Projects

Reading can expect £1bn economic boost from CityFibre rollout

A new report commissioned by CityFibre has identified that Reading stands to be a huge beneficiary from the rollout of future-proof full fibre infrastructure, which is now well underway across the town. The study by the consultancy Hatch, (Economic Impact of Full Fibre Infrastructure from CityFibre’s Network), estimates that, over a 15-year period, the positive impacts of CityFibre’s £58m investment in Reading will include £625m in productivity and innovation gains, £138m from a widened workforce, £18m in local authority efficiency savings and £384m in increased housing value. Technological benefits are also a major focus of the report, which demonstrates that CityFibre’s network in Reading will help realise £1bn gross added value (GVA) from 5G services, £249m from the Internet of Things and £263m from Smart City initiatives, like intelligent traffic management systems and street lighting. The continuing transition to home and flexible working, supported by full fibre access at home and in the office, is also unlocking access to a larger pool of labour for employers. In Reading, working productivity uplifts are estimated to exceed £35m. The direct impact of network construction is also identified as a major contributor to Reading’s economic growth, creating network construction jobs within CityFibre’s build partners and supply chain. Wherever possible, the new jobs will be recruited locally to support the rollout. As a whole, the UK stands to benefit from over £38bn in potential economic benefits. Productivity improvements and innovation are responsible for the largest impact, driving more than £22bn in GVA gains nationwide. This is due to the positive effect that far faster and more reliable digital connectivity has been shown to have on business productivity and innovation, increasing turnover and contributing to the formation of new businesses and business models. Stacey King, Area Manager for Reading at CityFibre, says: “This report demonstrates just how powerful and essential full fibre is as a catalyst for growth and as a platform for innovation and investment. “Reading is quickly becoming one of the best digitally connected towns in the UK, and the opportunity for residents and local businesses is huge. We thank residents for their patience as we progress with the full fibre infrastructure build here in a bid to offer more people access to some of the best broadband packages available.”

Xtel launches new data centre in New York City market

Amid a rise in cyber crime and digital transformation, Xtel Communications has announced its third data centre in the sought-after New York market. The facility, located in Newark, New Jersey, adds to the company’s growing data centre portfolio. Xtel’s other facilities are strategically located in Philadelphia and Plano, Texas. The addition of this new facility allows Xtel to expand its serviceable footprint of Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) via fibre-optic connections. In addition, the data centre will provide robust DDoS attack mitigation options to enable more secure environments. This is especially critical as these types of cyber crimes continue to increase at an alarming rate. In recent years, DDoS attacks have risen by over 151%. Other key features of Xtel’s New York market data centre include: Additional redundancy options for customers seeking more diversity in last mile fibre providers and fibre pathsDirect Connect options to SaaS (Software as a Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) providers, allowing the end-user customer to directly access these providers without having to traverse the InternetStrategic enterprise-level colocation services All Xtel data centres have the ability to maintain, operate, and monitor fibre optic backbones, voice platforms, and data centres. The data centres are part of a high availability ‘active-active’ network architecture, allowing for immediate service failover and load balancing between the data centres. Each data centre is annually re-certified for major compliance frameworks, including FedRAMP, FISMA, SSAE18, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and Privacy Shield - GDPR. “As enterprises and businesses continue to scale and digitally transform, the addition of our New York market data centre adds critical cyber security services, connectivity and redundancy to a prominent, stable market with an ever-growing, favourable business climate,” states Brian Flynn, President of Xtel. “We continuously invest in our network infrastructure while regularly expanding our services and solutions portfolio to meet ever-changing requirements. We look forward to continued growth in this market and beyond.”

