Features

Sparkle activates new point of presence in Rome

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, and Aruba, Italy's leading provider of cloud, data centre, hosting, e-mail, domain registration and PEC (certified email) services, have announced the activation of the new Sparkle’s Point of Presence (PoP) at the Hyper Cloud Data Centre of Aruba, the largest data centre campus in Rome, to be inaugurated soon. The agreement between Aruba and Sparkle reinforces Rome as a global connectivity hub between Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia thanks to the connection with BlueMed, Sparkle's new cable that increases connectivity in the Mediterranean basin by linking various countries - including France, Greece, Israel and Italy - with landings in Rome, Genoa, Palermo and Golfo Aranci. BlueMed is an integral part of the Blue & Raman Submarine Cable Systems project. In partnership with Google and other operators, the project is set to establish a new digital infrastructure between Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia with extension as far as India, and is among the first projects being implemented on the IMEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor) set up at the G20 summit in September 2023. Designed with an 'open cable system' and 'open landing station' architecture, BlueMed ensures maximum openness to other operators and the development of internet traffic interconnection ecosystems. With four fibre pairs and a capacity of over 25 Terabits per second (Tbps) per pair, BlueMed offers operators and businesses high-speed, high-performance international connections from Rome to all of Sparkle's destinations worldwide. Sparkle's new PoP was activated at Aruba's Hyper Cloud Data Centre (IT4), a technology campus located at the Tecnopolo Tiburtino, a district where more than 150 companies operate, ranging from aerospace to ICT, in an environment designed also to support the growth and development of new companies and start-ups. The data centre campus covers an area of 74,000 m² and, when fully operational, will include five independent data centres for a total of 30 MW of IT power, the first of which (DC-A) is already ANSI/TIA Rating 4 certified. Designed to the highest standards of resilience and infrastructure quality, the new hub will use renewable energy, cooling systems and highly efficient equipment. “With the activation of the new PoP integrated with BlueMed, we intend to respond to the needs of companies and operators that require large international interconnection capacities,” says Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. “We bring Rome closer to the world's major connectivity exchange points thanks to a unique, low-latency route to Marseille and Palermo, integrated with the main submarine cables crossing the Mediterranean and other destinations in Sparkle's global network.” Stefano Cecconi, CEO of Aruba, comments, “We share with Sparkle the aim of serving companies and operators that need large capacities, with not only connectivity but also space and power within state-of-the-art data centres that are large enough to support even the most ambitious growth plans. Being able to host a Sparkle PoP, with the availability of BlueMed, is an important building block in the consolidation of our data centres as strategic assets at a national and European level, and is perfectly in line with our carrier neutral philosophy. “This approach is designed to allow customers to enjoy, in maximum autonomy, extremely reliable and high-performance internet connection solutions, and to foster the development of interconnections that benefit the entire ecosystem, making Rome an additional connectivity hub and an IT and cloud service delivery centre for the capital and all Central and Southern Italy.” The new PoP - which already hosts important international players - adds to the four existing points of presence in Rome, increasing the capillarity of the metropolitan ring, a protected and redundant system fully integrated with Sparkle's Tier-1 global IP network, 'Seabone'. Network operators, ISPs, OTTs, content and application providers can benefit from the range of IP and data services offered by Sparkle, including DDoS Protection - which gives customers the option to self-protect their networks from attacks – and Virtual NAP, which provides virtual access to leading Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) without the need to build proprietary infrastructure. For more from Aruba, click here.

