December 7, 2021 by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 83 to 86

The final stages of phase one are progressing nicely, with a wide range of commissioning and integration works now underway across the site.

It’s very exciting to see critical systems that will soon be delivering service to end users begin to come online, with hardware now starting to land in core and distribution racks for the first time.

Weekly overview

It’s been another busy few weeks on-site at London East, with the bulk of our time and effort now spent on technical commissioning work, and on the completion of outstanding finer details, as we head towards the end of the year.

Our heads are very much down as we approach the holiday period, to ensure that we reach our status targets before the new year. As such, we’ll keep this post brief, and move straight onto the photographic updates.

Compound — Our compound security fence has had its signage applied, which includes warnings about CCTV, razor wire, and other important informational signs – these span the full length, and all faces

AC Plant — The CRAC and comfort cooling condenser plant is now fully installed and commissioned, and sits in a corner of the main compound – this will have its own small sub-fence installed as part of phase two

Gens — A look across the front compound to our generators, which have now had their identifier vinyls applied

Signage — All interior signage is now complete, with this view showing the first floor directional signage in the main corridor, to direct visitors as they leave the lift and staircase atrium

Riser — All four of our riser access areas have had custom grills installed, to allow for safe and easy engineer access at any level – these are custom-cut GRP grills, installed on a custom steel frame, unique to each riser and their various penetrations

Cooling — The data hall cooling control systems are now full commissioned, and the area is now being actively controlled by the new system – here we see the main status screen for Data Hall 1, which has had a fully custom holding display built to show real-time information from within the space

Power — The final stages of the power system commissioning works are underway, which includes all integration settings on our main switchboards – this is a view of the main status screen in LV B

The network rollout has begun at the core, which will be followed shortly thereafter by aggregation and management roll-out in the data halls – here we see ODF B in Data Hall 1 being prepared for fit-out

This is the temporary setup in ODF B, which enabled some of the commissioning works to proceed ahead of having the main network in place – this also shows the custom vertical mounting arrangement we’ve deployed in these cabinets, to house switches

Here we see the UPSs in LV B at around 75% completion, pending the final UPS being rolled into place in the empty position on the left, which is as far as this room will see deployment during phase one

This is the front view in LV A, showing the fully completed UPS setup

The rear view of the UPS arrangement in LV A, with this space now phase one complete (aside from finishing touches to come post-commissioning)

Comms — The staging of our own core has now begun for both A and B sides – here we see the A side, with the main comms rack now staged ahead of cabling, which will happen once the ODF is also fitted out in the coming days, at which point the side panels will be fitted back onto the main rack

We’re very pleased with progress, and we are very much enjoying the sight of things coming together. Being at the point whereby hardware is being installed into racks is another major milestone in this project, and an aspect of the build that our team tend to enjoy most as data centre professionals. This is when the facility begins to truly come to life, and systems are interconnected and brought into the Netwise ecosystem for the first time.

While there’s still plenty to be done in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we’re also all looking forward to our company Christmas party, which is now only a week or so away. We’ve got plenty to look back on this year, so we’re thrilled to get everyone together and celebrate our achievements.

What’s next?

Commissioning and integration will consume the bulk of our time on-site at NLE, ahead of the holidays. This will prepare the space for occupation in January. We’re extremely excited to see the new site integrated into our existing architecture in the coming weeks, becoming the fifth major POP on our metro network.

We’re also getting into the Christmas sprit on-site, which is always nice!

November 30, 2021November 30, 2021 by Matt Seaton

How to choose the right colocation data centre in London to fit your needs

Articles

Colocation facilities are relatively new innovations in the business and technology landscape, but they are growing quickly. In fact, the market for colocation facilities in the United Kingdom alone is worth more than 2 billion pounds sterling every year.

Of course, not all colocation data centres are created equal. If you want to find the best services possible, you’ll probably have to shop around a little.

So how can you make sure that you picked the right colocation data centre for your unique situation? Read on to learn all about the most important considerations to keep in mind when picking a colocation data centre.

1. Pick a data centre with the right power density

Using a colocation data centre is an investment in the long-term future. That is why it is important that the data centre that you choose is also oriented towards the future. If a data centre has enough power density for current technologies, but not for future ones, it will not be able to adequately provide for your long-term needs.

