by Matt Seaton

London East Build Blog – Weeks 87 to 92

We’ve had a busy start to the year as final stage works continue, taking us towards close-out on phase one at London East.

Our core team got to enjoy some much-deserved time off over the holiday season, ready for action as usual in the new year – one which is set to hold a wide range of milestones for Netwise.

Weekly overview

We’ll get straight to it with the photos this time, as we’ve got lots of changes to show our readers, which have materialised in both the run up to and exit from the holiday season.

General
We added a nice wide angle lens to our photography arsenal over Christmas, which will help us properly capture the scale of our new facility
General
Here we see Data Hall 1 in its completed state, ready to receive customer deployments in due course – Phase 1 will see the onlining of Pod 1, with the position for Pod 2 (assuming the standard full-length application) seen in the foreground
General
A look across Data Hall 1 to Pod 1, containing Row A and Row B
General
Our new wide angle lens helps us get in close to areas that would otherwise be difficult to properly show on-screen
General
This end of the first pod, seen held open while final work is undertaken, will be a private entrance for a client who has elected to take segregated space
General
The stylised vision panel privacy etching has now also been applied to Data Halls 3 and 4, until the rooms go live
General
A more visible view of these on the doors to Data Hall 3, which will be removed when the room goes live
Core
The staging of our own resilient core is now well underway, with all hardware in position, and cabling now approaching completion (more visibility on this next time)
Core
We’re now also able to begin fully integrating the new site, as systems come online and mix with our live operation
Core
The core racks again follow our colour coding from London Central, with the A-side being yellow, and the B-side being blue
Core
The core racks now also have customised overhead troughs to enable easier and safer cable routing between the rack and ODF
Reception
Our reception is really taking shape now, with our custom reception / security desk now in place, ahead of the glass enclosure installation coming soon – the site is already manned 24×7 in preparation for launch
Ramp
Our new brushed welcome sign is now in place at the main customer entry way, leading to the data halls and technical spaces
Ramp
This sign follows the same design as the NOC signage we have at both of our data centres
Noc
The NOC screens at London East are now online, and pending final completion in terms of display configuration
LV
The LV rooms now each contain folders documenting the LV designs, for easy engineer access, and are soon to be fitted with additional smart screens for generator status readouts, in addition to the already very detailed ComAp controllers – you can also see one of the first aid kits located here, which have now been fitted throughout the facility
LV
Our new wide angle lens has allowed us to capture the scale of our main switchgear more completely, with the full seven metre span visible here in LV Room B
LV
The same full-view of the board in LV Room A
LV
The view across to the UPS and distribution in LV Room A
Noc
Our small acoustic rack in the NOC, which handles local NOC communications, has now been cabled in its final configuration
Loadbank
One of the major tasks undertaken on our arrival back after Christmas was the final load bank test of our newly deployed backup generator system
Loadbank
This load bank test enabled our generator engineers to run the system up to significant levels during the configuration stage, to simulate the building load as it will be once client deployments begin landing on-site
Loadbank
We were able to simulate a load of 780kW across the whole system, before running generator each up to around 500kW to soak test on a per set level
Loadbank
Having use of this unit for the week of commissioning ensures that our backup power systems have been tested sufficiently up to suitable load figures, which is not possible using building load at this point in time
Loadbank
With the unit running, a large amount of heat is produced (top exit), which is how the energy requirement is created
Fire
This is a view of the fire control and extinguishant panel outside of LV Room B, which shows the custom badges we’ve had made for these units throughout the building – details, details, details!
Metering
Here we see pre-staging for our in-house assembly line for producing the circuit monitors, which will sit under each live client rack, and enable power metering which is PDU-agnostic

It’s an exciting time, as we begin to see many aspects of the new site ‘go live’ for the first time. Aside from some final elements due to close off in the coming few weeks, the site is now essentially service-ready, with some early deployment options for particular clients taking shape.

One system that we’ve been excited to see take shape is our new fully-integrated CCTV and access control platform. While we still have our long-retention continuous recording setup on all cameras, we now also have AI-driven motion tracking and sensing, which means that our system is able to follow visitors around the site automatically, generating points of interest as event triggers. This is also tied into the door entry system, which can actively track activity in the facility and record contextualised snapshots from nearby angles, to create journey data for future reference (if ever required). This level of automation is fantastic for enhancing our security.

What’s next?

Next up, we’ll be continuing with commissioning works across the board, as we liven up all areas of the site.

by Matt Seaton

Six benefits of using data centres for your business

In 2020, global data centre spending reached $37 billion, with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft accounting for more than 50% of this. Data centres are facilities that can centralise the shared IT operations for an organisation, making it easier to store, process, and disseminate data. 