Vertiv supports Keele’s ambitious decarbonisation strategy

Vertiv has been selected by Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, to supply a highly energy efficient UPS system and battery back-up. The new solutions replace the ageing equipment in its data centres, and Vertiv expects it will play an important role in the University’s institution-wide decarbonisation strategy. Keele University is a long-standing Vertiv customer, and the relationship was recognised by industry experts as part of the DCS Awards 2022, where the partnership was awarded Data Centre Sustainability Project of the Year. With this new agreement, Vertiv will replace the University’s ageing UPS with a new scalable, efficient and space-saving solution. Vertiv will also provide a modular battery solution to help keep power supplies stable during outages and out-of-spec power input, allowing efficient management of the renewable energy produced on site. Over the last six years, Keele University has invested more than £1.2 million to reduce its carbon emissions and has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Besides hosting the first UK trial of hydrogen blending within a gas network and testing new smart energy technologies, the University is now producing its own renewable energy on site, thanks to solar and wind farms that feed power into a campus mini-grid. From a power distribution perspective, the campus operates like a small town. Keele University’s need was to minimise losses as energy is transferred from the grid to the UPS and on to the IT load, and to benefit from a new generation of batteries. As part of a plan to modernise the University’s two data centres, the team at Keele will leverage the Vertiv Liebert APM UPS with a 400 kVA capacity in a N+1 configuration. The new UPS provides reliable, double-conversion power topology that uses an innovative transformer-free design, resulting in energy efficiencies of 96% that can be enhanced to 99% using ECO Mode operation. Importantly, the new UPS delivers more capacity in a smaller footprint, and each of the new units utilises a modular and scalable configuration with ancillary cabinets designed to save space and cost over previous configurations. Vertiv will also replace a bank of ageing, open-air lead-acid batteries with modern, rack-based, self-contained battery cabinets. The new battery modules may be added or replaced with no interruption or risk to the connected equipment, when the UPS is not operating on the battery. Each battery module has monitoring and controls that isolate it in the event of a battery failure. The battery strings are connected in parallel to provide backup time and/or redundancy. Alex Goffe, Associate Director of Operations & Infrastructure at Keele University comments: “It’s no exaggeration to say that our partnership with Vertiv is mission-critical for the University. Sustainability is embedded in everything we do at Keele, and the new UPS and battery modules will play a crucial role in helping meet our energy saving ambitions. They will also help to enable business continuity across the institution. “The scalable nature of the new UPS provides us with a high degree of flexibility. If there is a need to grow in the future, we can add power modules into the frame to extend the power capacity of the system.” Alex Brew, Country Manager for Vertiv in the UK & Ireland, comments: "By harnessing our digital infrastructure solutions, Keele University can continue to be ahead of the game when it comes to energy efficiency. Keele is already a valued Vertiv customer, and we're delighted to be helping the institution as it continues on its journey to realise its ambitious data centre plans and institution-wide decarbonisation strategy."

DataBank completes expansion of third Atlanta data centre

DataBank has announced that it has completed the expansion of ATL3, one of the company’s three Atlanta area data centre locations. The expansion began in late 2021 and added more than 22,000 square feet of data centre space, bringing the total capacity to more than 44,000 square feet of white space and total raised floor space to 72,000 square feet. The construction project also increases the site’s total power from 1.5MW to 6MW. “We’ve been looking forward to completing this expansion project to further support our customers’ infrastructure needs and growth,” says Tony Qorri, DataBank’s Vice President of Construction. “Bringing this additional capacity to Atlanta aligns well with DataBank’s growth in the region’s data centre market and underscores its position as one of the prime emerging internet hubs in the South East United States.” Atlanta’s data centre leasing activity is the third highest in North America. According to Lisa Calhoun, a partner with the Atlanta based investment firm, Valor Ventures, growth is on an upwards trajectory marked by $1 billion of venture capital investments over the last year alone, representing an influx in demand for cloud storage. This investment is driven by thriving industries like healthcare IT, fintech, logistics, and manufacturing – sectors heavily dependent on strong communications infrastructure. Located in the Historic West End district, DataBank’s ATL3 colocation facility is a carrier-neutral interconnection hub with access to 10-plus on-site carriers and many internet, fibre, interconnect, and cross-connect options. The facility features security measures including dual-factor biometric authentication, 24-hour dedicated security guards, perimeter fence, mantraps, and CCTV.

