Insights into Data Centre Investment & Market Growth

Kao Data invests £350m in new 40MW Manchester data centre

Kao Data has announced a new 40MW data centre in Manchester, UK. Following the acquisition of two new data centres last year, the move represents the next phase in the continued expansion of the Kao Data platform, with Manchester named as the first of its new Tier II locations in Europe. The latest phase of Kao Data’s platform expansion has seen the company secure a 39,000m2 ex-industrial site for sustainable redevelopment at Kenwood Point, Manchester. The new data centre, which is planned to become operational in late 2025, will provide space for nine data halls, creating a leading infrastructure hub to support Greater Manchester’s growing technology ecosystem and the UK’s largest high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors outside of London and the Oxford-Cambridge arc. Kao Data’s first data centre in the north of England will follow the organisations award-winning high performance design, efficiency and sustainability ethos, providing a sustainable, OCP-Ready and NVIDIA-DGX ready certified infrastructure platform for advanced computing. For example, the facility will deliver a PUE of 1.2, be powered by 100% renewable energy, and utilise hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in its generators - providing the highest-grade, sustainable data centre capacity in the region. Furthermore, the data centre will be precision-engineered to incorporate heat re-use capabilities, supporting local communities in its immediate vicinity with a valuable resource in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis.   “Our move into Manchester marks an important next step in the continued evolution of our organisation, and we’re excited to bring our industry-leading data centre platform to one of the UK’s most influential technology and business hubs,” says Spencer Lamb, Chief Commercial Officer, Kao Data. “We believe our new facility will set a new standard for sustainable data centres within the region and will provide a piece of foundational infrastructure that supports both Northern England’s advanced computing clusters, and the government's ambitions to become a technological and economic powerhouse for HPC and AI.” Manchester has been hailed as one of the UK’s fastest growing technology hubs and has established itself as the country’s pre-eminent Tier II data centre cluster, driven by the media, scientific research, and enterprise sectors. The city’s technology ecosystem, for example, is projected to add £74.8bn GVA (gross value added) to the UK economy, and the region is an attractive location for enterprise with access to a highly skilled workforce, readily available renewable energy, and lower operating costs than the London market. As AI becomes more ingrained into every facet of business and enterprise, Greater Manchester is placed to play a pivotal role in the government’s ambitions to become a world-leading superpower in science and tech. With the move to establish a new 40MW data centre in the city, Kao Data is actively supporting this mission, and the region's technology-driven business communities.

Growth expectations are fuelling network security investment

A10 Networks has recently published research - Global Communication Service Providers: Market Growth Fuels Security Investments - revealing the priorities, expectations, and perspectives of CSPs across the globe as they evolve and expand their services and infrastructure in an increasingly complex digital environment.  The study was undertaken by independent research organisation, Opinion Matters, among 2,750 senior IT professionals from a range of communication service providers across 11 regions around the world, with 250 UK respondents surveyed. It found that all (100%) of UK service providers surveyed expect to see traffic volumes rise in the next two to three years. Two thirds of respondents expect to see traffic increase by 50% or more - with one quarter (25%) believing it will soar by 75% or more. As a result, four key themes ran throughout A10 Networks’ second UK CSP survey. These were: focusing on investment, preparing for growth, expanding services to meet underserved communities, and seizing opportunities to expand into new markets with new services. Anthony Webb, Vice-President of A10 International, says, “These predictions align with the sustained traffic growth we’ve seen in recent years. Although the pandemic created a one-off burst in growth which we witnessed in our 2021 survey, with 98% of UK CSPs surveyed stating this, we are now seeing more sustained patterns emerging which show continuing growth at a considerable rate. Likewise, these positive growth levels are creating both the urgency and the confidence for CSPs to undertake substantial investment projects.” Network security strategy is becoming more sophisticated and diverse The survey found that UK respondents’ top three priorities for network security investments were:  32% simplification and integration of disparate, disconnected point security solutions 32% ransomware and malware protection services 30% upgrading firewalls Anthony continues, “Although upgrading firewalls and other security appliances were in the top three, this was less dominant than it was two years ago when we did our first CSP survey. This points to the fact that today’s network security strategy must be wide-ranging, with a well-rounded approach that can handle the full spectrum of emerging threats to maintain a high quality, reliable, and secure service for customers.”  Providers are working to close the digital divide Alongside investing in network security, UK CSPs are planning to expand their networks to reach unserved or underserved communities: 63% of UK respondents say they are expanding their networks to unserved/underserved communities. 49% are planning to expand for an uplift of more than 10% of their current subscriber base. 14% are expanding for an uplift of more than 50%. 37% are planning to build additional data centres and expand to provide additional capacity for other service providers. Anthony adds, “Connecting communities is central to reducing inequality and supporting digital opportunities, so it is heartening to see this positive direction of travel. Combining this with robust security strategies will result in more people and communities worldwide benefitting from safe, reliable digital services.” Enterprise cloud migration is having a positive impact Enterprise cloud migration has been a strong trend over the past decade, accelerated by the pandemic. The survey found that UK CSPs are now focusing on finding the right mix of cloud services to support future plans: Overall, 69% of UK respondents report a positive outcome related to their cloud transition 27% say it has directly generated revenue 21% say they have evolved to offer public cloud and managed data centre services 21% now have differentiated services that have increased their relevance to customers Anthony comments, “It is interesting to see that one in four CSPs say they have gained revenue as customers have distributed workloads and data centre functions between private, on premises and public cloud. This cloud transition is also evident when it comes to key purchasing criteria for network equipment, as being in a cloud-native form factor was a must-have criteria, with 30% saying this.” IPv6 transition remains an ongoing challenge Worldwide demand, as CSPs globally add more subscribers, has made IPv4 addresses scarce. Providers therefore need to plan for transition to IPv6. However, the survey shows that only 34% of UK respondents expect to achieve this in the next two to three years. More than one third (34%) are adopting a strategy of carefully managing their IPv4 pools and gradually transitioning to IPv6. 32% aim to run the two in parallel. Anthony concludes, “This shows that CSPs are adopting a more cautious approach to IPv6 adoption, leveraging existing investment and carefully managing existing IPv4 addresses or running the two in parallel, rather than accelerating full transition plans. “A10 Networks’ Global Communication Service Providers: Market Growth Fuels Security Investments report shows that CSPs are at a crucial point as they aim to capitalise on demand and seize opportunities to grow and diversify their business. To realise their full potential, service providers need to scale and protect their networks so the infrastructure they provide is secure and highly available.”

