Colocation

Tribeca provides robust cloud and colocation services with Custodian

Tribeca was initially created with a vision to provide bespoke services to clients across the financial services sector, from private equity to hedge funds, which depend on high levels of security and reliability. Working as an extension to clients’ internal teams driving growth and development, Tribeca has grown into a global entity with over 70 staff and a turnover of in excess of £6 million. Since 2006, the firm has grown steadily at around 30% per year as a result of its excellent record in client retention, combined with its new client acquisition rate. This client growth quickly accelerated, resulting in Tribeca reaching out to partners for secure infrastructure and connectivity support, providing its customers with a reliable solution globally. Customer service is a vital USP for Tribeca, priding itself on a six-second response time on the phone when customers call with any problem. With any partnership, Tribeca needed to ensure the same customer service focused ethos to enhance its already strong reputation. Challenges for the financial industry As the financial and investment sectors evolved, it was clear that Tribeca had to do the same to keep up with the market demand. However, within this highly specialised sector, specific challenges became clear and providing its clients with resilient and ultra-low latency connectivity would be vital for Tribeca in order to keep up with the fast-paced demands of the financial industry. Alternative investment businesses such as private equity and hedge funds are demanding environments to work within, especially if they are live trading in various markets. For everyone working within these sectors, any IT systems downtime or loss of visibility of markets could be catastrophic, resulting in significant negative effects on financial performance. For Tribeca’s hedge fund clients working in live markets and potentially making up to 200 trades a day, assured uptime is an incredibly important service when it comes to ‘make or break’ important deals. It’s essential that customers can navigate and action deals quickly, conveniently and reliably. On the other hand, the connectivity requirements of private equity operators are less focused on the high-speed day-to-day volume transaction needs of hedge fund managers. However, security and resiliency remain vital necessities. Security is also a core focus for Tribeca, given the regulated nature of the financial industry and the sensitive end-customer information being held. Tribeca needed to be able to provide a guarantee to customers that its client’s data was not only being held in a secure digital environment but it was also in a physically secure space. With Tribeca growing in size, the services it could offer its clients also needed to expand. A private cloud environment with the option to provide hosting packages to its clients needed to be created to stay ahead of customer demand and provide a scalable solution for the expanding technology market. With specific customers wanting more private options not hosted in the public cloud, a solution was needed to bridge this gap of services. Tribeca would need a partner to provide privately hosted infrastructure with the assurance of robust and effective data security. Further, with plans to build its own hosting platform and add resiliency to Tribeca’s own IT infrastructure, Tribeca needed a partner which could provide these additional facilities located in close proximity to its Kent HQ. Resilient connectivity and strong security Tribeca’s plan for growth lead it to Custodian Data Centres, which was able to provide not only resilient connectivity but also a physically and digitally secure environment. By partnering with Custodian, Tribeca can offer customers 24/7 security, support and monitoring, plus the reassurance of ISO 27001 certification at the Maidstone facility. Custodian’s reputation for 99.9% uptime and unwavering customer service made the perfect partnership for Tribeca and its customers. With ultra-low latency at the top of Tribeca’s agenda to adhere to its customer’s requirements, Custodian’s own resilient dark fibre network, which connects its Maidstone facility to the major communication points of presence across London and the South East, was a key asset Tribeca could not afford to miss. “Ultra-low latency is vital for the success of our customers - if any trades are missed or connectivity is unstable it would mean fundamental losses for our customers,” says Ian Rimmer, Operations Director, Tribeca. “Custodian’s outstanding uptime record and support services have been a key foundation of Tribeca’s growth over the years”. “Working in an unpredictable and fast-paced industry such as the financial sector, we need to work in partnership with businesses that echo our own customer-focused ethos. Custodian provides a responsive and reliable service which supports our customers and allows us to retain our existing customer relationships.” Advantages and growth The partnership with Custodian has created significant advantages for Tribeca, including the option of providing its customers with a secure and private hosted environment to manage their data. Since the beginning of its relationship with Custodian, Tribeca’s rack space requirements have grown by 2300% and today the firm occupies a total of 10 dedicated racks. The initial migration into Custodian went smoothly without any downtime or faults occurring. As a mark of confidence in Custodian, Tribeca has also introduced several of its own clients to the facility. At its peak, there were over 10 racks of equipment within the Maidstone Data Centre that were either contracted directly to Tribeca or to its clients. Indeed, when one of Tribeca’s customers also colocated at the Maidstone data centre, wanted to quickly expand its infrastructure, Custodian acted on the request with expediency to install and activate the client’s request. On top of its physical presence, Tribeca has now added many point-to-point connectivity services both from around the UK and internationally, each of which has been implemented by the team at Custodian. All equipment and service migrations have been carried out successfully and without any issues, due to the professionalism and expertise of the Custodian team. The bespoke and personal touch from the Custodian service team continues to impress Tribeca, as the Custodian team exceeds expectations to cater to Tribeca and its customers’ needs. It’s integral that any professional partnership replicates Tribeca’s coveted customer service approach, which they have found with Custodian. The 'above and beyond' approach from Custodian has been part of the reason the partnership between Tribeca and Custodian has lasted all these years. During the time working with Custodian, Tribeca has been able to deliver excellent hosting facilities for its clients, both within its own environment and by providing colocation space to them directly. The uptime for connectivity and environmental services has been exemptional with no downtime or delays. “The delivery of the technology is always excellent, however what sets Custodian apart is the human factor. The team are always willing to go the extra mile to deliver a successful outcome to the client, which has been the difference between them and other providers that we've used in the past,” says Ian Rimmer. “Even when starting with a quarter rack, we’ve never been treated as a small client but always an important partner.” “Over the last 15 years, Custodian has provided us with outstanding support and the infrastructure to take our business to the next level globally. We look forward to expanding and growing our existing relationship with Custodian and are extremely excited for the new Dartford site to open so we can further explore the possibilities that present for us with Custodian,” concludes Ian.

