Updated: 08/03/2010
Infrastructure
Location & Site
Close enough to be practical, far enough to be safe, we are located in a strategic out of city location. The site, which is owned by our group, offers a wide array of facilities giving almost unlimited options and flexibility.
The Data Centre lies inside a 150,000sq ft building which contains 25,000sq ft of office space.
• 35 minutes from Docklands, Gatwick and the Channel Tunnel
• 10 minutes from J3 of the M25
• 5 minutes from a fast rail link
• Within a secure campus site
• Office space available on standby or dedicated DR use
• Relaxation rooms and showers
• Meeting and presentation rooms
• Over 400 secure on-site parking spaces
• Licensed restaurant plus 24 hour vending
• Entire site owned and operated by our group
• On-site Satellite Farm/Earth Station offering bespoke up-link and backhaul of data
Power
We have three private substations on site and twin EDF grid feeds. The Data Centre has full UPS protection and automatically activated Diesel Generators which take over from the UPS within 30 seconds. We can offer almost unlimited power availability with 32 Amps being presented at each rack foot print as standard.
In our PowerWAVE 9000DPA UPS systems (as used by most high street banks), each individual module contains all the necessary hardware and software required for full system operation. With all critical components duplicated and distributed between the independent modules, potential single points of failure are eradicated, giving guaranteed system uptime.
With a minimum of one module over and above that required to support the load capacity, the load is protected with UPS power if any one module shuts down, thereby providing full N+1 redundancy and significantly increasing system availability. Each rack is presented with two 32Amp supplies, giving dual power supply racks 2N+1 redundancy.
• Almost unlimited power availability per rack
• Three private sub-stations on site
• Twin EDF grid feeds
• N+1 UPS resilience, 2N+1 achievable for duel power racks
• Automatically activated diesel generators with priority refuelling contracts
• Highest availability, modular, decentralised parallel architecture
• ‘On-Line’ design for zero interruption during power-fail
• Blade Server friendly power, full power from 0.9 lead to 0.8 lag
• Full system monitoring and automated self-diagnostics
• Full cabinet by-pass can be achieved during emergency maintenance without dropping lead
• Critical Service Level Agreements on power provision
Connectivity
Our data centre is directly attached to the NTL / Telewest edge routers, providing 1 hop access to their primary network backbone. This allows us to provide exceptionally low packet loss, super fast transfers and incredibly high resilience. All our equipment is fully fail-over capable and we can suffer multiple concurrent equipment failures and still continue to function unhindered.
We also have secured network connectivity via a newly deployed NEOS duct and fibre network which connects diversely to the London Metro Mesh and National backbone. Our Network capability supports robust D/R strategies with low latency/high throughput technologies.
We are in the process of securing carrier partnerships with several major carriers and will soon be carrier neutral.
Controlled Environment
Our infrastructure is designed to exceed the most demanding environmental and cooling requirements. We have incorporated a combination of free air / fresh air / chilled water cooling technology, utilising ambient temperature where possible to reduce our carbon footprint. This supplies a bespoke high capacity overhead duct network with electronic dampers allowing us to fully balance the system. Coupled with a tuneable hot air ceiling plenum we are able to provide exactly the right amount of cooling to the right places at the right time.
Our environmental monitoring systems incorporate temperature, humidity and water detection systems generating real time SMS/email/pager updates to all relevant engineers and technicians. We run several independent monitoring systems in parallel to ensure the immediate detection of any fault condition.
In addition to its stand alone N+1 redundancy, the data centre also able to utilise full back-up cooling systems offering a 2N solution.
• ‘Free Air’ high capacity overhead supply
• Fully tuneable and expandable to requirements
• Stand alone N+1 redundancy
• Two further on-site cooling systems connected
• Dynamic air handling units
• Constant temperature, humidity and leak detection monitoring
• Critical Service Level Agreements on cooling provision
• On-site engineers
• 2N Environmental Monitoring Systems
• Environmental controls linked to our sophisticated central building management system
Advanced Fire Detection & Suppression
Our dual stage N+1 system incorporates detection and suppression equipment including below raised floors and in ceiling voids. The suppression uses an Argon/Nitrogen mix and takes place quickly, effectively and without the need to shut down power.
All normally functioning equipment therefore remains completely unaffected.
Argon and Nitrogen are naturally occurring gases, which are removed from the air we breathe. The principle of suppression is by increasing the Nitrogen and Argon content of the protected space, which reduces the oxygen volume to prevent combustion - but at a safe level to sustain human life. Typical oxygen levels following a discharge are 12% - 15%.
• Rapid deployment inert gas system
• Reduces oxygen to non-combustible levels, whilst safe for humans
• Equipment function unaffected
• Power to systems unaffected
• Very Early Smoke Detection Alarm (VESDA)
• Environmentally friendly natural Argon/Nitrogen mix
• No clean up required
• On-site 24 hour monitoring
• Our Data Centre exceeds required gas ‘sink’ time by over 600%
• All fire systems are linked to our sophisticated central building management system
Security
The Data Centre is located within a ring-fenced Media Broadcast Hub. Physical security features include fencing to all boundaries, 24/7/365 manned and patrolled external security. Monitored infra red CCTV coupled with internal patrols linked by radio. In addition, a centrally controlled access system monitors, records and manages all aspects of access into the facility and within the site as a whole.
The data floors are again protected by Photographic, PIN and Card combination entry, requiring not only an authorized users’ access card but also the matching unique code.
• A secure centre, within a secure site
• Physical security features include fencing and entrance barriers to all boundaries
• 24/7/365 manned and patrolled external security
• Monitored infra red CCTV coupled with internal patrols linked by radio
• Centrally controlled access system monitors and manages all aspects of access into the facility and within the site as a whole
• The Data Centre has a separate system protected by Card and Pin combination entry
• Data Centre has its own Infra Red CCTV movement tracking systems monitored and recorded 24/7
• Data rooms and suites are separate locked areas within the Data Centre
• Security systems are linked to our sophisticated central building system