Fibre optic cables will be laid along the railway lines and new antenna sites installed for future railway radio systems for the real-time transmission of large volumes of data. These radio systems connect trains with the traffic control systems in the railway’s own data centres via state-of-the-art railway control systems and new digital signal boxes. The aim of digitalisation is to make rail traffic even safer and more efficient in the future, and to further automate it. R&M has developed the RailCon programme for this application area, giving railway operators complete end-to-end solutions for their cabling infrastructures from a single source. The product portfolio covers the technical levels from plug connectors and wiring to network distributors and cabinet solutions in both indoor and outdoor versions. R&M designs infrastructure solutions based on decades of experience with outdoor solutions for communication technology and in the construction of fibre optic networks. Among other things, the RailCon programme supports the European Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), an important foundation for the further digitalisation of rail transport in the coming decades. The product portfolio includes the connectors of the HEC family developed by R&M. The outdoor connectors withstand harsh conditions such as changes of temperature, vibrations, dust, moisture, sunshine and electromagnetic fields. For example, the HEC connectors connect the active equipment of communication network installations in underground cable ducts, in outdoor installations or FRMCS radio systems with the fibre optic network. R&M also offers various splice/patch closures, IP68 housings and railway-specific, shielded multi-fibre cables manufactured in-house for cabling in buildings and tunnels, as well as aerial and underground cabling. Other modules are the modular optical distribution frames ODF PRIME and FOXS, the Polaris and LUNAR box families, and the CONEXIO portfolio for the wiring of FRMCS mobile radio sites. In addition to the product portfolio, the RailCon programme also includes a whole range of services. Cable assemblies, splice closures, distributors and boxes, racks and cabinets can be planned and pre-terminated on a customer or site-specific basis in order to reduce the installation effort on site. R&M implements customer-specific adaptations and special solutions quickly and reliably in order to inspire customers with convincing results. Support is provided for logistics, installation work, support for initial installation on construction sites as well as specific laboratory tests and approvals. For more from R&M, click here.

STULZ Modular configures data centre at University of Göttingen

STULZ Modular, a provider of modular data centre solutions and a wholly owned subsidiary of STULZ, has announced the completion of an installation at the University of Göttingen in Germany for the Emmy supercomputer, which employs an innovative combination of direct to chip liquid and air cooling. One of the top 100 most powerful supercomputers in the world, Emmy is named after renowned German mathematician, Emmy Noether, who was described by Albert Einstein as one of the most important women in the field of mathematics. The University of Göttingen needed a new data centre to house Emmy, as the existing facilities could not provide the required space and cooling infrastructure. It needed to be a modular construction with a 1.5MW total capacity that could accommodate further expansion, with the deployment of a cooling system that could remove heat density of up to 100kW per rack. Emmy’s power consumption was also a factor, so the implemented solution needed to address this by being as energy efficient and sustainable as possible. "We were given less than two months to design and install a two room modular data centre with a cooling infrastructure, which would be installed on a ground slab and connected to the on-site transformer station," explains Dushy Goonawardhane, Managing Director at STULZ Modular. "Our solution comprises four prefabricated modules – two larger modules cover an area of 85m² and are joined along the spine to accommodate the direct to chip liquid cooled supercomputer. Two smaller modules are also joined along the spine to accommodate air cooled IT equipment in 70m² of space." The entire data centre comprises high performance computers, 1,120kW direct to chip liquid cooled systems with approximately 20% residual heat, high-density racks and STULZ CyberAir and STULZ CyberRow precision air conditioning unit with free cooling. With 96kW per full rack and 11 racks currently in-situ, there is available capacity for up to 14 racks in total. STULZ Modular worked with CoolIT Systems which specialises in scalable liquid cooling solutions for the world’s most demanding computing environments, to incorporate direct to chip liquid cooling to Emmy’s microprocessors. Comprising two liquid loops, the secondary loop provides a flow of cooling fluid from the cooling distribution unit (CDU) to the distribution manifolds and into the servers, where heat is transferred through cold plates into the coolant. The secondary fluid then flows into the heat exchanger in the CDU, where it transfers heat into the primary loop and the absorbed heat energy is carried to a dry cooler and rejected. The direct to chip liquid cooled system removes 78% (74.9kW) of the server heat load. A water-cooled STULZ CyberRow (with free cooling option) air cooling unit removes the remaining 22% (21.1kW) of the heat load produced by components within the server. The CyberRow’s return air temperature is specified at approximately 48°C, supply air temperature at 27-35°C and water temperature at 32-36°C. The University of Göttingen is dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint and overall energy consumption across its campus. The STULZ modular data centre provides 27% electricity savings at an average 75% load, equating to 3.96GWh per year. Furthermore, compared to a standard air-cooled data centre with a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.56 – the current industry average according to the Uptime Institute – the hybrid direct to chip liquid and air-cooling system provides an overall annual facility PUE of 1.13, with a 1.07 PUE for the liquid cooled supercomputer room alone. STULZ Modular’s Dushy Goonawardhane concludes, "This installation demonstrates our commitment to pushing the boundaries of data centre cooling technology. By combining direct-to-chip liquid cooling with our advanced air-cooling systems, we've created a solution that not only meets the extreme demands of supercomputing but also aligns with the University of Göttingen's sustainability goals. We are excited to share the complexity and learnings from this project in a white paper we have produced in cooperation with the University of Göttingen. For more from STULZ, click here.