NTT opens its first data centre in Spain

NTT continues its expansion plans by opening its first data centre location in the Spanish market in Madrid. The high-availability, Tier 3-compliant colocation data centre is located on NTT's Európolis Business and Technology Park site 20km northwest of Madrid. It provides hyperscalers as well as enterprise clients with 3,600m2 of IT space and a maximum IT capacity of 6.3MW when fully built out. NTT is currently massively expanding its data centre capacities worldwide. The company attaches the greatest importance to creating a highly available, secure and sustainable infrastructure. At the Madrid site, the entire cooling concept of the data centre was adapted to the warm climate of central Spain: air-cooled chillers and higher cooling water temperatures reduce power consumption and ensure efficient operation of the facility. NTT’s first major client installation in the facility is powered entirely by renewable energy. Companies using the new data centre in Madrid will benefit from excellent connectivity. NTT's proprietary Global Data Centre Interconnect (GDCI) network structure makes it easy and fast to implement high-performance private connections to internet nodes such as ESpanix, NetIX and DE-CIX, as well as cloud providers such as AWS, Google, Microsoft and others. Through Lyntia's fibre network, connections exist to 2,694 cities in Spain, to interconnects in France and Portugal, and to major submarine cables. In addition, fibre links exist to NTT's Global IP Network (GIN) as well as Colt IQ, euNetworks, GTT and other international and regional providers. "The demand for data centre capacity in Spain has grown strongly in recent years. Madrid is the largest data centre hub in Spain and a European gateway to the world, and our investment in the region is another milestone on our global roadmap as we continue to expand our presence across the continent to meet the coverage, capacity and connectivity needs of our clients", says Florian Winkler, Chief Executive Officer of NTT’s Global Data Centres division in EMEA. "Spain has become a hub for communications in southern Europe in recent years, in part due to new submarine cables", adds Araceli Pedraza, Country Managing Director at NTT in Spain. "With our new data centre in Madrid, we are actively shaping the digital future of the region. Here, companies will find a reliable, secure and sustainable home for IT infrastructures. At the same time, comprehensive connectivity ensures maximum flexibility."