DE-CIX and Chief Telecom enter strategic partnership

DE-CIX, a leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator, and Chief Telecom, a leading data centre and IX operator in East Asia, have signed a Letter of Intent to enter into a strategic partnership. As of June 2024, Chief Telecom customers can benefit from the neutral and global DE-CIX ecosystem that offers peering, cloud, and other interconnection services. The agreement enables Chief Telecom to bring its customers to Singapore to connect to the DE-CIX ASEAN distributed interconnection platform and engage in remote peering with DE-CIX Frankfurt, the largest Internet Exchange in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Chief Telecom’s customers will benefit from DE-CIX’s enterprise services, including DE-CIX’s Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) for dedicated and secure connectivity to the Microsoft 365 cloud, cloud connectivity to the major cloud service providers, or cloud to cloud connectivity via DE-CIX Cloud Router for connectivity between clouds. Wherever networks interconnect, this reduces latency times and increases performance of content and digital applications. Chief Telecom’s customers will be able to capitalise on this to support their close economic ties to Singapore, as well as South and Southeast Asia. “This new partnership opens a doorway to the ASEAN region that will allow Chief Telecom’s networks to directly interconnect with networks in Southeast Asia,” says Mareike Jacobshagen, Head of Global Business Partner Program at DE-CIX. “Together with partners like Chief Telecom, we are driving digitalisation in many regions around the globe and shaping the infrastructure that today's digital economies and societies need to grow and prosper.” Joseph Wu, Chairman of Chief Telecom, expressed that the establishment of the strategic partnership between DE-CIX and Chief is of great significance. DE-CIX not only connects thousands of data centres in Europe, the Middle East, North America, Asia, and Africa, but also operates more than 50 Internet and Cloud Exchanges worldwide. It is one of the top commercial internet exchange operators globally. In the future, Chief Telecom and DE-CIX will leverage their combined strength to promote more comprehensive solutions in Europe and Asia. The customers and peering members of both parties, therefore, will benefit from higher-quality internet services. The distributed DE-CIX ASEAN interconnection platform interconnects markets in Southeast Asia and promotes direct data pathways, lower latency, and access to clouds across the region. The DE-CIX ASEAN ecosystem now covers seven key metro markets: Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang, Brunei, and Manila. Customers at any of the exchanges are able to exchange Internet traffic with networks at any of the other IXs in the region, offering a seamless connection, top quality interconnection services for wholesale and enterprise requirements, and the most cost-effective way to peer across Southeast Asia. For more from DE-CIX, click here.

Comparing on-premises with cloud and colocation

Here, Pulsant provides an overview of 'on-premises', cloud and colocation to help businesses that are looking to expand their digital infrastructure that will aid the success of the businesses in years to come. When it comes to digital infrastructure, deciding between utilising either ‘on-premises’ or cloud remains a divide amongst all business decision makers - and both sides have their benefits, depending on which way you look at it. Cloud, for example, its often believed to be a runaway success. The UK Regulator, Ofcom, produced a report into the domestic cloud service market and noted that the UK cloud infrastructure market is expanding, with overall revenues increasing from a rate of 35% to 40% annually. Despite that, Synergy analysts have discovered that by 2027, enterprise data centres will still account for more than a quarter of data centre capacity. This year, there were 350 UK IT leaders involved in a 2024 research project, which recorded 93% of its respondents who have been involved with a cloud repatriation project in the last three years. Furthermore, 25% of those businesses have already migrated half or more of their cloud-based workloads back to an ‘on-premises’ infrastructure. However, for many businesses, especially those experiencing growth, SMEs and medium-sized enterprises, the reality is there are two types of ‘on-premises’ infrastructures. Some businesses (usually within technology) will host their own data internally within their own data centre, while there are others that will host their entire IT infrastructure within their own office. The latter group of companies are often seeking solutions to manage their servers and treat it as a critical asset which they need to protect. Migrating to serviced offices Businesses that are experiencing growth or are already at a medium-sized level, tend to be already discussing their next steps. Usually driven by the increase in energy prices, higher borrowing, operational costs, and evolving work patterns, they tend to reassess their property portfolios. One focus has been the migration to serviced offices. Lambert Smith Hampton, a commercial property specialist, cites the following Mordor Intelligence forecasting which says that, “The UK market will grow by 8% per year during 2022-27.” There also been an “exceptional rise in demand”, for flexible offices in the UK, according to Savills reports. It also highlights that the increased demand has led to an increase in prices by 15%, and enquiries are also up by 17%. Despite that, issues have begun to arise with serviced offices. With critical business technology being operated within a shared space, restrictions have emerged. Firstly, serviced offices are rarely equipped with the necessary infrastructure and connectivity to host high-growth company needs. The power supply is shared throughout the entire building and can therefore be insufficient. Also, connectivity options and data management capabilities tend to be at a bare minimum. Shared offices also lack the necessary physical and cyber security assets. With the demand in costs, a serviced office typically has less physical security than a data centre and on-site staff aren’t comprehensively trained in cybersecurity. From a technological perspective, serviced offices are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks because they use less secure connections to keep the costs low. Finally, serviced offices have limited space for businesses looking to grow. By having a limitation on room-size, this can restrict business attempts to scale their IT infrastructure, because their office operators need to prioritise space for furniture etc. Colocation data centre When it comes to digital infrastructure, serviced offices often bring challenges for high-growth businesses. It is difficult for them to operate their own, expensive property facility or carry their ever-expanding infrastructure with them. On the other hand, businesses can experience a lack of control over their own technologies, so are forced to reduce their control over systems and key processes. Then there is the case of growth not being a ‘one time deal’ for businesses. It goes beyond legacy on-site strategies, expansions and adapting their infrastructure with every opening of a new facility. With a colocation centre, businesses can move their IT infrastructure, while focusing on their growth and agility. Firstly, businesses can exploit a flexible office space to move, optimising their capital expenditure (CAPEX) investment and operational expenditure (OPEX), by acquiring the minimum they need. In context, this is often a complete migration to OPEX as businesses seek to release themselves of expensive liabilities. The increased agility can fuel businesses to expand their operations. They also receive reassurance of greater security, and as they evolve, their colocation partner can also advocate a wider range of suppliers in connectivity and ecosystems. Business operations can become more resilient as the colocations provides managed connectivity, power and cooling issues which can assist their sustainability concerns. The issue however for businesses, is finding the right colocation partner who are local to them, available for support across the UK and can deliver transparency at a reasonable price. However, once a business finds a suitable colocation supplier, than they can benefit by splitting their IT infrastructure into a dedicated colocation space and benefit with the best of both worlds. They can gain an optimal operation focus with more control over costs and greater flexibility to grow. Adopting an interconnected approach To optimise any IT infrastructure migration, businesses need to clarify their approach within the decision-making process. They can do that in five simple steps: Establish what the data is going to be used for and thus, the primary attributes in successfully managing it. Is speed of access the top concern? Or security? Or real-time analysis? Consider scalability, business continuity and disaster recovery. Define the technologies that will most effectively serve these key purposes. Technically, this means assessing space, power, cooling, and connectivity requirements and accounting for data volume, bandwidth, and downtime. Find and connect with suppliers in those spaces that are prepared to become real partners. In a digital, data-driven age, the software and infrastructure a business is built on matters. Tour facilities and develop service level agreements (SLAs). Develop a detailed migration plan that anticipates delays and establishes clear definitions of success. Install and configure hardware to achieve this, spanning routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers and virtualisation platforms and hypervisors if applicable. Keep an eye on the future: embracing data and taking steps towards managing and optimising it typically accelerates growth for a business. As such, businesses must ensure that any strategy to put the data in the right place now, does not mean it is in the wrong place tomorrow. For more, visit pulsant.com/colocation. For more from Pulsant, click here.

