Data Centres

Feature - Driving Hard Disk Drive innovation

When it comes to capacity and density, Western Digital’s latest hard disk drives (HDDs) are setting new standards. Peter Hayles, Product Marketing Manager HDD at Western Digital, explains why. The increased digitalisation of business operations and the proliferation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has led to an explosive data growth in recent times. Hyperscalers, cloud service providers, and data centres now require enormous storage capacities to keep up with this data deluge, with factors like performance, power consumption, total cost of ownership and storage density all playing a decisive role in creating an efficient storage infrastructure. With its decades of industry experience, Western Digital is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when it comes to data centre storage, and its latest HDDs are here to help address the challenge of balancing capacity and density needs. The Ultrastar DC HC690 UltraSMR HDD has up to 32 TB of storage, with a sequential transfer rate of up to 257 MiB/s. And the Ultrastar DC HC590 HDD, which uses the traditional CMR recording technology, enables a continuous increase in capacity with 26 TB and sustained transfer rates of up to 288 MiB/s. Storage capacity and density now go hand in hand What is remarkable about these HDDs is that, despite their higher capacities, they are not physically larger than their predecessor models. This makes them a great solution for data centres and is something primarily made possible by innovative technologies, like the Energy-Assisted Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (ePMR). The PMR process requires a certain minimum energy to ensure stable magnetisation of the bits. With ePMR, electricity is used to generate an additional magnetic field to support the magnetisation process of data bits. The field creates a preferred path for ‘switching’ the bits, i.e. rewriting the data, and this means that less magnetic energy is required from the write head itself. The additional magnetic field ensures a more stable and uniformed magnetisation of the bits, which minimises so-called ‘jitter’ effects. This is where unwanted irregularities can lead to inefficient use of storage space. By reducing jitter, the bits can be placed closer together, and therefore the storage density of the hard disk increases. Why SMR and ePMR complement each other perfectly ePMR has a particularly positive effect in combination with Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), the storage recording format with overlapping tracks. With SMR, more data can be written to the same space and like ePMR, it is therefore great for increasing the storage capacity on a hard drive without increasing its physical space requirements. SMR hard drives are best suited for long sequential writes where the system is continuously writing data to the medium, such as for data backup or archiving. In combination with ePMR, these two technologies enable an increase in tracks-per-inch (TPI), allowing more storage capacity so data centre operators can maximise their storage efficiency. This results in benefits such as increased computing power in minimal space, improved energy efficiency, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), scalability and flexibility. Shaping the future of HDD technology With data centres growing in importance and prominence – especially hyperscalers and cloud providers – there is an increasing need to look for optimised storage solutions that can keep up with the vast amounts of data at scale while lowering TCO to ensure storage efficiency and economic viability. By combining field-proven designs with the latest innovative technologies, such as UltraSMR and Western Digital’s propriety OptiNAND technology, which leverages integrated iNAND embedded flash for housekeeping functions, data centres will address the different needs of various applications and enable higher capacity storage without having to compromise on density. Data centres and organisations interested in learning more about Western Digital’s HDD offerings can start their journey here. - This article first appeared in the Winter 2024 edition of DCNN. For more from Western Digital, click here.