The colocation industry is entering a new era

Digitisation and hybrid working have redefined the colocation landscape, bringing with it a new class of facility and provider, says David Keegan, Group CEO at DataQube global. Data centre and colocation providers have always needed to think about contingency plans, but a global health crisis that resulted in millions of workers being sent home for months on end took contingency planning to a whole new level. Commercial companies, educational establishments, healthcare organisations, finance etc. all had to digitally transform in just a few weeks simply to maintain 'business as usual'. Unimaginable amounts of data were generated as a result, putting heightened pressure on comms infrastructures. Whereas regular power outages and structural challenges are, by and large, avoidable with the right planning, COVID-19 was a black swan event that caught everyone off guard and its repercussions are still being felt today. Many industries have undergone irreversible transformations and colocation landscape have been permanently altered as a result. As the world went virtual, efficient data handling became integral to every aspect of our lives. From sending and receiving emails or updating our stories to TV streaming, video conferencing, ecommerce, smart ticketing, and engaging with VAs, all these interactions generate data in huge volumes that needs to be seamlessly dealt with. Data centres have undergone explosive growth to keep pace with demand, and this, in turn, has redefined the colocation market, with a different type of facility needed.  75% of enterprise-generated data will be handled outside centralised facilities by 2025 The drive for data centre to re-evaluate their data handling capabilities and relocate their digital infrastructures pre-dates the pandemic thanks to technological advances and faster comms networks. Indeed, according to Gartner, 75% of enterprise-generated data will be handled outside centralised facilities by 2025 and the global edge data centre market is expected to triple to $13.5 billion by 2024. Data centre and colocation business models, therefore, need a total rethink in terms of their connectivity capabilities and physical locations, and this is giving rise to smaller data centres in high footfall locations. But data centres and colocation facilities don’t just 'appear'. They need careful planning in line with future capacity requirement, real estate needs to be sourced, planning permission/building regulations need to be sorted out, and upfront capex, which is anything in excess of £7 million, needs to be secured. The average data centre project takes anything between 18 months to two years to complete and, in a world driven by tech, such long implementation times are unviable. In the meantime, our data consumption is growing unprecedently and robust data facilities capable of assuring high performance low latency processing at the edge are in short supply. Enter the new provider Much of today’s data needs to be handled as close to the source as possible, i.e., in city centres, in factories, in mixed used properties and so forth, for operability and safety reasons. By the same token, swathes of office space, warehouses and mixed-use premises are being left empty, generating zero revenue thanks to changing working trends, and business owners relocating to smaller premises with cheaper rentals. Such an abundance of vacant/disused properties is presenting commercial real estate companies with exciting opportunities to generate alternative revenue streams by repurposing their distressed assets into lucrative data centres and colocation facilities. The downside is that said properties typically need a total refit if they are to accommodate the specialist HPC infrastructure needed for data processing. Moreover, any property redevelopment must comply with stringent building regulations pertaining to sustainability and, as such, the lead times are just as long, if not longer, than commissioning a data centre from scratch. What is needed is a viable means for real estate companies and facilities to transform their disused assets into powerful data centre and colocation facilities to meet the edge data centre shortfall, but this has not been possible, due to financial constraints and excessive redevelopment timescales.  However, this is about to change, thanks to a disruptive approach to edge data centres and colocation being spearheaded by DataQube global. Acutely aware of the edge data centre shortfall and the sustainability challenges the industry faces, the company together with a consortium of technology partners and critical infrastructure specialists have developed a novel data centre solution that overcomes these property refurbishment barriers. Unlike other data centres, the solution is podular in design, built from lightweight material and supplied flatpack which removes the need for planning permission or property refurbishments to accommodate specialist HPC infrastructure. This, in turn, shortens install times by up to 50% as no concrete foundations nor heavy duty cranes are needed. This is a significant timeline acceleration in an industry that averages two years to fully build and fit out. Additionally, with reduced construction overheads, final costs are at a much lower price point, typically less than a £1 million compared to traditional builds. Most importantly, all the IT is housed within compact, secure and sterile units which reduce power consumption and CO2 emissions by more than 50% because the energy transfer is dedicated solely to powering computers. This equates to a PUE of less than 1.05, the lowest in the industry and perfectly aligned with current LEED standards to support sustainable building practices and net zero targets.  With heightened demand for localised data processing, combined with an ongoing backlog of regular construction projects, innovative approaches are needed not only to meet the edge computing shortfall but to provide commercial real estate with an easy means to diversify and developing new revenue streams and business models. DataQube’s unique solution is perfectly aligned to bridge this gap.

Mapping the future: how robotics can drive excellence in the colocation data centre