Airedale by Modine launches with Corscale Data Centres

Following the announcement that Airedale has commenced full scale production at its new US chiller plant in Rockbridge, Virginia, the company has confirmed a significant order with data centre giant, Corscale, with plans for further business in the coming months. With Airedale by Modine cooling solutions set to be installed at Corscale’s Gainesville Crossing Data Campus, the company has secured a healthy pipeline for its OptiChill free-cooling chillers, AireWall fan walls and SmartCool ONE computer room air handling units. Corscale is focused on delivering sustainability at scale for hyperscale operators and enterprise clients. Following a substantial period of consultation, Corscale appointed Airedale by Modine due to its history of free-cooling technology paired with its in-depth knowledge and understanding of the data centre industry. Having worked closely with engineers from Corscale, Airedale by Modine has developed a specialised data centre chiller based on its existing OptiChill range. The Corscale chiller, with enhanced free-cooling, has been designed to meet North American safety standards, using American materials and components, to offer a world-class energy efficient solution. Engineering specialists at the chiller plant in Virginia have worked with their colleagues at Airedale by Modine’s centre of excellence in Leeds, UK, to deliver a cooling solution that delivers on performance whilst operating at higher water temperatures and fluid temperature differentials than traditional offerings, enhancing energy efficiency and free-cooling potential. Prior to the commencement of site deliveries, the team from Corscale will be invited to a witness test at Airedale by Modine’s brand new state-of-the-art laboratories in Rockbridge VA, where the units will be put through their paces under various conditions and tested at different heat loads, simulating the environment and conditions they will be operational under. The test centre at Rockbridge is capable of testing a complete range of air conditioning equipment up to 2.2MW (expanding to 5MW in future for water-cooled chillers), the climate temperature being fully controllable anywhere from 15°C/59°F to 52°C/126°F. Chiller The new Corscale chiller operates using twin screw compressors and has a number of special features, included to enhance efficiency and performance, including: • High capacity twin screw compressors offer reliability and flexibility, with staged capacity control • High water temperatures to suit modern data centre designs that prioritise sustainability • Enhanced controls, including fast start, input power limiting and intelligent management of compressors, refrigerant and pumps • An on-board variable speed pump to precisely match cooling demand, reducing waste energy expenditure while maintaining water-side temperature differential and saving on space and electrical distribution requirements • Optimised economisers to provide unmatched free cooling potential • 100% contained Glycol loop to isolate the economiser from the cooling loop and increase efficiency of the AireWall units • Enhanced controls platform, including redundancy back-up and fast-start mode, to minimise the risk of disruption in the event of mechanical breakdown • On-board active harmonic filtration, ensuring a clean power supply to the data centre, while saving on external plant requirements. Jonas Caino, Vice President at Airedale by Modine says, “We are delighted to announce our order with Corscale, as we start full-scale production at our first-class facilities in Virginia, the largest data centre market in the world. “Having invested heavily in our US production facilities, ensuring they deliver the same high-quality service and product that our clients have grown to expect and respect from our European production sites, it has been really interesting and enjoyable to work with our American-based colleagues on such a fantastic project and client as Corscale.” Jonas concludes, “This order is just the start for our Rockbridge facility, and I am excited to see what the next few years holds.”