Smart Spatial announces partnership with Hyperview

Smart Spatial has announced a new strategic partnership with Hyperview, a prominent cloud-based DCIM platform. The companies state that the collaboration represents a major advancement in digital twin technology, combining Smart Spatial's innovative platform with Hyperview’s expertise in optimising data centre operations, reducing energy consumption, and preventing outages. Together, the companies aim to redefine how businesses manage and optimise their physical environments. Through this partnership, Smart Spatial and Hyperview will introduce cutting-edge visualisation capabilities to data centres, pushing the boundaries of transparency and risk mitigation. Hyperview’s advanced cloud platform captures and manages live telemetry from servers, networks, storage, and IT infrastructure to optimise asset tracking, capacity planning, energy usage, and carbon footprint reduction. By integrating Smart Spatial's 3D visualisation capabilities, Hyperview can transform this data into an intuitive, layered 3D interface, empowering data centre teams with actionable insights for precision and efficiency. Together, the companies are not just reducing costs and errors, but driving sustainability and seeking to set new standards for operational excellence. Dan Lesovodski, Chief Partner Officer of Smart Spatial, comments, "This partnership marks another significant step in delivering unparalleled value to data centre customers. We are thrilled to welcome Hyperview to our ecosystem and look forward to the exciting possibilities this collaboration will unlock." Jad Jebara, President and CEO of Hyperview, adds, “Our collaboration with Smart Spatial marks a pivotal moment in data centre innovation. By merging Hyperview’s advanced DCIM capabilities with Smart Spatial’s cutting-edge 3D visualisation technology, we are empowering data centre operators to achieve new heights in operational efficiency, sustainability, and risk mitigation. Together, we’re transforming how data centres are managed, setting a new standard for transparency and precision in the industry.” For more from Hyperview, click here.

Sabey Data Centers announces new President

Sabey Data Centers, a designer, builder and operator of multi-tenant data centres, has announced the details of a significant leadership transition. After eight years of dedicated service, Rob Rockwood stepped down from his role as President, effective 31 December 2024, and Tim Mirick (pictured), who has served as Chief Revenue Officer since 2012, is set to succeed Rob as President. Tim officially took over as President on 1 January 2025. "I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved at Sabey Data Centers over the past eight years,” says Rob Rockwood. “As I step down, I am confident that Tim Mirick’s exceptional leadership and vision will continue to drive Sabey Data Centers forward. I look forward to supporting Tim and the entire Sabey team in their future endeavours." Jeffrey Kanne, President and CEO of National Real Estate Advisors, comments, “We extend our gratitude to Rob Rockwood for his exceptional leadership and the significant impact he has made at Sabey Data Centers during his tenure. As we welcome Tim Mirick into this pivotal role, we look forward to working closely with him to drive continued growth and success for Sabey Data Centers.” Tim Mirick, the new President, notes, "I am honoured to take on the role of President at Sabey Data Centers and am grateful for the trust placed in me by the company. Rob Rockwood has been an outstanding leader and built a strong foundation for continued growth. I am excited to lead the team in this new chapter and to continue expanding our capabilities to meet the growing needs of our clients." For more from Sabey Data Centers, click here.

CapitaLand India Trust signs agreement with global hyperscaler

CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) has signed a long-term agreement with a leading global hyperscaler for one of CLINT’s data centres under development. With this, CLINT is likely to pre-lease about half of its total gross power capacity under development of around 250 MW. Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam, CEO of CapitaLand India Trust Management, says, "CLINT's decision to diversify into critical infrastructure such as data centres is validated by the strong interest shown by hyperscale and enterprise customers and positions us well to capitalise on India’s burgeoning digitalisation needs and drive long-term value for our unitholders. We are on track to complete the development of our data centres in India, accelerate leasing momentum, and unlock value through divestments of partial stakes to strategic investors. With the support of our sponsor, CapitaLand Investment (CLI), we are well-poised to meet the fast-growing demand for data centre capacity in India." Manohar Khiatani, Senior Executive Director of CLI, who oversees the group’s data centre business and is Chairman of the Trustee-Manager, adds, “India is a core market for CLI and we see strong growth potential across the asset classes that CLINT is active in, including data centres. This agreement with a leading hyperscaler is a milestone and demonstrates our ability to deliver world-class data centre solutions. It underscores our deep in-country expertise and strong vertically-integrated capabilities in acquiring greenfield land; designing, developing and completing construction on schedule; as well as leasing and operating data centres. "Digitalisation is the global megatrend of our times and CLI has significantly expanded its data centre business and capabilities worldwide in the last few years. With our 27 data centres across the globe offering more than 800 MW in gross power on a completed basis, we are well-positioned to cater to the expansion needs of hyperscalers and enterprises. “India is seeing a surge in demand for data storage and processing given the significant scale and growth of mobile and internet users and businesses widely adopting technologies such as AI and Internet of Things. The rapid pace of digital transformation, increased adoption of cloud computing and the need for data localisation will continue to drive demand for data centres. With 30 years of experience in India, strong technical capabilities and a global customer network, CLI is fully equipped to support CLINT’s growth in India.” CLINT is developing four state-of-the-art facilities in all the key data centre corridors of India (Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore). The company says that this strategic diversification strengthens its portfolio in India, enabling it to deliver quality risk adjusted returns to unitholders.