Colt to deliver new cloud services via OVHcloud partnership

Colt Technology Services (Colt), a digital infrastructure company, has announced a partnership with OVHcloud, a global cloud player, which brings extensive public and private cloud services to business customers in over 140 countries. The collaboration sees organisations benefit from the security and flexibility of Colt’s award-winning Dedicated Cloud Access connectivity, coupled with the robust data protection built into OVHcloud’s diverse set of public and private cloud services available through OVHcloud Connect. OVHcloud operates over 450,000 servers within 43 data centres, serving 1.6 million customers across four continents. Spearheading a trusted cloud and pioneering a sustainable cloud service, OVHcloud offers customers the latest-generation solutions combining performance, predictable pricing, and complete data sovereignty to support their unfettered growth. Colt provides connectivity to OVHcloud via eight points of presence (PoPs) in Europe, and one in Singapore. This connectivity gives businesses the opportunity to access OVHcloud from Colt’s extensive last-mile footprint of over 32,000 connected buildings and 1,200 data centres globally, across a wide range of cloud connectivity options including SD WAN, Ethernet, Wave and IPVPN, and Colt’s first-to-market On Demand network-as-service (NaaS). Colt’s Dedicated Cloud Access provides secure connectivity that is dedicated to the customer, and thus provides optimal latencies and full bandwidth guarantees. The announcement comes as growth in the cloud market continues, with 94% of enterprises globally now using cloud services, according to one report. Besides the ongoing Cloud trend, improving security was also a top priority for IT investment as identified in Colt’s latest IT Priorities research, cited by 40% of the 1,000-plus respondents. Peter Coppens, VP Infrastructure and Connectivity Solutions at Colt, says, “Data sovereignty and security are top of mind for IT leaders tasked with accelerating cloud migration. They need to know their data is watertight – not just within the cloud itself, but also transitioning into and out of the cloud. Our partnership with OVHcloud gives businesses the peace-of-mind that comes from working with two organisations which meet the most robust data protection standards and have a deep understanding of European and Global data sovereignty topics, backed up with global scale and a shared dedication to delivering the best customer experience”. Yaniv Fdida, Chief Product and Technology Officer OVHcloud, adds, “We are delighted to work with Colt and offer OVHcloud services and solutions to even more customers throughout the world.” OVHcloud and Colt share a deep commitment to sustainability, the companies tell us. Colt is committed to sustainable infrastructure across its entire value chain: through reducing scope 3 emissions to using sustainable energy resources, refurbished hardware components and incorporating end-of-life processes which promote circular economy principles. OVHcloud, meanwhile, has been leveraging for over 20 years an integrated model that guarantees total control of its value chain: from the design of its servers with a bespoke watercooling system to the construction and management of its data centres, so customers can seize the benefits of an environmentally-conscious model with a frugal use of resources and a carbon footprint reaching the best ratios in the industry. For more from Colt Technology Services, click here.