For that reason, it is important to pick a data centre with a high enough power density to cover all of your current needs as well as a significant increase in your demand looking ahead. That way, when your needs inevitably increase in the future, your data centre will still be able to provide what you are looking for.

In particular, you will want to watch out for colocation data centres that came to be before the density boom. Many of these are unable to support more than 2kW per cabinet.

For that reason, you might want to go with a data centre that was designed and built more recently. More recent constructions are more likely to integrate the latest developments in technology.

2. The best colocation London has to offer should provide network carrier redundancy

No matter how advanced everything else about your system is, your connectivity is ultimately reliant on networks and carriers. If the connectivity of a given data centre relies on only a single path network, then no matter how well designed everything else is about the facility, if the carrier suffers from problems, so will the data centre.

For that reason, the best data centre should provide network redundancy. When a colocation data centre has many networks through which clients can access connectivity, it is less likely to run into potential problems.

3. Find data centres in the right location

When it comes to technological solutions like colocation data centres, people sometimes make the mistake of underestimating the importance of physical location. Physical location may not be as important for technological solutions as it is for other kinds of solutions, but it still makes a significant impact on service.

One thing to keep in mind is vulnerability to natural disasters. You might want to pick a colocation data centre that is in a very safe part of the world.

At the same time, the closer your data centre is to you, the better that can often be for ongoing management and maintenance. You’ll also want your systems to distribute services as close to your end users as possible, as this will ensure the best possible low-latency access.

On top of that, there are some times when you need to physically access your data centre. In those cases, you will not want it to be too far away. For that reason as well, the ideal data centre will not be more than one or two hours of transportation away.

4. Pick data centres with the right physical security

In the same way that people neglect the importance of physical location, they sometimes neglect the importance of physical security. Physical security is still a major factor even in technological solutions. Everything in the digital world is still reliant on physical systems.

For that reason, you should look into security practices at each data centre. The data centres with the best security practices can provide more reliable service.

5. The best colocation data centres have backup plans

Some people are so confident in their systems that they feel they do not need backup plans. However, true certainty comes when you are sure your system is solid, and you have a backup plan in place regardless. You should find a data centre operator that can assist with your own disaster recovery plans.

Not having a business continuity plan is a red flag. You should absolutely pick a data centre that is fully able to deploy your systems with business continuity in mind.

And the more layers there are in the backup plan, the better. Offering services in multiple on-net locations, for example, would be one excellent way of achieving this.

6. Find a data centre with proper compliance

Make sure to ask about the compliance of each data centre you look at. However, you should also verify what they tell you. After all, any data centre without proper compliance is probably not going to tell you about it.

Instead, you should look up the certification of your data centre.

Enjoy all of the benefits of the right colocation data centre

We hope that you were able to take away something helpful from this brief article on some of the most important things that you should consider when you are choosing the right colocation data centre for your situation.

Although it takes longer to shop around and do your due diligence, doing so is an investment that will pay off for many years to come.

To learn more about how to pick the right colocation data centre or to find a quality supplier, feel free to reach out and get in touch with us here at any time.

November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 79 to 82

We breathed life into many of the main power systems for the first time in this instalment, with commissioning actions underway on our primary switchboards and our backup generator systems.

The push towards phase one completion has seen many exciting milestone events reached in a short space of time, which is always great to see. We’ve energised the main switchboards, integrated and tested the generator failover, and removed the temporary site power, amongst a range of other system commissioning tasks.

Weekly overview

Things are sharpening up quickly on-site, as a wide range of systems begin to spin to life for testing and commissioning, ready to begin serving client kit in due course.

We’ve hit a number of milestones this time around, including the testing and commissioning of our cooling systems throughout the building (both critical and comfort), and the same point reached on our fire detection and extinguishant panels, both building-wide and the enhanced systems in critical spaces.

Speedgates — The speedgate area has been carpeted through from the main entrance and reception, to finish off the space ready for client arrivals

The cooling systems throughout the building have now been commissioned and tested, with cold and warm air now available in all critical spaces

Our UPS commissioning is well underway, with the main units now interconnected with the UPS output boards

The building is now powered through the primary switchgear and distribution boards, with all temporary site power now fully decommissioned and removed

DH1 — A look across Data Hall 1 after it’s had its initial post-work clean, with one of the supplementary AC units open for commissioning

DH1 — A look across Data Hall 1, towards the first pod of racks

DH1 — The four CREC units have now been brought to life, with cooling, recirculation and extraction now tested and proven

Both the primary CREC and supplementary CRAC systems feed into the shared underfloor plenum, which will distribute closely controlled air to all footprints in DH1

DH1 — The entrance into the cold corridor in Data Hall 1 is the first view of our new signage design language (*just* visible here!)