NorthC appoints new Managing Director for DACH region

NorthC Group, based in the Netherlands, has appointed Donald Badoux as the company's new Managing Director for the DACH region. Donald assumed the new role on 1 January 2025 and will head up the regional data centre operator's business operations in Germany and Switzerland. Germany and Switzerland are key markets in Europe given the importance of data centres and fibre-optic networks as the basis for digital and critical infrastructures. Donald has held senior management positions at companies in the German data centre market for several years and will help shape NorthC’s growth and expansion. In December 2024, NorthC announced its plan to continue expanding with two new data centre locations in Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany. Donald will serve as the Managing Director for the DACH region, playing a crucial role in the company's strategy. Both the German and Swiss markets have significant growth opportunities, as the economy increasingly requires commercial data centres to support key technology developments such as digitalisation, AI, data security, and low latency. The demand for outsourcing, connectivity services, and hybrid cloud solutions is steadily rising among companies across various industries. Donald Badoux, Managing Director DACH at NorthC, comments, "I’ve been really impressed from the very start by how everyone at NorthC embraces the company's values and the fantastic sense of teamwork that reflects our people-centered culture. It’s great to see how this shows in our interactions with our customers as well." Referring to the economy, Donald adds, "The important overarching task of making a contribution to the development of digital infrastructure with distributed regional data centres and a committed team at my side motivates me to be back at the helm of a data centre operator and to expand NorthC's good and solid market position in the DACH region." A key part of the company's mission is to advocate for and implement sustainability in every country in which NorthC operates and builds new data centres. Investments in green energy solutions such as hydrogen-powered emergency systems in the Netherlands, the use of propane as a refrigerant in data centres in Germany and the reuse of waste heat are part of the strategy. NorthC wants to take a leadership role in the Benelux and DACH region in terms of sustainable data centre operations. With its innovative solution for the use of hydrogen, NorthC is a pioneer. Last year in Germany, NorthC received the ‘Data centre Award’ in the category of green data centre operations in platinum, from Vogel IT Verlag. "Sustainability is in NorthC's DNA”, states Alexandra Schless, NorthC Group's CEO. “Donald Badoux is ideally qualified to take on this leadership role and to help constructively shape this strategically relevant area. NorthC will benefit from his experience and expertise in renewable energies and their distribution which he gained in his previous management position at an energy supplier in Hesse. With a network of more than 20 regional data centres and the international expertise of our management team, we are well positioned in Europe to provide our customers with personal support and the opportunity to participate in the NorthC Digital Ecosystem.” For more from NorthC Group, click here.

nLighten and Megaport forge strategic partnership

nLighten, a digital infrastructure platform and a frontrunner in the European data centre market, has announced a strategic partnership with Megaport. As part of the agreement, Megaport will operate a Point of Presence (PoP) at two of nLighten’s edge data centres, located in Milton Keynes, UK, and Sophia Antipolis, France. nLighten enterprise customers will benefit from a seamless, fast and cost-efficient connection to a wide choice of private and public cloud services, adding to the colocation, connectivity and onsite services already provided. The cloud on-ramp initiative will allow nLighten customers using the Sophia Antipolis and Milton Keynes edge data centres to easily migrate their workloads to and from the cloud, enabling efficient and cost-effective hybrid IT environments. "We are delighted to have Megaport as a partner," says Joacim van Collenburg, VP Enabling Services of nLighten. "This initiative underscores nLighten’s commitment to supporting our customers’ IT needs every step of the way, in this case by leveraging Megaport’s scalable and cost-effective infrastructure to simplify cloud connectivity at two of our key edge data centre locations. We are continuously looking to enhance our digital services portfolio across the expanding nLighten footprint of 34 edge data centres, to make the use of transformative cloud technologies and tech applications like AI even more accessible to our customers." "Our partnership with nLighten reflects a shared commitment to redefining how businesses connect and thrive," adds Michael Reid, CEO of Megaport. "We’re thrilled to expand our footprint together and can’t wait to see how this partnership will empower each of our customers to innovate faster." The integration of the Megaport PoP at nLighten’s edge data centres in Antibes and Milton Keynes is nearing completion, and both sites are now available for pre-order. As a vendor-neutral digital infrastructure platform, nLighten is committed to providing customers with diverse cloud on-ramp options and is actively pursuing new partnerships to broaden its market reach and provide maximum customer choice. For more from nLighten, click here.

