We’ve been making steady progress on Phase 2 of our deployment plan at Netwise London East (NLE). This includes the total completion of Pod 2 in Data Hall 1, and large strides towards the onlining of Data Hall 2 in the coming months. This will be followed shortly thereafter with the base infrastructure deployment for Data Halls 3 and 4 later in the year.
We’ve been moving ahead firmly across various areas of general infrastructure, electrical and cooling systems for Data Hall 2, with the primary evaporative cooling system now in place ahead of commissioning. The feeder connections from the LV rooms to the in-hall distribution boards are now also in place, ahead of the main electrical works for the diverse rack feeds beginning in the coming weeks.
We’ll keep things brief this time around, so let’s get straight to the update photos:
Here we have some of the additional cabling required to bring the next phase online at NLEEach of our data halls require a significant quantity of cabling to link them back to our diverse LV roomsWe’ve certainly worked our way through a healthy number of large cable drums at this stagePulling in these large armoured cables between floors can certainly be a challenge for the teams involved in this workWith the main power cabling route handled under the raised floor at NLE, certain areas are cordoned off while works are underway, however disruption is generally kept to no more than a couple of hours at a time, per areaThese cable routes are already populated with live service power, as Data Hall 1 is fed via the same risers – here we see some new cabling ahead of being tied and cleatedThe longer of the two routes for the DH2 power delivery is from LV A – here we see the longer run with some of the cabling loose laid into the underfloor ladderThe cabling routes flow down the risers to the diverse LV rooms, once they leave the main corridor(s)Considered placement of the large cable drums is vital in ensuring a smooth run-off of the cabling into the raised floor area – the same can be said for the cable rollersDrum placement must consider disruption, ease of access, and result in the least possible amount of free tail once the cable is fully releasedData Hall 2 has a range of components ready for installation, including some of the distribution boards, and the custom-made ODFsThe primary cooling system for DH2 is now in place, that being our evaporative system which famously delivers our world-leading PUE figuresAs with DH1, we have space for seven CREC units, however we have deployed four initially – it is not expected that additional coolers will be needed, however installing them later would be a straightforward additionThe cold corridor filtration system and overhead extraction loop are now complete for DH2 – this is taken ahead of the lights being installed, hence the low light conditions and temporary insulation panelsPod 2 now has a range of active client deployments within it – in fact, Row C is now almost entirely accounted forPod 2 now also completes the full in-hall ODF to ODF pathway using the overhead ladder and trough systemHere’s a view of the back end of Data Hall 1, with both rear Pod entry door systems in view, and the CREC system for this roomThis is the view inside Pod 2, as viewed from the rear entry doorsOur Build and Break Room is now fully fitted out, and sees great use already by our clientsThe function of this one space is split at our London Central facility, which makes use more tricky, so we decided to consolidate amenities at London East for an improved visitor experienceThe wall features continue here, to tie in with other areas of the facilityWe’re particularly proud of our customer kitchen here, which has been expertly installed by our in-house facilities team, to the highest specificationBe sure to check out the Build and Break Room on your next visit
We now have a dedicated roof hatch system installed over the storage mezzanine, for easier, direct access to the roof, which is important for speedy access to our heat extraction loop. We’ll update readers with photos of this area next time around.
We’re expecting to see a dramatic uptick in progress on Data Hall 2 in the next few weeks, as we head towards the peak activity period which will enable occupation of the space. This will also provide some additional visual change to enable a more in-depth update, which is something which has been lacking since the completion of Phase 1 – we apologise to our regular Build Blog readers for this!