Five tips to illuminate your data centre for peak performance

Data centres are among the most energy-intensive buildings in the world. With no windows, these buildings rely entirely on artificial lighting, making the quality and efficiency of the lighting systems crucial. The right lighting can help data centre facilities managers reduce energy usage and improve efficiency. LED lighting, for example, can reduce energy usage by up to 50%, and LED lighting with higher lumens per watt can further increase these energy savings. Ed Haslett, Divisional Director – Critical Facilities UK & Ireland at Zumtobel Group, shares five key points to consider to improve the efficiency of your data centre lighting. 1. Use a lighting track system for speed, flexibility, maintenance and sustainability Lighting track systems, such as the Tecton track system, eliminate the need for traditional cable runs and junction boxes, making installation faster, easier, and more sustainable. The Tecton system allows the installer to connect a luminaire anywhere along the run, providing unparalleled flexibility compared to other systems. Tecton installations are typically 61% quicker to install than traditional hard-wired solutions and 30% faster than some competitors. This system's flexibility in layout and maintenance allows for easy reconfiguration and repairs, making it an ideal choice for dynamic data centre environments. 2. Use the right luminaire intensities and beam angles to maximise spacing of luminaire points Selecting luminaires with appropriate intensities and beam angles ensures sufficient illumination while minimising the required fixtures. This not only reduces installation costs but also contributes to energy savings. However, it's important to note that the mounting height and intensity can significantly alter the spacing between luminaires. In some designs, it is possible to reduce from seven luminaires in a row to five, cutting commercial costs and decreasing the size of central battery systems, lighting control systems, and wattage loads significantly. However, this may not be feasible in all data centre environments, and careful planning and assessment are necessary. 3. Utilise dedicated emergency spots to reduce the number of emergency luminaires Employing dedicated emergency spotlights instead of traditional emergency luminaires for emergency illumination can significantly reduce the number of emergency luminaires required. The specially designed optics can be used in the design to deliver the required emergency illuminance without having to use more of the mains luminaires to achieve the requirements in emergency mode. Often, three mains luminaires are required to meet requirements in an aisle, where two dedicated emergency spots will do the job more efficiently with a significantly lower wattage requirement. This optimisation not only conserves space by utilising a smaller central battery system footprint, but also enhances the overall efficiency of the lighting system. Having a central battery system allows for an easier to maintain single point of maintenance for the site team, without the need to change out individual batteries in highly sensitive areas on a monthly basis, for individual failures. The batteries for these systems can then be placed in an area not subject to the high temperatures found in data halls, so the systems can have much longer life expectancies than the less robust integral emergency packs commonly used in the UK. Data centres are typically hot environments, so the equipment being used to support these areas need to be capable of working for sustained periods of time within these temperatures. Most integral battery luminaire solutions are not designed or tested to the levels seen in data centres, especially for these buildings which are in operation 24/7. The added benefit of the system monitoring the health of the emergency luminaires for reporting, also allows the site team to carry out maintenance only when required. 4. Implement dark sky compliant external lighting for environmental and nocturnal animal life Data centres, as high-security critical environments, should not stand out as beacons in their surroundings. It's crucial to maintain a low-key presence in the built environment. Both humans and ecological systems rely on periods of darkness to thrive. By adhering to dark sky-compliant guidelines for exterior lighting, data centre facilities managers can ensure minimal light pollution, protecting the environment and contributing to the preservation of nocturnal animal life, whilst maintaining a level of security necessary for the site. This responsible approach to lighting underscores the data centre's commitment to environmental stewardship. Dark sky-compliant exterior lighting restricts the amount of upward-directed light, avoids glare and over-lighting, utilises dimming and other appropriate lighting controls, and minimises short-wavelength (bluish) light in the night-time environment. The International DarkSky Association offers the DarkSky Approved programme, providing third-party certification for products and projects that minimise glare, reduce light trespass, and protect the night sky. 5. Implement intelligent control systems to minimise energy consumption Integrating intelligent lighting control systems allows for dynamic adjustment of lighting levels based on occupancy and required light conditions. This feature ensures optimal illumination while minimising energy consumption and maximising energy efficiency. DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) control systems can save energy and money by dimming luminaires when not required to be working at full output, maintaining the light levels required for CCTV coverage, or switching off luminaires at specific times or when rooms are empty, potentially reducing the systems energy consumption by up to 82%. By adopting these five key strategies, data centres can effectively harness the benefits of modern LED lighting, leading to significant energy savings, reduced environmental impact, and enhanced operational efficiency. For more information on innovative lighting solutions, visit Zumtobel's website and explore its range of products designed to optimise data centre performance. For more from Zumtobel, click here.

