March 8, 2021March 15, 2021 by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 47 and 48

We have another two weeks in the books on-site at London East, as things continue to develop as we head towards energisation.

The last couple of weeks have seen a good amount of change across a number of areas, including dramatic visual changes in Data Hall 1, and to the generator canopies.

Weekly overview

The containment system in Data Hall 1 has now been partially assembled, scheduled for completion next week. Most importantly, the two pod entry / exit doors have been installed, and had their electric opening and closing mechanisms setup.

Speedgates — The speed gates for access to the technical spaces at London East are now fully integrated and assembled, pending their walk plates (as seem temporarily placed here) and carpeting

Mountings — The first round of panel mountings have begun, with the fire alarm / extinguishant panel and cooling system control and status screen for Data Hall 1 shown here

Gens — The generator canopies have now been refinished in the same anthracite grey as found across this new site, pending ID vinyls in due course

Extraction — These are the extraction cowls destined for installation on the roof, over the top of the rear cold corridors

Inlets — These are the various components that will make up the intake louvres, destined for installation on the rear face of the building, allowing our evaporative cooling plant to intake external air, through our forthcoming bag filter wall

The containment pods are extremely impressive in person, and will provide a dominant focal point for the first hall. The contact-free entry system, which makes use of a proximity sensor, is particularly impressive to see and use.

The walls – as seen above – have begun to see more tech installed upon them, in the form of various panel boards for various systems. These will have their feeds installed as the main electrical works are underway. In particular, the newest generation VESDA-E panels are very striking, and work much better with the colour pallet at East (compared to their previous generation white / white and green panels). It’s the little details that we really love, and which come together in making a truly beautiful facility.

We think that the refinished generator canopies are a real show-stopper. These sit in a rather dominant position in the front compound, and as such we wanted to ensure they remained in-keeping with the visual language of the site. They’ll be having their ID and branding vinyls applied soon, which again will add to their commanding presence.

The adjustments to the skin of the building are scheduled to begin in the coming two to three weeks, in line with the commissioning of the water supply and drainage to the evaporative coolers, which began this week.

What’s next?

The open set of works as seen above will be brought to a close, as the main electrical contractors begin. Works will continue across the board, most intently focusing on cooling and fire system works, which are now underway throughout the building.

March 4, 2021January 3, 2023 by Matt Seaton

Ralph Wall joins Netwise

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We’re extremely excited to introduce you to the latest member of our ever-growing team. Meet Ralph Wall, our new Sales Manager.

Ralph has enjoyed a long and successful career in the data centre industry, heading up the sales function at a number of very notable organisations within the sector over the years. His wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts are second-to-none, and will be a much-welcomed addition to the in-house skill set at Netwise.

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic delayed the official announcement of Ralph’s joining, having actually started with us back in mid-January. We’re now very pleased to be able to fully announce Ralph’s new position with us, and we’re looking forward to seeing the improvements he will bring to the table as we enter another new phase in our development cycle.

It’s no secret that Ralph’s addition to the team comes at a time of major growth and investment for Netwise, with the forthcoming launch of our brand new London East data centre later this year. He will be overseeing the growth and development side of the business as we launch London East, and continue to welcome new clients (and service existing client growth) at London Central.

This new level of representation couldn’t have come at a better time for us, as we enter the end-out phase of construction on what will be our biggest and highest specification data centre to date; the third in our build history. Hard hat tours of the new site will begin shortly, and will be orchestrated by Ralph and the engineering team at Netwise. You can check out our Build Blog here to keep tabs on progress.

You can expect to meet Ralph at our forthcoming launch event(s) later this year, and at all of our social events, once they’re allowed to resume without restriction, of course.

We can’t wait for you to meet Ralph, and he’s certainly excited to meet you too. Get in touch if you’re interested in speaking, or to organise a tour of our facilities.

February 25, 2021March 2, 2021 by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 45 and 46

We’ve enjoyed an exciting fortnight of changes at NLE for this instalment of the Build Blog, with a large number of big ticket items landing on-site.

This has resulted in notable change throughout the facility over the past two weeks, across a number of key areas. The most striking of these has been the siting of our new generators, which now sit in their final positions in our front compound.

Weekly overview

Alongside the generators arriving – which are having a full canopy refinish in anthracite grey next week – we’ve also taken delivery of our first containment pod, including racks and the cold aisle system. This has resulted in major visual change in Data Hall 1.

We have a time lapse of the generators arriving and landing in place coming very soon, so watch out for this on our socials.

The first containment pod can now be assembled in Data Hall 1, which will be another major milestone in the deployment of our new facility.