Cisco commits to help accelerate a more inclusive, digital United Kingdom

By 2030, a more inclusive digital society could add £168 billion to the UK economy. That is why Cisco has committed to help accelerate economic growth across the UK through digital inclusion and innovation. Through investment in partnerships, projects and initiatives focussed on creating opportunity for people, organisations, industries, and regions across the UK, Cisco will expand its Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme, which has formed the core of Cisco’s decade long investment in UK innovation. Aligned to both the national and regional ambitions of the UK, the programme will focus on industries and public services best positioned to benefit from digital acceleration, aiming to support improvement on key issues such as digital skills, productivity, sustainability and the UK’s levelling up agenda. Guy Diedrich, Senior Vice President and Global Innovation Officer, Cisco comments “Today we mark a decade of collaboration between Cisco, the UK government, industry and academia to accelerate digital outcomes for the UK.” He adds, “From initiatives to train hundreds of thousands in digital skills, connect the most remote parts of the UK with 5G, and partnerships to foster a culture of innovation, we are helping cement the UK’s place as a leader in fields such as AI and quantum computing. We are extremely proud of what we have achieved together and delighted to be furthering our commitment to help the UK realise the potential of a more inclusive, digital economy - where no one is left behind.” New research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), commissioned by Cisco, finds that a more inclusive digital economy, that connects everyone in the UK, equips them with digital skills, and digitises key industries and public services, has the potential to not only add £168bn to the UK economy, but will provide societal, industrial and regional benefit. David Meads, Chief Executive, Cisco UK & Ireland says “As a nation, we have a heritage of invention that comes from all corners of the UK. With the power of technology, we believe that economic opportunity can follow that tradition.” He adds “Organisations are looking to digital to improve the way they work, operate, and compete on a global scale, but to fully embrace a more digital economy, with talent and innovation to support, there are fundamental issues that we must address. From the role of digital in creating more equitable opportunity and across the UK, to how we as a technology industry lean in to help close the digital skills gap.” Cisco’s CDA programme, which is a long-term partnership programme with governments, industry and academia, will focus on initiatives in sectors that underpin the UK economy and provide critical services that have opportunity to benefit from digital. From healthcare to education, utilities and transport infrastructure. In addition, the programme will align to emerging sectors – including those with a focus on technology to drive sustainable outcomes towards national net zero targets. To encourage innovation in industry and to recognise the need for support and guidance to bring solutions to life, Cisco will launch the first Fast Future Innovation Awards in the UK. From September, organisations will be able to enter to win one of three prizes to realise their ideas.

CloudStratex transforms Munich Re’s tech potential with CMDB technology

CloudStratex has celebrated the major milestone of delivering single-pane-of-glass visibility to Munich Re’s IT ecosystem. Its intervention has provided automated access to Munich Re’s key assets and altered the firm’s approach from manual spreadsheets to cutting-edge operational processes, achieved in record time. Since its foundation in 1880, Munich Re’s reputation as a global specialist in risk has made the firm a sought-after partner organisation for a wealth of businesses and institutions. Given its status as a leading insurance firm with its finger on the pulse of technological change and transformation, Munich Re recognised the need to upgrade its IT ecosystem with clear visibility over its various configuration items. In addition, the new CMDB allows for automated access to all assets and data sources used across the group – a substantial improvement on the variegated individual databases and manually maintained spreadsheets that comprised Munich Re’s previous system. The benefits delivered by CloudStratex and ServiceNow’s CMDB aren’t limited to efficiency, but also include significant strides in terms of regulatory compliance. Munich Re understood and embraced the increased resilience represented by a strong CMDB implementation, which is particularly valuable amidst the complex regulatory environment created by BaFin. CloudStratex was able to complete the project six months ahead of schedule, delivering results in nine months as opposed to the projected 15. This swift delivery is partially attributable to CloudStratex’s deep understanding and configuration potential of ITOM Discovery, which meant that, of the various critical components which comprised Munich Re’s IT environment, the consultancy discovered 99% automatically. Duncan Docherty, Chief Technology Officer at CloudStratex, says: “The new CMDB is clean, fresh, and free of customisation, providing a clear, strong, usable baseline with out-of-the-box tools delivering major improvements. It’s a massive step forward on the ServiceNow journey we’re taking Munich Re on.”