Goodman continues investment in Germany’s digital economy

With data consumption at an all-time high, the need for data centres to power the digital economy has rapidly increased. The strategic location of Goodman’s properties and its international data centre development experience will see it develop a data centre in Frankfurt on the site of a former newspaper printing plant. Christof Prange, Head of Germany at Goodman, says, “Goodman’s focus on strategic infill locations means that we have sites that are attractive for a wide range of uses including data centres. “Many of our sites are located close to consumers and have access to power - important ingredients in being able to serve the data needs of the growing digital economy. Moving into data centre development in Germany was a natural evolution for us to complement our wider portfolio of logistics facilities, light industrial parks and multi-level developments.” Goodman recently purchased the 4.5-hectare brownfield plot in Neu-Isenburg, south of Frankfurt and is set to transform it into a shell data centre. The Goodman FRA II Data Centre will offer a power capacity of up to 100MVA, ready for customers to install their technical fit-out. Frankfurt is among Europe’s top data centre markets alongside London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin. In close proximity to Frankfurt, Neu-Isenburg’s strategic location benefits from a low risk profile and strong existing infrastructure and connectivity, with more than six on-net fibre providers nearby and within 9KM of DE-CIX and Hanauer Landstraße in Frankfurt. Matthieu Wieczorek, Data Centre Development Lead at Goodman, says, “Demand for server capacity, cloud space and data storage infrastructure in Germany and Continental Europe continues to rise, yet supply is lagging. “Goodman’s FRA II Data Centre will transform a vacant brownfield site into an essential piece of infrastructure serving millions of end users, supporting the continued growth of Frankfurt’s economy. “This development gives us the opportunity to bring our expertise to Germany and the wider Continental European market, having developed our first data centre more than two decades ago in Sydney. Our global data centre portfolio currently spans Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong, with plans to expand into other markets as opportunities arise.” Goodman’s team will apply its extensive experience in brownfield regeneration to deliver its FRA II Data Centre, maintaining its focus on brownfield developments in Germany as well as all over Continental Europe. Wider sustainability features of the development include a green façade to support biodiversity and positively contribute to micro-climatic conditions, while the property will be waste heat recovery ready, offering customers the opportunity to reuse their excess heat.