Fence — We’ve now completed the physical installation of the turnstile and return-angle fencing that make up the main personnel entrance of the compound – the anti-climb rotating arms match those found at London Central

Generators — Here we see our new generators arriving to site, on two articulated trailers with lifting equipment

Sign — The backing board of our new sign being installed, with the protective film still in place

Cabling — A look at the first delivery of fire cabling, ready for installation to begin next week

Van — We installed our new lightbar to the van this week, which brings the vehicle to completion

Van — The van enjoyed a deep clean on-site this week, which was overdue in terms of removing the winter road salt that’d slowly been building up in the colder weather

The installation of our exterior building sign was quite a momentous occasion, as it’s the first time this facility has been properly branded with our logomark. This is the exact same style of sign as seen on the side of our London Central facility, with the diffused backlighting that really makes the sign pop at night.

The first instalment of armoured cabling to arrive, which will make up the bulk of the main underfloor power routes, will total somewhere in the region of eleven tons. The fire cabling within the building, which covers all detection and alarm systems, will total 2.5km in length.

We’ve had lots of custom made parts arrive over the past few weeks, destined for installation and / or use throughout the facility. One such item is a custom fork lift plate, which has been designed to take racks from the loading bay up to either floor level. This is a heavy duty steel plate welded to fork sleeves, which is low profile enough to drop straight into each loading dock.

What’s next?

The on-site schedule really picks up in the next week or two, as things begin to move on the end-out works. The site has a large number of trades beginning work, including the fire team, generator canopy refresh team, lift engineers, and a team who will be heading up adjustments to the skin of the building as part of our cooling system(s). This is all happening alongside the main power contractors beginning work, following completion of all design and design testing.

We’re very excited to share the progress!

February 12, 2021February 25, 2021 by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 40 to 44

Visual updates have been somewhat limited throughout January, hence the delayed publishing of this five week instalment of the Build Blog.

The bulk of time and effort on-site is still being spent on end-out plans, and getting the energisation works underway. Alongside this, we’ve also been carrying out supplementary works in a number of areas, to keep things progressing while time is spent on final stage plans.

Weekly overview

In terms of physical on-site work, we’ve been keeping tempo with a range of works across a number of areas, all of which have helped to keep visual progress steady (but comparatively limited) while the next phase is executed behind the scenes.

Because visual change is somewhat limited at the moment, we have a lesser number of photos available in this instalment, however they do show various changes and arrivals throughout the site.

Switchgear — Some of our switchgear and electrical distribution infrastructure has started arriving on-site, destined for LV rooms and data halls – our primary LV boards are still being manufactured, and will be with us soon

Distro — Here we see one of our Mardix intelligent distribution boards, this variant being for M&E equipment with integrated ATS, freestanding for test placement in Data Hall 1

One of our new Ortronics ODFs, which will handle fibre distribution at NLE

Lighting — The ground floor lighting has progressed, with the overhead cabling seen coming together here in Data Hall 4 – the left side shows an area which has been loomed, moving towards the right, which is being held apart until it’s ready to be bundled, in order

Checkerplate — The ground floor access corridor with completed checker plate, to match the first floor – checker plating for phase one is now very nearly complete

Turnstile — A view of the turnstile frame now in place, pending final completion, which has been slightly delayed thanks to the very visible snow

Scaffold — Again snow-related, preparative works on the roof have been postponed due to the visible weather – access for this initial preparation work is via our scaffold tower, as seen here

Doorstops — A small addition, however all internal door systems have now had their door stops fitted, to prevent over-opening and damage to doors and/or walls

The first KVM / crash cart is now on-site ready for client use in Data Hall 1 – this is an Ergotron model, which we’ll be deploying across the board here at NLE, along with their monitor mounting systems in the build room

The ground floor areas that were due checker plate cladding as part of the phase one roll-out have now had all areas completed, aside from a couple of missing sheets; we’re now waiting on additional material to arrive with us. This will also allow for checker plating and associated bash protection to be installed in the loading bay, where equipment will be lifted to each level loading dock for both the ground and first floors.

The ground floor has also had its final lighting systems cabled and energised, meaning that all site lighting can now be removed – a great milestone in terms of this becoming a self-supported utility it its final guise.

The main front-of-building turnstile came back to us late last year, having been to our powder coaters to ensure a match with the existing system at London Central. This was installed towards the end of 2020, however has yet to have its internals fitted to the overhead containment tray. This will be done when weather permits, given the current snowy state of the UK earlier this week!

Some of our new electrical boards have started arriving on-site. These are largely our new Mardix units, which have been built in a number of varieties depending on the end use case, and delivered in our signature orange. These really pop against the otherwise monochrome data halls, turning out just as we had planned. The larger of the two orange board types each hold a self-contained ATS to allow for dual incoming feeds for all critical M&E equipment.

Most of the VESDA equipment is now on-site, aside from the red pipework that will be installed to collect the air samples. This forms part of the final fire protection plans, which are being completed in the next couple of weeks.

You can also see that our comms panels (ODFs) from Ortronics have arrived, which will be used to handle and distribute fibre from each A and B core. These will be installed as part of the network roll-out at London East, which is set to begin later in this final stage of works.