Pharrell Williams’ YELLOW and Cisco unite to help reimagine education

We don’t know much about the workforce today’s 10-year-olds will eventually enter; in fact, The Institute for the Future reports 85% of the jobs today’s students could apply for in 2030 don’t even exist yet. But some things are certain - they will need a solid education to be adaptable, creative, and tech fluent.  Driven by its mission to secure an inclusive future for all, Cisco is partnering with Pharrell Williams to provide technology centred around connectivity, collaboration and security at Williams’ school, YELLOWHAB. Through YELLOW, Williams wants to ‘even the odds’ for all students to make sure the next generation has the tools and resources they need to succeed, especially under-resourced youth. To that end, he created YELLOWHAB, a micro-school that gives students an immersive learning experience based on skill, not age. “This partnership between YELLOW and Cisco will take the education of our students at YELLOWHAB to the next level,” says Pharrell. “I look forward to our youth experiencing education through Cisco’s state of the art technology which will continuously expand their lens of possibility through which they see themselves, their community, and their futures.” Cisco Chair and CEO, Chuck Robbins, ties YELLOW’s mission to Cisco’s company purpose: “Cisco’s purpose is to power an inclusive future for all, which includes empowering future generations and making a positive impact on communities around the world. It’s critical that we work together with local partners to ensure that today’s youth learn and realise their potential in a digital age. Everyone needs access to experiential learning, and we’re proud to work with Pharrell and YELLOW to reach historically marginalised communities and close the digital divide.” The school will use Cisco’s technology including: The Webex Suite, Secure X, WiFi-6, Meraki, data centres, and DNA Spaces. This technology will:   • Build a networking foundation to provide an inclusive and hybrid learning environment • Drive continued learning anywhere with online classes and video office hours via Webex • Protect student and educator personal information and data • Keep kids connected when learning goes beyond the walls of the classroom • Help fuel innovative research and immersive collaboration 

CLP signs MoU with ESR for developing sustainable data centres

CLP Power and CLPe have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ESR to develop sustainable data centres and logistics centres in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), supporting Hong Kong and the GBA to achieve their carbon neutrality goals. As an international financial, trading and logistics hub, Hong Kong’s demand for data centre facilities and services has risen sharply in recent years. Under the MoU, CLP Power and CLPe will leverage their energy and infrastructure solutions expertise to assist ESR in creating sustainable data centre and logistics centre projects, covering design, construction, and operational aspects. CLP Power will provide a one-stop solution and support measures on energy management for ESR, such as energy audits and the Eco Building Fund and Electrical Equipment Upgrade Scheme, to improve the energy and carbon efficiency of its data centre and logistics projects in Hong Kong. By participating in the CLP Renewable Energy Certificate Scheme, ESR can further reduce the carbon emissions of its projects in Hong Kong. To bring the collaboration one-step further, CLPe will work with ESR to explore energy management solutions for its development projects in Hong Kong and the GBA, contributing to achieve carbon neutrality. CLP Power Managing Director, T K Chiang, says: “CLP Power is delighted to work with ESR and provide one-stop energy efficiency solutions and support for its development projects to reduce overall carbon emissions, supporting Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. CLP Power will continue to work with our business customers to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.” CLPe Group Managing Director, Alex Keisser, says: “As a trusted partner to deliver energy and infrastructure solutions in Hong Kong and Mainland China, CLPe is dedicated to support business customers transforming their business into low-carbon operation. With our professional expertise, we will help ESR implement comprehensive infrastructure and energy management solutions for cooling, solar, electric vehicle charging and smart technology solutions in its projects for sustainable business development.” Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of ESR, adds: “As APAC’s largest real asset manager powered by the New Economy, ESR has established an unrivalled track record and network of New Economy real estate in China and across the APAC region. Coupled with CLP’s energy vision, experience and competence, we strive to provide a network of agile, scalable and green digital infrastructure that interconnects businesses and individuals in the digital economy, supports our customers’ growth in scale and reach, and creates sustainable value for different stakeholders. We are very excited to join hands with like-minded parties like CLP Power and CLPe to make great things happen. Every step we take will bring us closer to accomplishing our green ambition.” Supported by Government policy, access to finance, and talent supply, Hong Kong and the GBA are well-positioned to develop into an innovation and technology hub of global significance. The collaboration among CLP Power, CLPe and ESR will help ESR in mapping out its green initiatives for projects in Hong Kong, setting out metrics that can potentially be used for green financing, such as sustainability-linked loans. The synergies arising from the collaboration will enable CLP and ESR to capture the opportunities in the GBA while creating positive, long-term value for stakeholders.