By Paul Lewis, Senior Operation Director, Telehouse Europe As the modern colocation data centre continues to increase in scale and complexity, so does the need for all operations to run smoothly and efficiently. Surging customer demand means that an ever-growing array of components (encompassing IT, facilities, and security) need real-time monitoring to ensure faults are promptly dealt with before bigger issues arise. All of this requires an unprecedented level of visibility and operational efficiency, which becomes increasingly challenging across a labyrinthine data centre with dispersed staff.  At a time when security, compliance, and efficiency are more sought after than ever, manual operations must be enhanced with more intelligent decision making. A multidisciplinary all-in-one solution is needed to enhance operations and streamline essential processes across the data centre. Enter the robot. The latest innovations in robotics are transforming colocation data centre processes, automating manual activities to drive greater efficiencies, faster responses, and resolution times, and lowering the risks of human error. Furthermore, by taking low level and repetitious tasks out of human hands, robots complement teams by freeing them to complete more skilled and strategic activities, thereby allowing new heights of efficiency and productivity to be reached. A single source of truth The smooth running of the colocation data centre relies on data management systems working harmoniously together to gain a comprehensive overview of the entire ecosystem. But the sheer complexity of today’s data centre means that security, IT, and facilities need to communicate even faster and more seamlessly with each other to ensure staff have the centralised visibility to quickly respond to potential operating problems. Without this single source of truth, proactive and timely problem solving becomes difficult. Faults such as obstructions or lack of equipment are likely to only be flagged after an employee or customer completes a manual incident report, leading to precious time being lost to repetitive and mundane upkeep tasks.  While current control systems and data centre personnel carry out regular checks on facilities to ensure there are no potential hazards, technology can support and streamline these efforts, blending human expertise with automated precision and speed to achieve maximum efficiency. With robotics, a single machine can obtain 4k, in-depth, and 360-degree visibility across all areas of the data centre, diligently resolving issues and communicating any irregularities back to the relevant teams for immediate escalation. This not only bolsters security and compliance (critical concerns for all involved in colocation data centre operations) but also essentially acts as a ‘one for all’ for increasing functionality across the ecosystem. For example, a member of staff may notice an obstruction in the corridor and notify the appropriate people, but would they necessarily notice an unrelated hazard nearby? A single robot can carry out the most exhaustive manual checks in a fraction of the time, whilst simultaneously communicating data insights around security, facility, and environmental health across multiple departments.  Unparalleled visibility Robotics use innovative self-driving technology to autonomously map and navigate the data centre, establishing norms and swiftly escalating anomalies for human analysis. With no distractions or biases, the technology offers decision-makers a level of visibility, speed, and multi-layered intelligence that no single human or static camera could ever replicate. For example, live heat mapping and AI-driven sensors accurately detect anything from temperature and Wi-Fi signal strength to air quality index, smoke, and gas levels inside the building. The live data and real-time reports provided then enable the data centre to proactively address any issues that may be impacting operational efficiency or customer satisfaction. In a busy colocation data centre, controlling humidity is crucial to protect sensitive equipment from moisture damage, which ultimately causes system failure and data loss. Robotics can assist with the advanced reporting of humidity and temperature levels, providing decision-makers with an extra layer of visibility while also helping to balance workloads, costs, and energy efficiency throughout the data centre.  Complementing human strengths Despite media-fuelled fears of jobs being stolen by robotics, the only jobs robots are likely to take from colocation data centres are the ones people should not have had to do in the first place. Data centres will always continue to rely on the skills of human workers, while robots will continue to excel at the most tedious, time-consuming, and repetitive aspects of colocation data centre work. When menial tasks are replaced by automated processes, staff are unburdened from robotic work and released to focus on other areas of the business. In turn, by improving the workflow of tasks within the data centre, robotics act as a key enabler of operational excellence, yielding greater insights and innovation as data centre demand continues to rise. Automated technologies have a proven record of driving continuous improvements and efficiency gains within the industry. But more recent innovations in robotics are unlocking a new frontier in data centre security, productivity, and 360-degree intelligence.