DH1 — The view towards the A-side power distribution in Data Hall 1, with ODF A visible on the right hand side

DH1 — The primary CREC system has now had all filters installed – here we see the 28x quad-fin air intake filters, this being the first layer of filtration before hitting the multi-stage filtration inside each cooler

DH1 — It’s been very exciting to see the cooling system spun up for the first time, and fantastic to see the real-world culmination of all our design and simulation work

DH1 — Here we see some of the detail as you enter the cold corridor from Data Hall 1, showing the lighting system and the access hatch for the otherwise-sealed extraction loop

Loading — Our warehouse and loading bay now has large floor lettering / numbering on each receiving dock door for quick and easy identification while loading and/or unloading

Wifi — Visitors will now see wifi access points and access control beacons in various places throughout the facility – the wifi is an extension of the mesh deployed at London Central, meaning you’ll automatically connect at East if you’ve already done so at Central

As you can imagine, with much of the work on-site now commissioning actions, presenting this visually for the build blog is tricky. We’re hoping to put together another fly-through video soon, to show phase one completion.

Another unseen but extremely critical area which reached completion this time around is our fire stopping, which has now seen all additional wall apertures cut in since initial construction fully sealed and certified. This ensures that the building fully complies with our extremely strict fire design and operation policies.

With all of the broad strokes of the project now complete, we’re able to begin working through the more detailed finishing work, while system commissioning actions continue.

What’s next?

As is to be expected at this point in the project, more of the same.

We’re quickly moving towards welcoming in our first client systems, with the final set of work ahead of this to focus on UPS systems, network integration, and general facility commissioning (things like onlining our NOC for CCTV and systems monitoring).

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021 by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 75 to 78

The pace has certainly picked up now, as we push towards phase one completion at London East.

This acute focus has left little time for the blog, and as broad strokes visual change has slowed down at this point, we’ve put together a four week short summary of the last month on-site at NLE.

Weekly overview

Phase one completion will see the facility ready to take its first clients, which is an enormous milestone for us here at Netwise.

There will still be some ongoing works beyond phase one, which will include things like our customer lounge and some other secondary niceties, as primary focus at this point is getting the technical spaces completed and ready to receive live client systems.

Looking slightly further ahead still, phase two will involve the preparation and roll-out of further technical space, making use of the other data halls, which given the amount of work put in ahead of time for this will certainly come to fruition much more quickly. This is expected in 2022, and will be based on a dynamic roll-out schedule, driven largely by demand.

The largest area of progress in this instalment of the build blog has been centred around air conditioning. This is not our primary cooling source in the technical spaces at NLE, with that role falling to our extremely efficient adiabatic systems, however traditional AC does still play a crucial role in both supplementary cooling in critical spaces, and comfort cooling in customer and staff areas.

Lighting — Here we see the overhead lighting system installation underway in the cold corridor area for Data Hall 1 – this is where external air is filtered and processed for our primary CRAC system

Racks — Here we see one of our custom designed security panels fitted to Pod 1 in Data Hall 1, for the privatisation of racks within said containment system

Razor — We’ve now fitted the razor wire to the top of our compound fencing, which aside from adding electric motor controls to the main gate, takes this area to completion

Spraying — As part of the final stage of work, we’ve had any construction marks and / or damage on our metal clad panel walls repaired, which included full panel respraying where necessary

The VESDA pipework has now been installed in both LV rooms

As you can see, NLE is still an extremely busy site, with lots of finishing stage work underway. Yet so much more of the work being undertaken at this point is not of a visual nature; commissioning of power systems, access control, network setup, CCTV etc, these are all tasks with little to photograph. However progress across all of these areas will be relayed when suitable.

We’re certainly entering into an exciting period of the build, as major systems begin to see energisation for the first time.

What’s next?

More of the same as we head towards phase one end-out. Keep your eyes peeled for the next instalment of the blog, which will show much of the major infrastructure being onlined for the first time!