Nationwide migrates IT estate to HPE GreenLake cloud

Hewlett Packard Enterprise today announced that Nationwide Building Society has selected HPE GreenLake cloud for its private cloud deployment, enabling it to accelerate its hybrid cloud journey. With the addition of HPE GreenLake Management Services as a strategic cloud services provider, Nationwide is now using the power of cloud technology to support the evolving needs of its customers. In 2018, Nationwide kick-started an ambitious journey to ensure it was primed for the next generation of digital innovation, with its hybrid cloud strategy being driven by the need for different cloud environments for various types of data and workloads. Leveraging the comprehensive capabilities of HPE GreenLake, Nationwide is creating an agile, scalable, secure, resilient, and efficient technology platform. “In today’s world our customers expect us to deliver an always-on service whilst providing new, innovative features that help them better manage their finances,” says Paul Walsh, Director of Infrastructure & Service Delivery, at Nationwide Building Society. “Nationwide’s hybrid cloud strategy is vital to our ability to compete and means we can continue to meet the needs and expectations of our customers. HPE GreenLake cloud is a core component of our hybrid cloud strategy. With them we’re building a cloud platform that will further improve our resilience and agility, enabling us to provide even better levels of service and deliver new capabilities to our developers faster than ever before.” With HPE GreenLake Management Services, Nationwide’s IT team will automate and orchestrate infrastructure management and deliver infrastructure as code. This enables them to focus on innovation, value-add activities and gain better control over application builds and security. Faster release cycles will accelerate the time to market, providing consistent customer experiences across all digital platforms. At the same time, Nationwide can ensure that sufficient controls are in place to manage risk, protect their customers and meet the demands of regulators, while unlocking the value of cloud technology. Nationwide’s hybrid cloud strategy fully embraces cloud economics, enabling efficient monitoring and management of consumption. HPE GreenLake's consumption-based model prevents overprovisioning and allows Nationwide to only pay for capacity that it is using. This is expected to support Nationwide in reducing its IT cost base by at least 30%. Furthermore, a dedicated service within HPE GreenLake cloud gives the building society a clear overview of their energy consumption and emissions, enabling Nationwide to manage its infrastructure more efficiently and reduce the environmental impact. The impact will be further reduced by upcycling and recycling of decommissioned assets, such as the end-of-use compute and storage infrastructure that GreenLake has replaced. “We are proud to support Nationwide with their cloud vision, providing them with enhanced control and security and the reliability and flexibility for growth,” says Matt Harris, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, UK, Ireland, Middle East and Africa at HPE. “Nationwide’s modernisation journey showcases the effectiveness of HPE GreenLake cloud, with the storied institution transitioning from complex, legacy technology to a modern, future-proofed hybrid cloud operating model, where a one-size-fits all public cloud could never be the only answer." For more from HPE, click here.