Singtel and Hitachi partner to accelerate industrial AI solutions

Singtel, a communications technology group in Asia, and Hitachi Digital, representing Hitachi’s broad end-to-end digital transformation services and technology capabilities, have announced a new collaboration that will pair Hitachi’s deep AI expertise with Singtel’s Paragon platform, the all-in-one orchestration platform for 5G, edge computing and cloud. Hitachi Digital will deploy Paragon at the Hitachi Americas’ Santa Clara R&D Labs, followed by a pilot in a US factory for Industry 4.0 use cases. The pilot will aim to validate the interoperability of Hitachi AI applications on quality assurance, workplace safety, immersive training and pre-emptive maintenance on Paragon. The trial will also enable the integration of Paragon with Hitachi industry cloud applications and digital services to enable enterprises to transcend the limitations of complex, low-latency connectivity and productivity experiences. Hitachi’s pre-built Industrial AI applications, together with the Paragon platform’s network and multi-cloud orchestration capabilities, will be used to create multiple Paragon-related offerings to help clients improve and accelerate their cloud operations. Subsequently, Hitachi Digital Services will go to market with these offerings as a Singtel Paragon authorised System Integrator – presenting a unique value proposition to enterprise customers looking to leverage multiple network protocols in delivering digital transformation in industrial settings. Bill Chang, CEO of Singtel’s Digital InfraCo, says, “Enterprises in the fast-growing Industry 4.0 sector depend on high quality, reliable connectivity to ensure smooth operations. We are pleased to collaborate with Hitachi Digital, leveraging Paragon to manage its connectivity and cloud needs across Hitachi’s manufacturing facilities. Integrating Hitachi’s advanced AI applications with Paragon’s ecosystem will enhance our suite of solutions for manufacturing enterprises and enable them to seamlessly transform their operations powered by AI.” Frank Antonysamy, Chief Growth Officer, Hitachi Digital, adds, “Hitachi has invested heavily in combining decades of digital, data, cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and connectivity expertise to establish transformative solutions for Industry Cloud deployments. Our applications and consulting services in this area have been an integral part of the digitalisation movement impacting businesses around the world. We anticipate that this partnership with Singtel will enable us to once again increase the capabilities of next gen technologies in enterprise environments, enabling a new level of productivity for customers." Organisations have often struggled with industrial 5G deployments because of complex and fragmented solutions. AI has added a new layer of complexity to this equation as organisations now also attempt to accelerate AI adoption in these scenarios. Singtel Paragon is a comprehensive solution that enables them to connect with the 5G network and securely deploy edge computing and AI rapidly on telco infrastructure, thus reducing time-to-market and shortening the innovation curve. The collaboration between Singtel and Hitachi will bring together interoperable solutions with expert delivery services, which will greatly benefit organisations seeking to address industrial AI complexity. For more from Singtel, click here.