Sky’s the limit for cloud tech developer

Forrit will expand its operation after receiving scale up support from the Scottish National Investment Bank. The £5 million of funding will allow the Edinburgh-headquartered technology developer to expand its workforce and target new markets. The bank’s backing will see the creation of 15 new skilled jobs that will support Forrit’s expansion. The company will also strengthen its relationship with Microsoft as a ‘Preferred Solution’ and Microsoft Partner. Forrit CEO, Peter Proud, says, “We’ve experienced enormous growth as a company since we launched almost a decade ago - building a brilliant team who have in turn created an extremely strong product. While to date we have self-funded our growth through client engagements, as we take Forrit to the next level, now felt like the right time for us to seek external institutional funding. This investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank will help us to expand our presence, not only in Scotland, but also to expand into new markets across the UK and beyond.  “We are incredibly proud of our Scottish roots, so working with another Scottish organisation was extremely important as both parties are focused on benefitting Scotland. We have ambitious plans and only want to add to the success of the Scottish tech ecosystem. We hope to continue to add to this both as a provider of an exemplary content management system, but also as an employer. Thanks to the bank’s investment, we look forward to growing that even further as we scale up both the company and our product.” The Forrit investment will help further develop the Scottish tech ecosystem and enhance the sector’s global reputation. Jimmy Williamson, Executive Director of innovation at the Scottish National Investment Bank says, “The bank’s investment will support Forrit as they look to reach the next stage of their development. Our investment will enable Forrit to create new, high value technology development jobs, futureproofing skills in Scotland’s tech ecosystem and supporting plans to export their differentiated proposition to enterprise clients globally. “Forrit’s CMS system technology has a strong alignment with our Innovation mission and we look forward to working with them to deliver their ambitious growth plans.”

AirTrunk links its $5bn financing platforms to ESG

AirTrunk has linked 100% of its debt funding platforms to sustainability commitments following the raising of a $650 million Sustainability Linked Loan (SLL) in Japan. Across its financing platforms, AirTrunk has raised $5 billion in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) financing, making the company one of the largest issuers of sustainable financing in the data centre industry globally. The incremental Japan SLL will finance a major expansion of AirTrunk TOK1 (TOK1) and is the first SLL for a data centre in Japan, and the first in APJ to combine operating energy and water efficiency as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Energy and water are critical and interdependent resources that impact a data centre’s environmental footprint. As part of its commitment to accountability and transparency, AirTrunk continues to focus its financing KPIs on actual energy usage through operating power usage effectiveness (PUE) as opposed to design PUE. AirTrunk plans to invest any margin incentives from the Japan SLL into social impact initiatives within Japan. Plans are underway to expand the program across APJ to support long term initiatives aligned to AirTrunk’s purpose of scaling and sustaining the region’s digital future. This will include supporting initiatives across four focus areas: equal digital access, STEM education, biodiversity and conservation, and innovation and research and development. AirTrunk Chief Financial Officer, Prashant Murthy says, “By driving innovation in sustainable financing and creating a lasting impact in our communities, we are committed to powering positive industry change. We have now linked all our debt platforms to sustainability commitments, more than doubling our sustainable financing since our inaugural SLL launched in 2021. Our sustainable finance platform complements our recent commitment to net zero emissions by 2030.”

MDC boosts technology capabilities with significant investment

MDC Data Centres is pleased to announce a $3.4 million investment in upgrading its data centre infrastructure. During the past year, the company has purchased state-of-the-art equipment from Bud Griffin & Associates to upgrade its MCA2 data centre. This investment will enable MDC to offer improved quality of service to its clients, as well as stay up to date on the latest technologies and best practices in the industry. The partnership with BGA will provide MDC Data Centres with access to its expertise and resources, further enhancing the company's commitment to providing top-notch data centre services to its customers. "At MDC, our clients' satisfaction and long-term relationships are our top priorities. We believe that investing in our infrastructure with top providers such as BGA is an investment for the success of our clients. This upgrade to our MCA2 data centre will provide improved quality of service to our customers and minimise the risk of downtime, ensuring that we continue to be a trusted partner for businesses," says Ivan Eng, Strategic Planning Director at MDC. BGA recognises that in today's world there are no ‘typical’ network applications. Every company's network is critical. BGA not only has the solutions, but also the knowledge and experience to support these application needs. Whether it is a large data centre or a remote site that requires single phase power and monitoring, BGA offers the technology and support to surpass its customers' needs.