JLL expands EMEA Data Centres team

JLL has announced three key new hire announcements in its EMEA data centres team. Analysis by JLL estimates that 742MW of hyperscale self-build is currently under construction in EMEA, with a further 2,661MW worth of land banked, driven by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies requiring infrastructure support provided by hyperscale data centres.  JLL’s latest research highlights the pace of the sector's upward trajectory, with hyperscale providers continuing to drive market dynamics and predicted to increase their capital expenditure to $300 billion in 2025. The figure represents an increase of 50% on 2024 and JLL has responded to the surge in demand by strengthening its data centre services offering with three senior hires within its EMEA team. “The data centre sector across the core EMEA markets continues to experience robust growth, driven by surging demand for capacity,” says Jonathan Kinsey, EMEA Lead and Global Chair, Data Centre Solutions, JLL. “This rapid growth underscores the critical role data centres play in supporting the digital economy and the increasing reliance on cloud services. Bringing in the very brightest talent in the industry is an essential part of our plan to support that expansion by strengthening our offering to meet the current and future needs of our clients, reinforcing our capabilities within the region.” Steve Ross has been appointed as UK & Ireland Data Centre Operations lead, having worked in critical environments for the past two decades, with over 12 years in the data centre industry. Most recently, Steve was Technical Facilities Director at Ark Data Centres, with accountability for technical and facility operations across all of Ark’s data centre campuses, whilst also ensuring that operations provided full support through the design, construction, and commissioning stages of Ark’s expansion. Godfrey Anderson joins as Director, Critical Environment Centre of Excellence Programme lead – EMEA Region, having previously served as EMEA Head of Engineering Design for Morgan Stanley. Godfrey also spent over 15 years with Credit Suisse across several roles in EMEA and APAC, with over 25 years of experience in engineering project management and operations within the investment industry. Ross Smyth joins as Senior Consultant - EMEA Data Centre Consulting, bringing with him a specialism in integrated chip programming and a background in electrical engineering. Ross joins from data centre advisory firm VIPA Digital, where he spent three years consulting on high profile projects specialising in technical due diligence, operations, power, and connectivity.  “We are excited to welcome Steve, Godfrey and Ross to JLL, who can call upon numerous collective leadership, client management and project roles throughout impressive careers that will serve as an invaluable asset to our clients moving forward,” says Jonathan. “These are significant hires that increase our technical capabilities and network connections in line with our plans for growth.” 