Colocation fundamentals

By Amy Young, Sales Director, Custodian Data Centres The colocation space is an ever-evolving area with new technologies continuing to emerge, however, some of these technologies are more realistic and sustainable than others. It is important when researching these data centre innovations, be it liquid cooling or high-density racks, to consider how relevant they are for your specific business requirements. Understanding what setup and structure is needed to optimise your business for current operations and for looking forward is not a simple task and it is often difficult to know where to begin. Working with partners who can support your business and truly understand what your business needs will help to mitigate some of these challenges when starting on this digital transformation journey. Sticking to the core priorities of resilience, redundancy, location and power when looking for a colocation provider should always remain at the forefront when embarking on the decision-making journey. These core fundamentals should not be overlooked ahead of ‘new’ or cutting-edge features. Ultimately, any of these new technologies emerging through the market are only as good as the core features of the data centre they are operating in. A facility that does not have truly diverse power or connected network routes may have the latest liquid or immersion-cooled racks for example, but will still fail under a power cut, highlighting the importance of choosing the correct data centre facility. Colocation customisation Certainly, as colocation requirements evolve, customers are increasingly looking for the ability to customise to make their chosen data centre space bespoke. For your business to thrive, mission-critical systems need to be designed to work in parallel with each of your customers’ IT roadmaps. From custom features, branding or additional layers of security, the ability to take the space and tweak it to the customer’s specific needs is vast becoming the expected norm across the industry. With the option of ‘built to suit’ on the rise in the sector, enabling a host of unique and custom features that ensure the customer can build the space as they need, is crucial to keep up with customer requirements and the extremely competitive market. Colocation certainly isn’t one-size-fits-all and colocation providers have to be able to cater to the needs of their customers without compromising on the core foundations of the data centre. Colocation providers also have the opportunity to reach different markets, such as the gaming and entertainment industry, when offering bespoke and customisable options, in comparison to only offering set solutions. For example, in the gaming industry, offering bespoke solutions such as gaming towers, in whichever form they take, and having the right dynamic service partner, can mean gaming innovators can ensure their facilities are completely built to suit, taking into account gameplay traffic, high spec game upgrades, local connectivity requirements and more. When choosing your colocation provider, you must choose a facility that is consultative, provides technical support and dedicated resources on-demand, to ensure all requirements for you and your customers are achieved. Power up! Power consumption is ever-increasing, and resilience remains key to handling this growing consumption, so digital transformation technologies within data centres need to develop to keep up with demand. Having the foresight to forward plan and ensure that your critical power infrastructure, like UPS, ATS and Switchgear are future-proofed and scalable, is vital for end-users. As an operator, uninterruptible power is essential, but that power should also be sustainable. Here truly diverse renewable energy feeds can play a critical part in delivering sustainable service to customers. To protect your customers and your business, redundancy must be included within the core priorities of your colocation selection process. Planning for the future and planning for the worst-case scenario is how you secure your data within a data centre environment. By partnering with a colocation provider which is resilient and secure, you ensure your systems, processes and infrastructure are set up to still ‘function’ even if the worst was to happen, protecting you and, importantly, your customers. Operationally you need to ensure you have processes in place to deal with any situation that may arise, so you can respond in a controlled way. Again, when choosing your colocation supplier, this remains a key focus as you can supply your customers with a reliable backup solution. It is important to flag any issues you currently have and also have an open conversation with your potential supplier regarding expectations - this way the colocation provider can ensure all of your power needs are met without any fault. The core foundation of your IT infrastructure cannot be under-estimated. When partnering with a data centre, it is pivotal that the technology underpinning the data centre is as future-proofed as the hardware that is being deployed within it. To future-proof in the current climate, it’s not just about working to industry best practices but exceeding these perimeters and this applies to your strategic partners too.