Nasuni strengthens European footprint with French expansion

Nasuni, an enterprise data platform for hybrid cloud environments, has announced further investment and expansion into the French market, strengthening its European presence. The company's data platform built for hybrid cloud supports enterprises facing growing unstructured data volumes with scalability, built-in security, fast edge performance, and AI-ready data. Organisations across France are embracing the AI revolution, a market which is set to grow by over 28% from 2024 to 2030. This is unearthing a critical need for enterprises to unlock unstructured data repositories and curate AI-ready data. In parallel, the evolving cybersecurity threat landscape in France (the fifth most attacked country by ransomware) is putting enterprise data at risk. Operating in France since 2017, Nasuni is experiencing strong demand from organisations across France and Europe for its data platform. The company says that organisations rely on Nasuni to turn unstructured data into rich repositories in order to drive AI implementations across their businesses, while strengthening cyber resilience and cutting infrastructure costs. Nasuni’s client roster already includes nine of France’s top 50 market cap companies, with customers including the likes of Pernod Ricard, TBWA, Colas, Safran, and France Habitation. “We’re seeing a rapid rise of forward-thinking French businesses undergoing cloud transformations to accelerate AI implementations and secure data in the face of evolving ransomware threats,” says Chris Addis, Vice President of Sales, EMEA at Nasuni. “Our expansion in the French market across sales, technical sales, and partnerships reflects the growing demands we’re seeing for the Nasuni File Data Platform in supporting enterprises with these challenges and driving growth. We are excited to have now achieved critical mass in France, and this rapid growth alongside the growth of our partner network marks an exciting time for Nasuni as we continue to expand operations in Europe.” Nasuni’s key partnerships in France include arcITek, an innovative French IT services provider. Together, Nasuni and arcITek support French businesses by accelerating cloud transformations, delivering robust cyber resiliency, and enabling successful AI implementations. Nasuni also works closely with hyperscalers Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud, and supports enterprise customers across a host of different sectors in France, with a focus on automotive, manufacturing, consumer goods, engineering, and energy. “It’s an exciting time as enterprises are rapidly adopting AI to drive efficiencies and innovation, and accelerating cloud transformations to enable this,” notes Taniel Doniguian, President at arcITek. “It’s great to see French businesses adopting modern data platforms to drive their business growth, and we’re delighted to work with Nasuni to provide this critical solution. We support enterprises in implementing these technologies and Nasuni has been a key partner of ours for a number of years, helping us to provide firms with the efficient and secure ability to access and manage their unstructured file data while readying for the adoption of GenAI.” Nasuni’s expansion in the French market follows another year of strong momentum for the company, as it added more than 120 new large enterprise customers across all verticals in 2023. For more from Nasuni, click here.