They are a vital component for the daily operations of many businesses and provide organisations with many more benefits. 

Do you want to learn more about data centre automation and data centre services in the UK? Keep reading this article for the top six benefits of using data centres for your business. 

1. Security compliance

One of the primary benefits of using data centres for your business is that they offer improved network security and compliance. Colocation centres offer many security features to keep your data safe, including key cards and other types of regulated entry. 

Plus, using a local colocation centre allows you to check on security yourself. You can gain access to your servers to make sure everything is in working order. 

Not only do data centres offer high security, but they can also protect your business from cyber threats. They can offer network security including firewalls and other systems that can protect your data from unauthorised access. 

This is especially important if your business deals with private or confidential data, as your customers will be confident in your ability to protect their information. 

2. Room to grow

Next, using data centres for your business gives you room to grow. As time goes on, your business needs will continue to change. By using this technology for your business performance, you can match your needs as your business grows. 

Using a colocation data centre allows you to expand your business infrastructure without having to spend a fortune. 

If your business grows, your IT infrastructure can grow with it. This scalability makes using a data centre a great option for new small businesses. 

3. Improved connectivity

Another great benefit of using data centre services in the UK is that it offers better connectivity for your network. When you are running a business, having a network problem can cause serious issues with your productivity and business performance. 

However, colocation data centres utilize redundant network connections to prevent connectivity issues. This means that your businesses important applications can always run smoothly without interruption. 

Data centres also offer power redundancy. They use several different power grids, generators, and even backup battery systems to ensure that you will never lose connection, even when the power goes out. 

These factors, combined with regular maintenance of the data centres, ensure that you will always be able to access your data. 

4. Data mobility

Across the world, it is estimated that 52% of employees work from home at least once a week. Because so much business is done virtually, especially after the global pandemic, businesses need to be able to access their data no matter where they are. Using a virtual data centre provides your business with data mobility. 

This means they will be able to access IT workloads and business data no matter where they are or when they need access. With this data mobility, your business can run and manage its workload on the cloud. 

Because remote work is becoming one of the biggest benefits an organization can offer to its employees, it is vital that businesses also make the change to business mobility. 

Similarly, using colocation data centres allows your company to take steps toward cloud migration. While the transition to cloud computing can be overwhelming, having your equipment in an offsite facility will help the process to go more smoothly. 

5. Increases productivity

When you use data centres for your business, it also enables you to increase your productivity. When you have issues with your IT services or network downtime, it is often due to human error. 

Because data centres allow for true automation, it takes out the possibility for manual error. It also saves you hundreds of hours in managing your resources. 

This is something that can greatly lower your operational expenses and make it faster and easier for you to access your IT services. 

Similarly, using a data centre provides you with more control for your business. You do not have to risk giving up control of your data if your network has a cyber threat. You will also not have to worry about having your systems shut down without warning. 

Utilizing data centres for your business acts as prevention for these problems and can save you countless hours by preventing data disasters. 

6. Cost-effective solutions

Finally, data centres and colocation service providers are cost-effective solutions for any business owner. The cost of IT infrastructure is continually increasing and inflexible. Many companies worry about being locked into inflexible infrastructures.

Plus, increasing your IT infrastructure as your business grows can be a costly investment. Instead, businesses can grow at their own pace when using a data centre. 

This allows you to maximize your profitability and to have more control over your business costs, management, and more. 

If you are looking for a way to save money for your business, you can talk to your local colocation service providers to learn more about their data centres. 

Looking for data centre services in the UK? 

Utilizing data centres for your business is a simple way to improve your data security and mobility cost-effectively. 

If you are looking for colocation service providers in the UK, we can help! Our team is the UK’s leading colocation service provider and offer private facilities in the centre of London. 

Contact our team today to learn more about our data centre services or to book a tour at our data centre locations in the UK. 

by Matt Seaton

A look back at 2021

While the earliest stages of 2021 naturally followed in the footsteps of the year prior (one which we’d all like to forget!), things did turn for the better, and we have enjoyed a return to normality for the most part, both in work and at home.

This year has again been one of major development for us here at Netwise. London East has turned from a basic envelope with free-standing equipment to an energised data centre, which has been a wonderful thing to see take shape. We’re now very close to welcoming in our first client deployments at the new site.

Heavy investment in our future has naturally continued this year, with London East taking centre stage in that regard. Development of the new site continued on from last year, and has been underway at considerable pace for the entire 12 month period.