Securing supply in the face of growing grid strain

As data demand continues to surge post-pandemic, colocation data centre operators have been tasked with satiating Europe’s digital appetite. However, with grid strain also peaking, some countries are beginning to impose restrictions on data centre connections going forwards. Billy Durie, Global Sector Head for Data Centres at Aggreko, discusses the importance of securing power supply in the face of this industry challenge. Post-pandemic, the role of data is more critical than ever to our everyday lives. The persistence of remote working is one of the lasting reminders of the lockdown landscape, while demand for streaming services and online gaming continues to surge. Naturally, this has contributed to increased pressure upon Europe’s data centres, with a CBRE report published in late 2021 indicating that colocation supply in the FLAP (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris) market was 17% higher than that of the previous year. The true cost of downtime This growth in demand has added fuel to the fire of an already-burgeoning industry challenge, with electrical demand now exceeding supply in a number of key markets. The resulting effect is grid strain, which has called into question the reliability of many facilities’ mains connection. For many colocation data centre operators, this poses the risk of blackout should the demands of peak time become particularly strenuous. The Uptime Institute’s 11th annual Global Data Centre Survey highlights on-site power as the primary source of downtime in the past year, and asserts that the majority of outages remain preventable. Despite this fact, the report also indicates that 65% of outages costed $100,000 or more in 2021, while 15% costed more than $1,000,000. As such, the physical consequence of grid strain for data centre operators is apparent. Warding against grid strain Moreover, with grid strain becoming so severe in a number of key European markets, some countries are beginning to impose restrictions on data centre connections going forwards in an attempt to alleviate stress on their respective national grids. In Ireland, for example, national supplier EirGrid has forecasted that data centres could account for as much as 25% of the nation’s electrical demand by 2030. Resultantly, section 4.2.4 of the organisation’s 2019 Connection Offer Policy and Process declares that ‘Firm Capacity’ will only be provided if the facility can demonstrate the ability to make on-site power generation available should it be necessary. Otherwise, the site will only be entitled to ‘Flexible Demand’, which will fluctuate with strain on the grid. On a local scale, EirGrid stated late last year that it would not be accepting any new data centre applications until 2028, with applications outside of the capital reviewed on a strictly case-by-case basis. Here, Ireland may serve as a warning as to the changes that may follow in the FLAP market, with these cities experiencing similar levels of strain. The changing face of legislation While energy shortages are by no means a new phenomenon in this sector, the possibility of a blanket ban on data centre connections presents an entirely new challenge. Exacerbating this further is the introduction of new environmental legislation, which has had a knock-on effect for data centre operators looking to top up their energy supply. Until recently, one of the most common methods of power remediation was through the use of diesel gensets, which acted as a back-up energy supply should a facility’s mains supply dwindle or threaten to cut out. However, the introduction of the European Commission’s Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD) has significantly limited their use. The MCPD aims to limit the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter – all of which are by-products of diesel combustion. This is a move that has been echoed in the UK with the introduction of low and ultra-low emission zones in a number of major cities. This is a particular concern for colocation facilities, which are often based in urban areas and are already facing the brunt of grid strain. An heir to diesel It would appear as though the combination of these factors has created somewhat of a perfect storm for colocation data centre operators, who have now been stripped of a primary method of remedial power generation when it is needed most. For this reason, it is necessary that the scope is expanded in the search for a solution. Here, there are a number of alternative technologies that may help to bridge the energy gap. First and foremost, operators that would like to continue using gensets should consider introducing hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as a drop-in fuel, allowing for an immediate reduction in local emissions. For a site with temporary load requirements of 1MW for a generator and 1MW for the UPS system, this simple switch can deliver a 90% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, while also cutting NOx and PM by up to 25%. For those looking for a more permanent heir to traditional diesel systems, Stage V generators, such as those used by Aggreko, may prove a sensible option. These high-performance gensets are equipped with diesel particulate filters, catalytic reduction systems and diesel oxidation systems to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Crucially, these features make these gensets fully compliant with the MCPD and fit-for-use in low and ultra-low emissions zones. In order to help curb inefficient generator usage, Stage V systems can be incorporated as part of a load on demand package, wherein a larger generator is replaced by multiple smaller ones that scale up or down in accordance with demand. Research from Aggreko has found that hired solutions are often ran on as low as 30% capacity – a far cry from the recommended level of 80%, so this consideration is key. This approach is particularly crucial to the data centre construction phase, with load demand experiencing high levels of fluctuation. Returning to the aforementioned example of UPS power requirements of a 1MW generator and 1MW UPS system, switching to two 600KVa Stage V generators instead results in a 25% reduction in CO2 and overall fuel consumption, as well as an 85% reduction in local emissions. Battery storage systems Besides HVO and Stage V, the final technology that holds great potential for power remediation in the data centre sphere is battery storage systems. Here, the concept of ‘energy shifting’ allows energy to be stored from solar or thermal sources, to be redeployed when grid supply dwindles. This is done by way of a spinning reserve system, with battery storage automatically topping up supply in a matter of seconds to help avoid a costly blackout. This approach also provides scope for the creation of a genset-battery hybrid system, equipping the operator with maximum flexibility to ward against power shortages. Final thoughts While the tightening of both power procurement and environmental legislation initially appears to be a challenge, it is clear that there are effective methods of overcoming grid strain without violating sustainability commitments. To ensure that these tools are accessible, Aggreko has recently launched its Greener Upgrades initiative to support the data centre industry in its move towards net zero. Here, by offering solutions that are both environmentally friendly and pragmatic, the company aims to help contractors make impactful choices to reduce emissions while keeping operating costs to a minimum. Incorporating decentralised energy solutions on-site is not only critical to alleviating current grid strain, but to future-proof against any legislative shifts that may limit new connections, such as EirGrid’s Connection Offer Policy and Process. Here, it will be necessary for data centre operators to broaden their horizons in the search for a comprehensive solution, as only through an all-encompassing approach can the effects of grid strain be alleviated.