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 by Matt Seaton

Business Continuity: why London data centres are essential

Articles

Data shows that only half of UK organisations are confident in their business continuity plan. The importance of a BC plan is evident in how many businesses were affected by the pandemic.

Are you concerned for the well-being of your company? Keep reading to find out the best way to protect yourself and your organisation.

What is Business Continuity?

Business continuity is a term that serves to explain how a company might continue its essential functions even during an unforeseen event. These events can include the following:

Natural disaster
An outbreak of a disease
Fire / flood
Cyberattacks
Industry Strike

A business continuity plan (BCP) includes essential items and procedures that are to be followed in the event of a disaster, whether they are small or large. In addition, it often covers practices that allow the company to function with minimal disruption during the said event.

What is Disaster Recovery?

During your research, you may have come across the term “disaster recovery.” Often, business continuity and disaster recovery are used interchangeably; this is a misconception.

A disaster recovery plan often deals with data protection and cyberattacks. However, it also protects against events such as a system failure or even a device failure.

Business Continuity vs Disaster Recovery

Business continuity is often referred to as the plan needed in case of a disastrous event. It is planned ahead of time and implemented during an unforeseen event. In contrast, disaster recovery is the plan that is executed after the event.

Another key difference is that a disaster recovery plan focuses more on recovering the IT infrastructure of the business. In contrast, the BCP focuses more on the daily operations of the organisation.

What does a BCDR plan look like?

A BCDR plan tackles the issues that arise during an unforeseen event. It often includes the ‘four-R’ predefined plan to allow for continuous operations. The four-R plan is as follows:

Respond
Recover
Resume
Restore

While this may give you an idea of a BCDR plan, it is essential to include some key components in your plan:

Contact info and SLAs

A business continuity plan should include the correct contact information and service level agreements (SLAs) required to identify and inform the right parties. These parties include emergency responders, stakeholders, key staff members, managers, data security, and any service providers.

This information should be the first step in your plan, as it is crucial to inform the right members of your team.

BIA

Business impact analysis helps predict what procedures could be impacted by the disaster. This analysis can help you identify and gather information to prepare for the event.

The BIA will help you analyse items such as extra expenses, revenue loss, reputation damage, dependencies, repercussions of disruptions, and more.

Risk assessment

A risk assessment identifies the risks that could trigger a disastrous event. When completing a risk assessment, your company will need to identify possible hazards such as a fire, flood, terrorism, pandemic, and cyber-attack.

Additionally, you will need to assess the assets at risk, much like the business impact analysis.

Communications

Once you have your contact information together, you will also need to determine the communications method of contacting the critical members involved. Finally, you will need to assess how to reach each group effectively. These groups include your employees, customers and clients, and providers.

Communication is key in any relationship, especially in business. However, in the event of a pandemic such as COVID, it is essential to communicate the company’s needs to your employees, the restriction on which you can operate to your clients, and what your shareholders can expect until the disaster is alleviated.

Testing

Arguably, the most important aspect of your plan is to test it. Having a plan meets the minimum requirements but knowing that it works is critical. Additionally, it is imperative to practice the plan so that your team knows what to do in such an event.

While you are testing the plan, look for gaps and weaknesses in your plan. You may notice that, in theory, the plan works well. However, you need to update and document when the plan falls through in practice.

Data centres: which solution is right for you?

A proper BC plan includes a data recovery plan to restore the servers and systems of your organisation. This data is different for each company; however, you’ll need to recover software, hardware, and basic operations for each company.

The first step to recovering your data is a regular backup. You can do this in-house; however, in the case of a fire, flood, or earthquake, you risk losing the data that is essential to your company’s operations.

However, a data centre provides a safe and secure place for your organisation to store essential data. When you are looking for a reputable data centre, consider the precaution the centre takes to protect the data. Ask yourself questions like:

Is it cooled?
What hardware is used?
What power system is in place?
Is the centre monitored 24/7?

Implement your BCDR plan today

Is your business safe and secure in the case of a disastrous event? It is essential for your organisation to implement a business continuity and disaster recovery plan.

Perhaps you already have a plan in place and have decided to backup your IT infrastructure at a data centre. Look no further, contact us today to book a tour and see how we can help you prepare for unforeseen events.