NLE has of course sat front and centre of our development programme, however we do have a large and ever-growing operational data centre business spanning four other locations, which means we’ve had a busy year aside to the build project.

Notable projects from 2021 include:

  • We neared completion on London East – our brand new data centre is almost ready to throw open its doors to new and existing clients. Phase one completion is now expected in January, following a design and build process which has spanned the length of the global pandemic so far, starting back in April 2020.
  • Ralph Wall joined as Sales Manager – Ralph joined as our new Sales Manager at the start of the year, assisting with the development of our sales process.
  • We rolled out a major network upgrade – in a staged upgrade action which spanned several months, we upgraded our core routing fabric in all core locations to support ongoing growth.
  • We announced our enhanced partnership with Zayo – in May, we were able to officially announce our new relationship with Zayo, as they bring their services into NLE to support our network, and to establish their own point of presence in the new facility.
  • Our POP in Telehouse expanded into North 2 – driven by client projects, we have now expanded our presence on the Telehouse Docklands campus, with the extension of services into the North 2 building. This hangs off the side of our Supernode in the original North building, and adds three further footprints to our estate there.

We always knew that 2021 would be a springboard year for us as we moved beyond the difficulties of 2020. We posted solid growth last year – which we hope remains as the toughest in recent memory – and as such had high confidence in accelerated growth in 2021. This certainly did come to fruition, as we posted by far our most impressive financials to date, which have further solidified the rock-solid stability we provide for our loyal customers.

Our clients continue to rely on our services around the clock, more now than ever before, so our continued growth and development ensures that we remain able to provide the world-class data centre services that we’ve become so well known for, onwardly enabling rapid client-side growth as the economy recovers further still.

In December, Netwise turned 12 years old, having incorporated back in 2009. We can’t quite believe that we celebrated our tenth anniversary two whole years ago. The next milestone anniversary will be our 15th, which is now just three years away – we can’t wait to see where we stand by then!

It’s fair to say that we had very humble beginnings, as illustrated by our first ever set of servers. This photo actually dates back to around 2005, which is when the first ideas that would later evolve into the first iteration of Netwise began to gestate.

Here’s a small gallery showing a few highlights along our journey so far.

To have moved from a set of old IBM tower servers to where we are today is something we’re very proud of. London East is our third private design and build project in our 12 year history, and our metro network now spans six buildings in five locations across London. Beyond our on-net capabilities, we now look after client deployments in 15 facilities, which span seven countries around the world.

On the opening of London East, we’ll have two active private data centres, providing us with 430 client enclosures. This can be expanded to 520 enclosures via a possible expansion route at London Central, and we have scope for taking this up to over 1,000+ total enclosures long-term, with possible plans for campus development at London East.

Looking ahead

With so much already in the pipeline for 2022, it’s safe to say that we’re all very excited for the year to come.

Taking NLE up to full speed is naturally the number one priority, aside to our usual headstrong mission of providing our clients with truly exceptional data centre services in our live locations.

Much like our active private facility, Netwise London Central, our newest data centre is again powered by renewable energy, and makes use of world-leading technology to ensure it maintains one of the lowest capacity PUE figures in the country (NLC: 1.12, NLE: 1.05). As organisations now begin moving towards their net-zero targets more aggressively, we’re proud to sit at the very forefront of the green infrastructure chain, ensuring our clients can scale up their mission-critical technology without fear of inflated carbon impact.

With large organisations in the UK now being tasked with publishing their net-zero transition plans by 2023, we’re expecting a surge in uptake at London East in the next 24 months, which is perfectly positioned to cater for highly efficient, renewably energised deployments at scale.

We’re also hopeful for seeing the continued return to normality for everyone, which does seem to have hit another slight stumbling block this month, what with the reintroduction of controls in response to the Omicron variant. Our general COVID response is still in place across our private data centres, and we will continue to adapt this as necessary.

We’d like to wish all of our stakeholders a fantastic New Year, and a prosperous 2022. We look forward to sharing it with you.

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
Compound
The main visitor entry point to the facility has now been completed, including full privacy / security panelling, and our site name vinyls – London Central is having brand new panels and updated vinyls installed to match very soon
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
Gens
The simple yet bold branding found throughout NLE continues outside, with the large format numbering now in place on our four generators
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
ODF
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
ODF
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
UPS
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
UPS
This is the front view in LV A, showing the fully completed UPS setup
UPS
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
Comms
Here we see the B side, which again has the ODF fit-out to follow – this side contains some of the BT infrastructure delivered to site, so is further along in terms of deployment

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!

by Matt Seaton

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

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.