How colocation providers can deliver a value-added service and keep ahead of the pack

By Alan Stewart-Brown, VP EMEA, Opengear  According to a recent research study, published by Facts & Factors, the global data centre colocation market was estimated at US$ 39 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 60 billion by 2026. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 10% from 2020 to 2027. It is a positive picture but, in the years to come, the success of colocation service providers will be key to this ongoing growth. Today, we are seeing these providers increasingly looking to differentiate themselves from the competition by finding new ways to add value to their service offering to potential tenants. Delivering competitively-priced units and rack space is no longer sufficient. Providers will be looking to add other feathers to their cap. One of the main ways in which they can distinguish themselves is through their ability to monitor and manage the systems they look after for their tenants more efficiently and effectively. In doing this, colocation providers will, above all, be looking for a single pane of control to enable them to remote access and provision, troubleshoot and re-configure.  Underneath this, they will need to work with a fully functional network management capability. A potentially key part of this will be providing customers with tools for out-of-band management (OOB), which give them direct access into their network and the ability to manage devices like switches, routers or firewalls, without needing to purchase and maintain the equipment. Delivering an always-on independent management plane, OOB gives users reliable access to monitor and manage their IT infrastructure. That capability can be combined with NetOps automation tools, in turn allowing engineers to automate and orchestrate key functionality and maintain business continuity. This way of operating is ideal for organisations renting space within a colocation facility. It also benefits the facility providers themselves who can utilise it to offer a ‘remote hands’ service to tenants, applying relevant access controls and permissions and then segmenting out capability to them from an out-of-band device. Just being able, as an administrator, to get on to a laptop and access the services that sit inside the colocation facility, without needing to do complex networking, will also be a key benefit for colocation providers, and will help them provide reassurance for tenants. Further opportunities will be laid open by the emerging capability to segment customer traffic, data and permission levels across these tools.  Yet, it is worth remembering that all this depends on having implemented a centralised and streamlined network monitoring and management infrastructure. Colocation service providers won’t want to have to bring up one portal to access their servers, one to manage their network equipment and yet another to access security authentication. They will want to have a single place where they can manage all this capability.  At the same time, they may well want to be able to readily see all of their power or data consumption in a centrally-accessible location rather than spending time and effort digging into processes to understand key trends or to attain key metrics. All this benefits the service provider in making their operations more efficient and that by extension will bring complementary benefits to tenants. Yet, all this capability will not necessarily be easy to achieve.  Any provider will be faced with complex decisions about the solutions they should buy. There are a diverse range of different networking products available today, each with their own configurations. When you pick a single provider there may be concessions to make in terms of areas that provider does not cover or where their solutions are more expensive than a best-of-breed solution elsewhere. That’s a challenge for a colocation service provider. They will either have to pick a networking platform that doesn’t do everything and stick with it in the hope that it will do most of what they require or, alternatively, they will have to use multiple platforms: something which brings its own challenges, not least in terms of having multiple different management consoles and multiple different ways to facilitate changes.  If the latter is the case, they will benefit significantly from having an overarching solution that offers the capability to manage all these networking devices from a single pane of control, and which can link to networking devices and provide all the data they need in one place rather than having multiple endpoints to go and get data and make changes. They no longer have to remember, for instance, where do I go to control my firewall, or to put updated policies into my intruder prevention system? Delivering these kinds of capabilities will assist colocation service providers in their bid to stand out from the crowd but will also benefit the whole sector.  Looking to the future  Today, the colocation market is demonstrating robust growth. In some parts of the world, larger providers are taking over and buying up smaller providers because they are confident they can build systems that allow them to deliver services across the board. In other regions, smaller colocation facilities have come to life to fill the void that the big ones don’t cover.  Both large and small service providers have the potential to survive in the colocation market of the future. Yet, both will nevertheless be reliant on the quality of networking systems and solutions they can access and their ability to make use of a centralised management system to drive operational efficiencies; faster time to insight and competitive edge.

Zayo increases fibre presence at Proximity’s UK edge colocation data centres

Proximity Data Centres has announced the completion of Zayo’s high-capacity dark fibre network at its edge colocation data centre in Chester Gates near Manchester.  Additionally, Zayo is nearing completion of a new dark fibre network connection at Proximity’s Nottingham edge data centre. Combined with the existing Zayo connection at the Birmingham facility acquired earlier this year, Proximity now offers customers, carriers and service providers three strategic Zayo direct points of presence (PoP).  Zayo’s dark fibre connection to Proximity Edge 4 at Chester Gates allows service providers to offer a range of low-latency services to businesses located in the Northwest of England – including a growing number of applications developers and content delivery providers (CDNs) – looking to move data and content closer to users. Services offered by Zayo will include dark fibre, Ethernet, wavelengths and IP. Additionally, the company is provisioning low latency circuits from Proximity Edge 4 to data centre hubs in Manchester, Dublin and the USA, allowing its customers increased resilience when connecting to cloud services. “We are delighted that Zayo is continuing to increase its points of presence across our expanding footprint of regional UK edge data centres,” says John Hall, Managing Director – Colocation, Proximity Data Centres. “This is in line with our strategy of enabling Proximity’s sites to function as secure interconnected regional communications hubs for the benefit of our customers, offering the widest availability of diverse high-speed, low-latency fibre connections to carriers, ISPs and cloud providers.”    He adds: “Together with Zayo, we will be offering ultra-low latency cloud on ramp services to all major public cloud providers.”   Andrew Tipping, Business Development for UK, Zayo Europe says: “Proximity’s edge data centres are ideal points of presence for Zayo, enabling us to address growing demand from businesses and service providers for more network capacity in key regional areas. Connecting to Proximity’s strategic hubs in major UK conurbations allows us to further satisfy their latency, bandwidth and backhaul requirements.”  Proximity’s expanding UK network of interconnected regional edge data centres currently includes sites in Birmingham, Bridgend, Swindon, Nottingham, Rugby, Liverpool, Chester Gates and Wakefield. The company expects to have 20 sites available within the next 12 months, all in close proximity to major conurbation areas.   