Increasing data centre power consumption in an energy crisis

Paul Brickman, Commercial Director, for Crestchic Loadbanks, explores the often-overlooked necessity of loadbank testing in securing data centre power in an energy crisis. Hiked power prices as a result of Russia’s fuel sanctions, and the threat of planned blackouts or power rationing to better manage an unstable grid, are forcing data centres to redistribute investment away from key business functions like training and recruitment, and towards improving energy efficiency and securing power resilience. The current geopolitical challenges and their far-reaching implications are recognised in the 2023 Uptime Institute report, Five Data Centre Predictions for 2023, in which the authors acknowledge that the Russian fuel sanctions, along with technological challenges 'will make the planning of data centre development and operations more difficult.' Powering next-generation data centres According to the Uptime Institute, IT hardware has been fairly standard in terms of its draw on mainstream server capacity for a few decades now, creating technical stability and relatively constant power and cooling requirement. This has enabled data centre designers to accommodate several IT refreshes without major upgrades to server technology and the associated hike in power consumption that would come with it. Essentially, offering the latest technologies, without an increase in energy requirement. This grace period is now over. Power requirements for next-generation IT hardware are far higher, rack power density is increasing, and 'hotter' processors are putting pressure on the performance parameters of existing infrastructure. This rapid rise in IT power density means server power consumption is on a steep climb, creating a need for more power, at a time when the grid is unstable, and energy prices are at their highest in decades. Extreme-density racks are now commonplace in technical computing too, as well as high-performance analytics and artificial intelligence training. If data centre operators want to successfully penetrate these niche markets, they will need to foot the heightened energy bill and maintain a robust power resilience regime until the situation stabilises. Data centres take action The demand for next-generation IT technologies will not slow. As a result, data centres are forging ahead with the essential upgrades required to UPS, batteries, switchgear and generators to accommodate increased power density. This is a risk. With an unstable grid and planned blackouts still on the agenda for many governments, upgrades will need to be bolstered with a watertight energy resilience plan to protect against power fluctuations and total outages. The importance of a power resilience strategy in an energy crisis According to research from the Ponemon Institute, in its third Cost of Data Centre Outages report, the total cost of downtime has continued to rise over the last six years - rising a staggering 38% to $740,357 per incident. That equates to nearly $9,000 per minute - a figure that many data centres will have to swallow if the grid becomes too unstable to sustain their increasing power consumption. Many data centres will already have a robust generator testing and maintenance regime in place, but the use of loadbanks is often overlooked, especially when budgets are stretched. At a time when power outages are more likely, loadbank testing should play an integral role in a data centre’s energy resilience strategy and it would be prudent to evaluate your strategy in line with the current landscape to ensure it is robust enough. With this in mind, what would be considered best practice for testing a backup power system? Best practice loadbank testing in times of crisis Ideally, as a minimum, all generators should be tested annually for real-world emergency conditions by using a resistive-reactive 0.8pf loadbank. Best practice dictates that all gensets (where there are multiple) should be run in a synchronised state, ideally for eight hours but for a minimum of three. Where a resistive-only loadbank is used, testing should be increased to two to four times per year at three hours per test. In carrying out this testing and maintenance, fuel, exhaust and cooling systems are effectively tested and system issues can be uncovered in a safe, controlled manner without the cost of major failure or unplanned downtime. The alternator is not thoroughly tested though, with a resistive-only test and therefore a resistive-reactive test would always be recommended. It may be advisable to test more frequently during times of crisis for added peace of mind. Why is resistive-reactive the best approach? Capable of testing both resistive and reactive loads, this type of loadbank provides a much clearer picture of how well an entire system will withstand changes in load patterns while experiencing the level of power that would typically be encountered under real operational conditions. Furthermore, the inductive loads used in resistive/reactive testing will show how a system will cope with a voltage drop in its regulator. This is particularly important in any application which requires generators to be operated in parallel (prevalent in larger business infrastructures such as hyperscale data centres) where a problem with one generator could prevent other system generators from working properly or even failing to operate entirely. This is something which is simply not achievable with resistive-only testing. Navigating growth when power is scarce No matter the geopolitical challenges and the effect it is having on power availability, data centres have no choice but to grow. Demand will not cease, and power-intensive next-generation technologies are unavoidable. Ensuring power resilience via a watertight backup power supply and a robust testing and maintenance regime will enable data centre designers and operators to grow, safe in the knowledge that, should planned blackouts, power rationing or grid fluctuations happen, the power will always remain on.