Chalmers University of Technology selects Lenovo and NVIDIA for national supercomputer

Lenovo has announced that Chalmers University of Technology is using Lenovo and NVIDIA’s technology infrastructure to power its large-scale computer resource, Alvis. The project has seen the delivery and implementation of a clustered computing system for artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) research, in what is Lenovo’s largest HPC (High Performance Computing) cluster for AI and ML in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Alvis (old Norse meaning ‘all-wise’) is a national supercomputer resource within the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC). It began initially in 2020 and has since developed to hold a capacity that solves larger research tasks on a broader scale. Financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the computer system is supplied by Lenovo and located at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, home to the EU’s largest research initiative, Graphene Flagship. The collaborative project allows any Swedish researcher who needs to improve their mathematical calculations and models to take advantage of Alvis' services through SNIC's application system, regardless of the research field. This supports researchers who are already utilising machine learning to analyse complex problems, and those who are investigating the use of machine learning to solve issues within their respective field, with the potential to lead to ground-breaking academic research in fields such as quantum computing and data-driven research for healthcare and science. “The Alvis project is a prime example of the role of supercomputing in helping to solve humanity’s greatest challenges, and Lenovo is both proud and excited to be selected as part of it,” says Noam Rosen, EMEA Director, HPC & AI at Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group. “Supported by Lenovo’s performance leading technology, Alvis will power research and use machine learning across many diverse areas with a major impact on societal development, including environmental research and the development of pharmaceuticals. This computing resource is truly unique, built on the premise of architectures for different AI and machine learning workloads with sustainability in mind, helping to save energy and reduce carbon emissions by using our pioneering warm water-cooling technology.” “The first pilot resource for Alvis has already been used by more than 150 research projects across Swedish universities. By making it larger, and opening the Alvis Systems to all Swedish researchers, Chalmers and Lenovo are playing an important role in providing a national HPC ecosystem for future research”, comments Sverker Holmgren, Director of Chalmers e-Infrastructure Commons, hosting the Alvis system. Powering energy-saving AI infrastructure Chalmers has chosen to implement a scalable cluster with a variety of Lenovo ThinkSystem servers to deliver the right mix of NVIDIA GPUs to its users in a way that prioritises energy savings and workload balance. This includes the Lenovo ThinkSystem SD650-N V2 to deliver the power of NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs, and the NVIDIA-Certified ThinkSystem SR670 V2 for NVIDIA A40 and T4 GPUs. “The work we’re doing with Chalmers University and its Alvis national supercomputer will give researchers the power they need to simulate and predict our world,” says Rod Evans, EMEA director of high-performance computing at NVIDIA. “Together, we’re giving the scientific community tools to solve the world’s greatest supercomputing challenges – from forecasting weather to drug discovery.” The storage architecture delivers a new Ceph solution with 7.8 petabytes, to be integrated into the existing storage environment at Chalmers. NVIDIA Quantum 200 Gb/s InfiniBand provides the system with low- latency, high data throughput networking and smart in- computing acceleration engines. With these high-speed infrastructure capabilities, users have almost 1000 GPUs, mainly NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core, including over 260,000 processing cores and over 800 TFLOPS of compute power to drive a faster time to answer in their research. In addition, Alvis leverages Lenovo’s NeptuneTM liquid-cooling technologies to deliver unparalleled compute efficiency. Initially, full air cooling was proposed for the project, but Chalmers instead decided to deploy Lenovo Neptune warm water-cooling capabilities to reduce long-term operational costs and result in a ‘greener’ AI infrastructure system. As a result, the university anticipates that there will be significant energy savings thanks to efficiencies through water cooling.