Boost your data centre build time

The global colocation data centre market is expected to double to more than $62 billion from 2017 to 2022. Pam Cannon, ABB’s Head of Marketing for Global Data Centre Solutions, discusses the latest solutions and strategies to boost the build time of new colocation centres. To remain competitive in this fast paced and highly competitive market, data centre operators need to ensure they have enough quality colocation space to service new customers. However, opening new centres that will remain partially filled for a time is ineffective in terms of resources. Here’s a look at the company's four most effective strategies to speed up data centre builds by up to 50%: Pay-as-you-grow strategy Pay-as-you-grow ensures you grow both sustainably and profitably by installing capacity little and often. Rather than making sizeable upfront capital investments that build too much capacity for initial demand, data centre operators can make sure they only spend as more customers come onboard by installing new capacity in line with demand. This optimises cash flow and secures revenue quickly, as the individual installations are smaller, thus faster, to deploy. For example, ABB worked with US-based data centre operator, GIGA, to design a system that would initially support 60MW of IT load and can be scaled to expand in increments of 2MW. The expansion project was completed in less than six months, allowing them to onboard customers as they continued to build capacity. Modular solutions Modular, prefabricated solutions not only enable a pay-as-you-grow strategy, but also helps speed to deployment so that operators can meet crucial project deadlines and generate revenue faster. eHouses, for example, are industry-proven, prefabricated solutions that can be quickly transported and installed on site, reducing risk of project delays. Already factory-tested to meet all necessary data regulations, eHouses can be shipped and packaged in one order, simplifying communications and logistics to a single point of contact to streamline processes and save on onsite manpower. Another benefit of prefabricated solutions is that they improve reliability and optimise the speed of data centre build and maintenance. Since the solutions are pre-tested beforehand, onsite engineers and installers are helped with a 'plug-and-play' approach – site connection, testing, and commissioning are all much faster, reducing risk of schedule delays and cost overruns. Some even provide a tax advantage since they can be depreciated as equipment rather than building. Overall, compared to traditional build methods, the build time from engineering to construction can be reduced by up to 30% when using modular, prefabricated solutions. Going another step and using predesigned eHouses and skids could reduce that time by a further 20%. Digitalisation Not only does digitalisation give operators the benefit of remote condition monitoring of equipment, but it can also speed up deployment time and profitability. Digital switchgears, for example, replace hundreds of copper wires with a single fibre optic bus cable. In this way, digitalisation can reduce wiring by up to 90%, significantly decreasing installation time. Similarly, the sensor technology of digital switchgears enables operators to alter system parameters via software rather than needing to make hardware changes in traditional builds. These can be done later in the production cycle and reduce expensive and time-costly hardware changes. Users of digital switchgears can also make adjustments via built-in device settings or download software updates remotely whenever necessary, providing for safer and more reliable and energy-efficient equipment. Online tools Modern online web applications and tools can cut data centre deployment times compared with conventional methods for configuring low voltage technology. In many cases, these online applications can help shorten the time to manufacture to weeks rather than months. Configurators provide savings on time and cost by eliminating potential errors in product specification. Through innovative web apps with 3D visual interfaces, data centre operators can easily retrieve specific product information, including images, technical specifications, and product availability before placing an order, reducing chances of project delays. The use of online tools also simplifies product orders, as production, assembly, packaging, and delivery can be done in one accurate and streamlined process. These tools are somewhat like an online store, but instead of going through numerous online listings to find the right price and specification, it does the work for you.

iM Critical unveils energy-efficient, modular Pittsburgh data centre campus

iM Critical is unveiling its modular Pittsburgh data centre campus. iM Critical, delivering full-stack IT services in a six nines environment, will empower High-Performance Computing (HPC) users and colocation customers in the region with demanding use cases across AI, robotics, smart cities, autonomous vehicles, academic research, smart cities and more with scalable, powerful infrastructure solutions. The 10MW phase one campus presents a radical new standard for advanced data and computing needs, delivering cooling capabilities to support over 35kW per rack with highly efficient and sustainability-focused systems. iM Critical’s signature and innovative modular approach enables a high level of scalability, offering a high degree of customisation for customers to meet IT goals with tailored colocation services, a deep managed service stack and high-touch support. All of this is backed by iM Critical’s experience providing flexible colocation, and the company’s commitment to sustainability across all IT infrastructure solutions. Customer benefits at this next-generation, modular campus include: • Low latency networks with sub-1ms metro optical rings. • Unique network route diversity to major peering points. • Full-stack managed IT services. • Big Data storage. • Onsite renewable energy source. • Strategic location within an SBA HUBZone/IRS opportunity zone. “We deliver an enlightened approach to IT infrastructure, providing innovative customer solutions, helping organisations reach beyond today’s technology goals for greater ease and future-proofed outcomes,” comments Michael Roark, CEO of iM Critical. “The specialised experience gained by designing, engineering, building, owning and operating data centres for over 25 years inspired and informed our factory-built, fully-integrated modular data centres, which are based on tried-and-true engineering typologies and rapid deployment principles.”