Simplifying higher education IT infrastructure complexity

Universities and higher education institutes often face complex challenges in providing the right services to students and staff, while meeting emissions goals. Modernisation of ICT offers numerous opportunities for efficiency, availability and reduced environmental impact, as Louisa Buckley of Schneider Electric explains. There is no escaping the digital transformation of higher education. It has impacted everyone, forcing leaders to reform almost every element of the learning experience. At the forefront of the transformation is technology. But there’s a problem - the paradox that while there’s more pressure than ever to evolve and innovate, many institutions are behind the curve when it comes to IT infrastructure. Universities and colleges regularly experience challenges with space constraints, ageing infrastructure, and sustainability. The education sector can face significant challenges in supporting education and training across diverse, distributed campuses, over a wide range of disciplines, and often with an equally wide range of legacy, modern and cutting-edge infrastructure, while also protecting the institution and any intellectual property (IP) and confidential information for which it is responsible. Modernisation of IT infrastructure in this context is much more than improving availability or efficiency; it is an enabler of better management, reduced costs, and a clearer, accelerated path to net zero. Unique and common challenges The challenges mentioned are not entirely unique to the education sector, as the tech industry has been dealing with them for decades, and recent developments have allowed IT estates to become more visible, manageable, and optimisable. Advancements in areas such as Internet of Things (IoT) and instrumentation have meant the term ‘smart’ can be applied to ever more categories, from uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) to cooling systems, and buildings. Cloud-based and AI-enhanced management systems, such as data centre infrastructure management (DCIM), can span multiple environments, from on-premises to the cloud and beyond, gathering data, increasing visibility and showcasing insights for optimisation and efficiency. Digital design and modelling These insights begin at design, as digital design and modelling tools allow existing systems to be mapped and understood more extensively, with visualisations helping to highlight the impact of any development, protecting historical and architectural heritage. In operation, the design models go on to serve as digital twins, sandboxes for configuration, optimisation and change management. This level of digitalisation of sensors, equipment, infrastructure, and buildings means that building management systems (BMS) can be integrated with power and cooling systems, which in turn can be managed with onsite renewable energy source (RES) generation to provide a complete picture of consumption, operations, and emissions. Tracking this level of data over time with analytic tools can allow AI-enhanced systems to optimise within specific parameters, on availability, resilience, energy consumption, user needs, and overall emissions. This level of data allows a more complete picture of entire operations for the whole organisation, facilitating meaningful comparisons with other similar organisations, locally or globally, as well as adjacent sectors. Best practice from other areas can be examined and applied. Full Scope 1-3 emissions reporting becomes possible, with a complete picture of environmental impact. Common reporting standards and frameworks can then be adopted, or existing ones more easily applied. Predictive and preventative maintenance An additional benefit of this variety, richness, and depth of data is a greater scope for predictive and preventative maintenance, where anomalies are detected earlier, before they cause an outage, failure, or loss of service. Cybersecurity There are also benefits through modernised ICT infrastructure for cybersecurity, as vulnerabilities through the likes of peripheral devices or systems can be mitigated through network segmentation, whitelisting and traffic management, as implemented through centrally managed policies. Education experience Schneider Electric has extensive experience in cutting-edge new designs, modernisation, and digital transformation projects, and specifically within the education sector. University College Dublin’s (UCD) heritage dates back more than 150 years. Its main Belfield campus has facilities from the 1960s onward and is one of Europe’s leading research-intensive universities. Schneider Electric and partners successfully designed and delivered a new cooling system that provides greater data centre efficiency that has unlocked valuable real estate for redevelopment and new facilities. The Uniflair InRow Direct Expansion (DX) cooling solution is more scalable, efficient, and provides resilient cooling for IT infrastructure. UCD’s solution is based on 10 independent InRow DX cooling units, rightsized to server load to optimise efficiency. The system is scalable to enable UCD’s IT Services Group to add further HPC clusters and accommodate future innovations in technology, including the introduction of increasingly powerful CPUs and GPUs. Similarly, Loughborough University, one of the world’s leading sports-related universities, has undertaken a data centre modernisation project. The next-generation EcoStruxure for Data Centre solution has delivered increased resilience and efficiency, including a services agreement and EcoStruxure IT software to provide 24/7 data-driven insights with proactive maintenance and service support. The project was delivered in two phases with partners: firstly modernising its Haslegrave facility by replacing an outdated raised floor design and deploying an EcoStruxure Row Data Centre solution, an integral part of Schneider's EcoStruxure for Data Centres architecture and IoT-enabled system. This deployment has significantly improved the overall structure, enabling an efficient data centre design. University of Lincoln also faced resilience challenges due to a lack of standby power generating capabilities, affecting its ability to carry out work without service interruption. In modernising its UPS estate, APC UPS added resilience to the university’s network, with 110 Schneider Electric APC Smart-UPS SRT units deployed across the university’s distributed edge facilities, providing power protection and continuity in the event of disruptions or disturbances to the mains power supply. They are managed through APC NetBotz environmental monitoring devices, as well as EcoStruxure IT Expert and Data Centre Expert DCIM. This not only enables the IT team to prioritise ongoing remedial tasks and respond more quickly to unforeseen events and outages, but has also allowed cooling in the data centres and edge facilities to be optimised for greater operational efficiency and lower power consumption. Expected standards These various experiences have allowed each of these leading universities to achieve greater operational efficiency and visibility of overall consumption and impact, as well as operational insights and optimisations that feed into net zero targets and ambitions. As a coordinated strategy for modernisation, increased digitalisation and optimisation provide unparalleled opportunities for educational institutions to meet their unique challenges while improving services to students, faculties and researchers, and reaching net zero ambitions. For more from Schneider Electric, click here.