Schneider Electric advocates for increase in sustainable technology

Schneider Electric, the energy management and automation specialist – and recognised sustainability expert – will play an active role at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025 (WEF), advocating for more collaboration to increase uptake of energy technologies and automation solutions. The annual meeting gathers global leaders from all sectors to address the world's most urgent challenges. This year, it emphasises stronger collaboration to address geopolitical dynamics, while stimulating growth and stewarding a just energy transition. Schneider Electric tells us that it is firmly aligned with the WEF’s call to action. The company has long worked across multiple industries and sectors, helping clients and partners reduce environmental impacts along their value chain, while improving efficiency and resilience. Recently, Schneider Electric released two key reports: The Looming Power Crunch; Solutions for Data Center Expansion in an Energy-Constrained World from its Energy Management Research Center, and Artificial Intelligence for Energy Transition from its Sustainability Research Institute. These reports outline strategies for addressing the challenges of an energy-constrained world and ensuring expansion is both sustainable and economically viable. They also define a strategy for integrating AI seamlessly into our infrastructure to achieve substantial decarbonisation in the energy sector. Olivier Blum, CEO of Schneider Electric, during the IEA global conference in December 2024 advocated that it is possible to leverage innovations in AI to deliver greater efficiency, resilience, and security simultaneously while ensuring smart and sustainable management. Schneider Electric now calls for harnessing the momentum around AI to accelerate the adoption of existing technologies such as end-to-end AI data centre solutions or AI powered HVAC in buildings. The company states that this will facilitate a successful energy transition and drive the development of smart industries. According to a WEF report, reducing energy usage with existing technologies alone could lower energy intensity by 31% and generate annual savings exceeding $2 trillion (£1.6 trillion) by 2030. To deploy technology at scale, Schneider Electric emphasises stronger partnerships and enhancing efficiency at the industry level. Olivier Blum comments, “Sustainability and economic growth can go hand-in-hand. By forging strategic partnerships, companies can leverage innovation and technology at hand to increase their performance while delivering meaningful impacts and a better future for all.” From 20-24 January, participants at WEF’s Annual Meeting can engage with Schneider Electric's experts in both public and private panel discussions. These sessions will focus on practical strategies for implementation, return on investment, and real-world case studies that highlight the benefits and successes of sustainable projects. Company executives in attendance will include: • Olivier Blum, Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric• Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman, Schneider Electric• Aamir Paul, President of North America Operations, Schneider Electric• Barbara Frei, EVP, Industrial Automation, Schneider Electric• Caspar Herzberg, CEO, AVEVA & Member of the Executive Committee, Schneider Electric• Chris Leong, Chief Sustainability Officer, Schneider Electric• Deepak Sharma, Managing Director & CEO, Zone President Greater India, Schneider Electric• Pankaj Sharma, Executive Vice President, Data Centers & Networks, Schneider Electric For more from Schneider Electric, click here.

Telehouse launches new liquid cooling lab

Addressing the thermal challenges of today’s high-performance computing and AI workloads, Telehouse International Corporation of Europe, a global data centre service provider, has announced the launch of its liquid cooling lab following the development of strategic partnerships with four of the world’s most advanced liquid cooling technology providers. From early 2025 onwards, the four companies – Accelsius, EkkoSense, JetCool, and Legrand – will showcase their advanced cooling technologies at the new, state-of-the-art liquid cooling lab at Telehouse South, the latest addition to Telehouse’s London Docklands campus. This project will enable Telehouse customers to explore cutting-edge liquid cooling innovations and find an option that works best for their needs. Accelsius is bringing its NeuCool platform to Telehouse’s London data centre, introducing a two-phase, direct-to-chip cooling technology that uses a waterless, non-conductive refrigerant for heat removal. Removing an average heat flux of 250W/cm² and hot spot heat fluxes above 500W/cm², NeuCool offers substantial performance headroom for AI and high-performance computing. The deployment will include the Accelsius Thermal Simulation Rack, a patent-pending system with Load Simulation Sleds that replicate high-power servers, enabling users to control, monitor, and measure the impressive cooling and computational performance delivered by NeuCool technology. Telehouse clients will also have access to a live performance portal for real-time data and seamless demonstrations of the system’s capabilities. JetCool, a Flex company, will provide its SmartPlate System in the Liquid Cooling Lab - a self-contained liquid cooling product in compact 1U and 2U form factors. Requiring no piping, plumbing, or facility modifications, the SmartPlate System provides a hassle-free approach to efficient cooling. JetCool’s patented microconvective liquid cooling technology handles the highest-power CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators, cooling Superchips over 3,500W and outperforming microchannel-based designs by up to 30%, as validated by third-party testing. JetCool’s product suite extends beyond self-contained systems to integrated rack-level liquid cooling products. These incorporate JetCool’s in-rack SmartSense Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU), capable of cooling up to 300kW per rack or neighbouring racks, with scalability to row-based configurations exceeding 2MW. JetCool’s flexible technology enables Telehouse tenants to choose products ranging from liquid-assisted air cooling to full-scale liquid cooling, meeting the demands of today’s high-performance computing and AI workloads. Legrand will install its USystems ColdLogikCL20 Rear Door Heat Exchanger (RDHx), supporting over 90kW capacity per cabinet. Its ColdLogik RDHx negates heat at source and removes the need for air-mixing or containment. Ambient air is drawn into the rack via the IT equipment fans, and the hot exhaust air is expelled from the equipment and pulled over the heat exchanger assisted by EC fans mounted in the RDHx chassis. The exhaust air transfers heat into the coolant within the heat exchanger, and the newly chilled air is expelled into the room at, or just below, the predetermined room ambient temperature designed around sensible cooling. Both processes are managed by the ColdLogik adaptive intelligence, using air-assisted liquid-cooling to control the whole room temperature automatically at its most efficient point. EkkoSense, a provider of AI-powered data centre optimisation software, will deploy to Telehouse's lab its innovative EkkoSim ‘what-if?’ scenario simulations; low-cost air-side and liquid-side monitoring sensors; web-based EkkoSoft Critical 3D visualisations with analytics and AI-powered advisory; and anomaly detection tools. Because the latest AI compute hardware and hybrid cooling infrastructure introduce new levels of engineering complexity, EkkoSense deploys the power of AI to capture, visualise, and analyse data centre performance. Telehouse has already deployed EkkoSense’s EkkoSoft Critical platform across its London Docklands campus, optimising data centre cooling performance. A key benefit for the Telehouse operations team has been how the EkkoSense AI-powered platform has not only improved visibility into cooling and capacity performance, but also helped to reduce the administrative burden for already busy Telehouse team members. For more from Telehouse, click here.