Pure Storage modernises IT infrastructure for AC Milan

Pure Storage, an IT expert that delivers advanced data storage technologies and services, has announced the modernisation of the IT infrastructure of AC Milan, one of the world’s most historic football clubs. The club recognised the potential of technology to help it achieve two strategic goals – delivering the best fan experience possible through online content, and providing the team with data and AI to enhance club performance. At the centre of AC Milan’s fan engagement is its Media House, through which video and social content is produced and delivered. It also supplies critical data to the club’s training centre. The total number of employees and output has risen at the Media House over a three-year period and, as a result, unstructured data volumes had also dramatically increased. Siloed teams, together with a legacy data storage system that was incapable of operating efficiently, posed significant barriers to progress. By adopting the Pure Storage platform, AC Milan gained a powerful, efficient, and secure storage infrastructure that has underpinned its technology transformation initiative. Benefits include: • Fast and Reliable, Low Latency Data Storage: With the Pure Storage Platform, AC Milan can now manage large volumes of unstructured data across multiple sites with very low latency, resulting in major productivity improvements. The Media House team now benefits from 10 times faster content production and delivery. This has helped AC Milan reach over 500 million global fans through enhanced digital experiences.• Enhanced Data Security and Ransomware Protection: AC Milan recognises the importance of data resilience, deploying Pure Storage ActiveDR to achieve near zero Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) metrics. Additionally, Pure Storage SafeMode Snapshots take copies of data which, in the event of a cyber attack, can’t be deleted, modified, or encrypted, mitigating the impact of a ransomware attack.• A Platform for Cutting-Edge AI Innovation: Video footage of training sessions, stored on the Pure Storage Platform, can be analysed using AI, together with player data captured via sensors with the aim of improving performance. Additionally, AC Milan is developing a data lake composed of players’ medical and performance data with the same goal. Maurizio Bonomi, Information Technology Director, AC Milan, says, “Our team’s mission is to support the club and the business across all departments so that we’re achieving excellence on and off the pitch. Pure helped AC Milan modernise our Media House so that content can be delivered across multiple platforms in one-tenth of the time that it used to take. The project has been a great success and has marked a new step in our ongoing evolution into a media company.” Joao Silva, VP EMEA & Latin America, Pure Storage, adds, “We’re thrilled to support AC Milan in its mission to transform the way it connects with fans, and its highly innovative use of AI to improve all-round player performance. The club’s legacy storage couldn’t keep up with its modern, innovative data demands. AC Milan’s Pure Storage platform meets their complex needs. These are cutting-edge initiatives that showcase how the delivery of real time content and AI can benefit football clubs and the welfare of their players.” For more from Pure Storage, click here.

Contingency cooling for Birmingham hospital data centre

ICS Cool Energy, a specialist temperature control solutions company, has delivered a comfort and process temperature control solution for a major hospital in Birmingham. The hospital required an additional 80 kW of cooling capacity for comfort cooling in one of its patient wards, as well as a contingency cooling system for its data centre, which houses sensitive patient and operational data. Both systems were provided as long-term hires, with ICS Cool Energy’s i-Chillers serving as the backbone of these temperature control applications. The hospital approached ICS Cool Energy with two key cooling needs. Firstly, it required a reliable and cost-effective system to deliver air-conditioning for patients’ comfort. Secondly, and more critically, it needed an on-site contingency cooling solution for its data centre. Previously, the hospital relied on external providers. No on-site contingency system meant that in the event of a failure, it had to call in to deliver and install backup equipment. This reactive approach posed a significant risk, as every minute is critical when it comes to data centre cooling. Any delay in restoring cooling could lead to irreversible data loss. Following a comprehensive site assessment and analysis of the hospital’s requirements, ICS Cool Energy’s sales engineers proposed a solution to meet both needs: 1. A process-grade 80 kW i-Chiller to provide comfort cooling for the patient ward. This system was delivered under a rolling 12-month hire agreement, offering the hospital long-term flexibility without capital expenditure. The chiller ensures stable and reliable temperature control, creating a comfortable environment for both patients and staff. 2. To safeguard the hospital’s data centre, ICS Cool Energy installed a 160 kW i-Chiller alongside multiple internal air handling units. This backup system is always on standby and ready to take over should the primary cooling system fail. With this contingency solution in place, the hospital no longer has to rely on external emergency cooling support, significantly reducing the risk of data loss. Grant Spittle, Sales Engineer, ICS Cool Energy, comments, “Had the hospital maintained its previous arrangement of calling in external help during a failure, the data centre could have been severely compromised. Without backup equipment on-site, any failure in the regular cooling system could have resulted in the loss of vital patient and operational data. The new system minimises this risk and ensures continuity and data protection.” The hospital now benefits from two reliable air-conditioning and cooling systems on long-term hire. The i-Chillers provide consistent comfort cooling in the patient ward, contributing to overall patient well-being. Meanwhile, the contingency cooling system helps keeping the hospital’s data centre operating and critical data protected. The on-site backup is ready for immediate activation in the event of a failure, preventing potential data loss and avoiding severe financial and operational consequences. This project highlights ICS Cool Energy’s expertise in delivering efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solutions that give customers peace of mind and operational flexibility. For more from ICS Cool Energy, click here.