Infinidat names Steve Sullivan as Chief Revenue Officer

Infinidat has announced the promotion of Steve Sullivan to Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Steve previously held the position of Executive Vice President and General Manager, Americas, where he demonstrated his leadership skills and sales acumen. As Chief Revenue Officer, Steve will be responsible for overseeing all revenue-generating activities within Infinidat, including sales, go-to-market strategy, and customer success on a global scale. He will provide dynamic leadership for high-performance teams that are data-driven, insights-oriented, and proactive with customers and channel partners. The alignment of revenue functions under one senior executive will support the company’s growth initiatives. “We are pleased to promote a proven, highly successful, and trusted executive leader to a position crucial to Infinidat’s continued growth and success,” says Phil Bullinger, CEO at Infinidat. “Steve brings to the CRO role a track record of building and leading high-performing teams that have set a very high standard for customer success and delivering technical and business value in enterprise storage. His leadership in the expanded CRO role will accelerate our growth as we scale our global account and partner relationships through collaborative and cohesive go-to-market strategies and programs.” “I am honored to be promoted to Chief Revenue Officer and look forward to continuing to work with our talented teams across the globe to drive revenue growth and expand our market share,” says Steve. “We have such a highly differentiated value proposition for our customers, and we continually rank highest in customer success, two key components for continued growth. We will always continue to extend our investments in the total customer experience, ranging from solution architecting in collaboration with our channel partners to our white glove service and support that has earned the loyalty of global enterprises around the world.” Steve brings over 25 years of executive sales experience in the storage industry to the role. Prior to joining Infinidat, Steve held senior leadership positions in various companies, where he developed a strong track record of revenue growth and customer acquisition. He has a B.S. in Finance from Boston College and an MBA from the Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

Vertiv introduces new prefabricated modular data centre solution

Vertiv has introduced the Vertiv MegaMod and Vertiv MegaMod Plus, a turnkey prefabricated modular (PFM) data centre solution, deployable in expandable units of 0.5 or 1MW for IT loads up to 2MW or more. The prefabricated modules are integrated and tested with Vertiv power management systems, thermal management solutions, remote monitoring and IT equipment racks to deliver performance, and help companies reduce deployment time by up to 40% when compared to a traditional data centre build. Companies are racing to deploy processing power in new locations to meet demand for digital business products and services. The MegaMod, and the MegaMod Plus - which offers up to 25% more rack and cooling capacity - enable customers to expand core-to-edge data centre networks and rapidly deploy new compute capacity with lower upfront costs, greater predictability and less risk than traditional data centre builds, thanks to proven industrial processes and high standards of quality control. Both solutions provide options to grow horizontally or vertically, with MegaMod providing cooling capacity in the IT Hall area, while MegaMod Plus is configured with cooling modules that support the IT hall space expansions.  “Historically, facilities have typically been stick-built, requiring long lead times and heavy upfront capital investment. However, growing digitalisation trends have urged investors and data centre operators to reconsider this approach,” says Viktor Petik, Vice President and EMEA leader for Vertiv’s Integrated Modular Solutions business. “As demand for digital services soars, data centre owners are better able to capture this growth if they can accelerate the rollout of new capacity. The good news is that prefabricated modular data centres like Vertiv MegaMod enable stakeholders to act quickly.” Vertiv says that the solution is ideal for medium size data centres, and can be easily deployed and expanded as business needs grow. Vertiv also provides end-to-end services for a straightforward start-up and smooth operation, including deployment, commissioning, ongoing maintenance, remote monitoring and training.

DCI Data Centres appoints group CEO

DCI Data Centres (DCI) has announced the appointment of Nicholas Toh as the group Chief Executive Officer. Nicholas is an industry veteran with more than 20 years’ experience across data centres, finance and real estate investments. He joins DCI from STT Global Data Centres, where he was one of the key founding team members, having been instrumental in the growth and development of the business, most recently as CEO, North-East Asia. During his time with STT GDC, he led market entry into the mature markets of UK and Japan as well as strategic investments and partnerships into India, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Prior to joining STT, he was Senior Vice President at Securus Data Property Fund. An Australian national, Nicholas has also worked for Macquarie Group within the Banking and Financial Services group, as well as within Macquarie’s Real Estate group. DCI Chair and Brookfield Global CEO Data Centres, Udhay Mathialagan says Nicholas brings an impressive track record in building data centre businesses across multiple geographies, marking a strategic milestone as DCI enters an accelerated growth phase. “Nicholas’s appointment strengthens DCI’s growth trajectory as we look to build on our rapid growth in Australia and New Zealand by deepening our geographic and product strength in these markets in addition to targeted expansion across Asia. I am delighted to welcome Nicholas to the team,” adds Udhay. “DCI’s growth and commitment to scale makes it an exciting time to join the company. DCI’s customer centric approach and ability to provide innovative solutions has enabled them to be a trusted partner, and I look forward to continuing to build the business and usher in new successes for our hyperscale customers,” Nicholas says.