Spirent announces addition of cloud-native function testing

Spirent Communications, a provider of test and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks, has announced the addition of cloud-native function (CNF) resiliency testing to its Spirent Landslide solution to continuously test the impact of CNF performance on the delivery of 5G standalone services. The expansion of Landslide’s capabilities to include CNF testing within a single test solution platform will help further address the evolving needs of mobile network operators (MNOs) and Network Equipment Manufacturers (NEMs) as they transition to cloud-native environments. The 5G standalone core, with its service-based architecture and embrace of the public and private clouds to support rapid time-to-market and scalable network operations, has the potential to unlock business opportunities with new ways to deploy, operate, and manage networks and services. While the new disaggregated and distributed architecture provides for a dynamic multi-cloud, multivendor ecosystem, it also presents a raft of daunting new challenges for service providers. “The need for integration and interoperability across the 5G network means not only dealing with the complexity of how to incorporate new cloud infrastructures and virtual network functions with legacy systems and processes, but also how to test and optimise the performance of these new distributed infrastructures to ensure that they will all work together as they should,” says Anil Kollipara, VP of Automated Test & Assurance Product Management at Spirent. “Cloud-native demands completely new processes to realise the efficiencies and operational benefits, while each CNF has unique performance expectations within the cloud environment. Adding cloud resiliency testing to Landslide’s already considerable testing and validation capabilities will help network service providers more easily tackle the challenges of embracing new cloud environments to deliver the high-quality 5G services that end users are demanding.” Patrick Kelly, Founder and Principal Analyst at Appledore Research adds, "Spirent Landslide's CNF resiliency testing introduces a vital advancement in core 5G testing for mobile operators tackling the intricacies of 5G standalone and advanced networks. This enhancement streamlines complex pre-test and post-deployment procedures, optimising 5G services to ensure high performance and reliability in the ever-evolving CNF environment." Spirent Landslide is the only single pane solution that can generate real-world 5G traffic and simultaneously impair the 5G cloud core to assess and correlate its impact on 5G services. This is especially important with cloud deployments, where failures are the norm and CNFs must be designed to be resilient to avert serious consequences with 5G service quality. MNOs and NEMs have traditionally relied on manual testing processes and self-developed automation scripts, leading to inefficiencies and increased testing complexity. Ambiguity surrounding ownership of 5G services in CNF environments is also presenting additional concerns for service providers, requiring a fundamental shift in the testing mindset from reliability-focused legacy networks to resilient and scalable CNF networks. For more from Spirent Communications, click here.

Macquarie launches Dell and Azure hybrid cloud offering

In an Australian first, Macquarie Cloud Services, part of Macquarie Technology Group, has leveraged strategic relationships with Microsoft and Dell Technologies to launch Macquarie Flex. Macquarie Flex is a unique hybrid solution powered by Microsoft Azure Stack HCI (Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure) and Dell Technologies APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure providing workload flexibility, a single management plane, consistent experience, 24/7 mission critical support and evergreen compliance across public, private and hybrid cloud environments. As the first Dell Technologies partner offering Azure Stack HCI in Australia, the launch seeks to assist organisations that have traditionally been challenged by the integration costs and complexity of hybrid cloud. Now, Macquarie Flex provides these organisations with a new solution to simplify hybrid cloud management, manage cloud spend and meet compliance and sovereign requirements. “Macquarie Flex is the true definition of hybrid and represents a new era of hybrid cloud solutions,” says Macquarie Cloud Services Head of Azure, Naran McClung. “Azure and private cloud, two disparate environments promising different things for different purposes, are bound together to provide Australian businesses the choice, flexibility, and agility needed to succeed.” “Macquarie Flex allows us to meet our customers wherever they are on their cloud journey,” adds Jonathan Staff, Head of Private Cloud at Macquarie Cloud Services. “Through our strong relationship with Dell Technologies and Microsoft, we can now arm Australian businesses with another lever to extract more value from their IT investment.” Steven Worrall, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, adds, “Macquarie Flex represents a significant advancement in hybrid cloud solutions. By leveraging Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, Macquarie Cloud Services is providing an unparalleled level of flexibility, security, and performance. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to empowering Australian organisations with the tools and technologies needed to drive innovation and achieve their strategic goals.” With Macquarie Flex, organisations now can deploy and run sensitive/compliance-driven workloads in a private cloud whilst leveraging the benefits of Azure, diversify deployment locations to improve commercial viability, treat private cloud workloads as first-class citizens of Azure, as well as monitor, alert, report, backup, secure, manage and govern virtual workloads through one integrated toolset. This announcement follows the company’s recent launch of Macquarie Guard, a full turnkey Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that automates practical guardrails into Azure services. “Our purpose is to help customers who have been traditionally underserved and overcharged”, Naran states. “We’re thrilled to be leveraging our long-standing partnerships with Microsoft and Dell Technologies to deliver much needed new innovation to Australian businesses.” For more from Macquarie, click here.