Stellium announces Open Compute Project collaboration

Stellium Datacenters, a colocation operator and provider of data centre infrastructure solutions, has announced a strategic Open Compute Project (OCP) collaboration with Submer, a pioneer in advanced immersion cooling technologies, and ExxonMobil, a global immersion cooling fluid manufacturer. Closely aligned with the OCP’s aim of accelerating data centre innovation and efficiency through the development and sharing of open-source hardware designs, the collaboration between Stellium, Submer and ExxonMobil marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of sustainable and efficient data centre solutions, Stellium tells us. The three companies will jointly focus on several innovative customer-centric OCP solutions initiatives including: • Immersion Cooling Integration: Submer's state-of-the-art immersion cooling technology will be seamlessly integrated into Stellium Datacenters' infrastructure, enhancing energy efficiency and overall performance. This move aligns with the OCP's focus on driving energy-efficient solutions in data centres. • Sustainable Data Centre Design: The joint project will prioritise sustainable practices, reflecting the commitment of both companies to environmental responsibility. By incorporating Submer's immersion cooling technology, Stellium Datacenters aims to reduce its carbon footprint and energy consumption significantly. • Innovative Hardware Solutions: Stellium Datacenters and Submer will collaborate on developing and optimising hardware solutions based on OCP principles. This will contribute to the evolution of open-source hardware designs, fostering a community-driven approach to innovation. • Enhanced Performance and Reliability: Through this collaboration, Stellium Datacenters seeks to enhance the overall performance and reliability of its data centre infrastructure, providing clients with cutting-edge solutions that meet the demands of a rapidly evolving digital landscape. • High Performance Immersion Cooling Fluid: ExxonMobilTM DC 3235 Super, a cooling fluid validated and endorsed by Submer, is set to demonstrate how its heat transfer capabilities and material compatibility effectively contributes to this advanced immersion cooling solution. “We are thrilled to embark on this collaborative journey with Submer, which is seen as one of the leading forces in immersive cooling solutions,” says Ed Bissell, Sales and Marketing Director at Stellium Datacenters. “Being one of only two OCP data centres in the UK, Stellium is excited to be working with Submer on customer-driven solutions which will leverage our respective expertise to advance the OCP's objectives. This collaboration exemplifies our dedication to providing sustainable and efficient data solutions that align with the industry's best practices. By integrating Submer's immersion cooling technology, we are confident in our ability to set new benchmarks for performance, energy efficiency, and environmental responsibility." Oriol Chavanel, Submer Ecosystem Enablement Tech. Lead & OCP Lead, adds, "Collaborating with Stellium Datacenters and ExxonMobil on this Open Compute Project is a testament to our shared commitment to innovation and sustainability. By combining our expertise in immersion cooling with Stellium's cutting-edge data infrastructure, we aim to redefine the standards for data centre efficiency and reliability." Glen Sharkowicz, Global Market Development Manager, adds, “ExxonMobil is proud to collaborate with Stellium Datacenters and Submer on this innovative immersion cooling technology. This collaboration demonstrates our collective commitment to advancing OCP’s objectives and delivering new cooling solutions to the market.” As the project progresses, each company will leverage the expertise of best-of-breed solutions partners and share insights and advancements with the broader tech community, reinforcing their commitment to collaborative and open-source initiatives. For more from Stellium Datacenters, click here.

Full-fibre network enhances operations around the UK’s coastline

A £175 million communications network connecting 163 remote radio sites across 11,000 miles of UK coastline is now operational, ensuring His Majesty’s (HM) Coastguard’s effective frontline emergency response continues for thousands of distress calls from the UK’s waters. Stretching from the Shetland Islands to the Isles of Scilly, it is one of the UK’s largest private broadband networks, with technology partner Telent helping to install 758 miles of new infrastructure. The first installations of the new network, combining full-fibre and microwave technology, began in December 2020, as Telent secured a new 10-year contract earlier in the same year with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to design, build and operate the upgraded network for HM Coastguard. This is part of the MCA’s investment in the Radio Network Infrastructure Replacement Programme (RNIR). “The reliable digital connection and the improved resilience provided by the new network will aid HM Coastguard’s life-saving search and rescue operations for years to come, with Telent on hand to provide its critical expertise,” says Telent CEO, Jo Gretton. “Having first begun working together in 2010, maintaining radio equipment at the remote radio sites and delivering additional support services, Telent and MCA’s relationship has moved from strength to strength.” “The new network provides a firm foundation for the MCA’s potential future and new technology services and projects that only the high performance of a full-fibre network can support,” Jo continues. Lee-on-the-Solent, Crystal Palace, Humber, Bridlington and Brighton Marina were among the first sites switched to the new search and rescue radio network. The remote radio sites cover the whole of the UK coastline, spanning Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. “The national radio network is integral in supporting our mission of preventing the loss of life on the coast and at sea, enhancing our ability to respond to emergencies across the UK,” says HM Coastguard Assistant Chief Coastguard, Matthew Leat. The upgraded full-fibre connectivity is set to deliver improvements, such as greater bandwidth and security, along with enhanced performance and improved reliability. Now that all 163 remote radio sites have been connected, Telent is providing a fully managed service. As part of this, Telent is monitoring and managing the end-to-end performance, undertaking maintenance activities and implementing technical updates.