BAC to showcase new immersion cooling tank

Baltimore Aircoil Company (BAC) is to showcase its latest sustainable cooling innovations at the AHR Expo 2025 – the event for ‘everything new in HVACR’. Among the innovations at the company's stand will be the newly released immersion cooling tank, the TrilliumSeries adiabatic cooler, and the BAC’s Loop platform. BAC's brand new immersion cooling tank, which attendees will have the opportunity to see at the expo, is designed to address the growing demands of data centres. This innovative technology achieves remarkable energy efficiency, BAC says, significantly reducing overall energy consumption by 51% and cooling energy by 95% compared to traditional designs. The cooling process works through direct contact with data centre servers submerged in a dielectric fluid within immersion cooling tanks, with heat generated from servers absorbed by the fluid and transferred from the tanks to a cooling unit outside the facility to reject the heat. Once the fluid is cooled within the outdoor unit, it is then transferred back to the in-tank heat exchanger to absorb more heat. There is also no need for a chiller and virtually no maintenance. In combination with BAC’s outdoor heat rejection technologies – including cooling towers, adiabatic coolers, hybrid coolers, and dry coolers – BAC can help customers balance PUE and Water Use Effectiveness (WUE), providing options to meet site specific goals. Visitors to the BAC booth will also have a chance to explore the TrilliumSeries adiabatic cooler, showcasing BAC's commitment to water and energy efficiency. This unique adiabatic cooler is ideal for applications demanding both energy efficiency and limited water use. The TrilliumSeries cooler features a smart water management system with high-efficiency pre-cooler pads, a dual pump recirculating system for code compliance, intelligent controls for optimised operation, and up to 20% energy savings compared to alternatives. Also on display will be BAC’s innovative AI-driven Loop Platform, designed to enhance the efficiency and performance of HVAC systems. This compact yet powerful device optimises operational efficiency by continuously monitoring and adjusting for changes in environmental conditions. The Loop Platform offers real-time data analysis and performance optimisation, predictive maintenance capabilities, significant energy savings, reduced maintenance costs, and extended equipment lifespan. This year’s AHR Expo will take place from 10-12 February at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Visitors are invited to explore BAC's products at Booth 6243. For more from Baltimore Aircoil Company, click here.