We’ve also had a team up on the main roof this week, however things were postponed slightly due to adverse weather. Despite there being no issues with the roof, we’re electing to have the roof resealed for our own peace of mind; something we did at London Central also. This will lead onto roof and skin adjustments for apertures in due course, both for personnel access and our cooling system.

What else has been happening?

The bulk of progress in January has definitely fallen into the ‘else’ category when it comes to the Build Blog, as the vast majority of time continues to be spent on desk work, bringing together the final elements that will enable client services to go live at NLE.

Those elements include LV and HV electrical, which form the bulk of the end-out process. The transformer equipment and the generators fall into this work category, which were ordered this week. We’re very excited to share the delivery of these items as they begin to land with us!

We’ve also finalised plans for everything on the fire protection side of the project, which will be installed concurrently with the main power systems.

Excitingly, we’re also having some really interesting conversations with organisations interested in taking space from day one. These range from simple DR services to support primary systems elsewhere, through to full private pods, custom designed to requirement.

What’s next?

We have a very large shipment arriving with us soon, holding all of the containment for the first pod of racks in Data Hall 1 – this is something we’ve been excited to receive for some time, and equally something we’re very excited to share with you here.

February 5, 2021February 5, 2021 by Matt Seaton

How to handle a fast-growing business

On top of the list that all business owners want to have is growth; expected or unexpected.

With internet access meaning companies are more connected to their clients than ever, whether it be due to wise business decisions, an unforeseen upsurge in demand, or even ‘going viral’, your small business may have to face this challenge head-on at any time. For this reason, it pays to be prepared.

If you have a fast-growing business in today’s world, there’s one concern that should be on your mind more than any other. Data.

The need for small businesses to store and analyse data is more and more crucial. In fact, utilising the information that you are already storing can lead to a 15% increase in sales, so including data management in your plans is key.

Let us show you how a colocation service provider can help you when your business grows quickly.

Stay connected

An increase in demand can make or break a business, and often the first signal of an ill-prepared company is their website crashing due to sudden increased load.

By allowing this to happen, you could be seriously damaging your chances to take advantage of those all-important conversions, as there is no guarantee that potential customers will be patient enough to come back when you are back up and running.

The core of this problem lies in a server not being able to cope with the demands placed upon it.

The use of a colocation data centre can help in avoiding this type of problem, meaning you’ll have access to a scalable setup, prepared to handle the challenges of a sudden surge in popularity. Colocation data centres have redundant network connections, offering peace of mind that your critical systems will continue to run smoothly at all times.

Critical software applications will also run faster when deployed centrally, from a data centre. This means that your staff only need to focus on the work at hand. Should there be a need to resolve an issue, you can avoid having to unload it onto your in-house IT department, as tickets are easy to raise and can be attended to by a professional whose only focus is resolving your problem.

Data security

The integrity of your business is directly linked to how seriously you take protecting your data. Unfortunately, if you have a fast-growing business, the likelihood that you could be subject to a cyber-attack also increases, meaning that data security is essential.

In addition to becoming a target for hackers, another key consideration is the potential loss of data. The repercussions on a fast-growing business could be staggering, with Workspace reporting that 60% of companies that lose critical data close down within six months of the disaster.

With this in mind, it’s clear that this often-overlooked area is one to pay close attention to, to ensure that your business remains profitable.

Another danger to data security comes from not having systems in place to that allow for in house security. In most cases, a small business will permit all employees to access any data stored on their network, yet as a business grows this increases the risk of this information being compromised.

By placing data on remote servers and carefully controlling both digital and physical access, you can ensure that employees only see what’s necessary for their jobs. Rather than this being a reflection on staff, this added layer of security provides them with protection and demonstrates to any clients – as well as auditors – that data security is at the forefront of your business.

Keep costs down

Current success needs dynamic action if it is to be maintained. If you already have servers on-location that can handle your demands at present, there are costs involved in maintaining and potentially upgrading them.

Doing so can result in huge expenses. Everything from temperature regulation to hiring skilled technicians all will eat into your bottom line.

There is also the added factor of lack of office space. As a common side effect of a small business growing too fast, this can add strain on operations that can be damaging. Servers need to be stored, and with office space at a premium, it is understandable why many look to colocation centres to clear valuable space and service this need.

By using a data centre, you’re not only freeing up floor space, you also have the flexibility to expand your data storage capacity. The benefits of essentially future-proofing your business in this way cannot be overstated.

Subsequent savings can then be reinvested into your business, which can lead to an increase in revenue.

Take action now

Being able to capitalise on and maintain a fast-growing business requires a lot of hard work. For preventable issues to put any future success in jeopardy would be devastating.

On the other hand, being prepared for any eventuality by using a colocation service provider helps attain peace of mind, allowing you to focus on what you’re already doing right.

To find out more about what we can do for you, get in touch with us today.