Tag / internet

by Matt Seaton

A look back at 2018

Better late than never! Here’s our look back at 2018, yet another extremely successful and pivotal year in our history.

Investment in our operational capabilities continued full-force in 2018, with many areas seeing notable spending to improve and expand what we are able to deliver to end-users.

We’ve also helped a myriad of exciting new (and existing) customers with their own expansions, empowered by their mission-critical deployments inside of our world-class facilities.

Key projects and events for the year include:

  • Network Upgrades – we upgraded our outward-facing transit pathways, taking us to over 50Gbps of available capacity. We also upgraded our Aggregation and Core switching layers.
  • Cooling System Developments – we onlined our newest evaporative cooling stacks in line with growing demand, as well as installing a new temperature and humidity matrix, and improving the integration of our supplementary A/C systems.
  • Improved Filtration – a full overhaul of our intake filtration methodology came into effect in 2018, switching to bag filters on all three intake filter bays in Data Hall 1, increasing inward airflow and bettering the air quality inside our cold corridor.
  • Growing into Pod 3 – we welcomed a wide range of new customers into Pod 3, the newest addition to Data Hall 1.
  • Bolstered Security – with an additional 5x external PTZ cameras, along with increased on-site security personnel.
  • Further Monitoring – we’ve added a range of new monitor end-points to our network-wide system, taking us to nearly 17,000 alerting metrics across the board.
  • Growth in Connectivity – a range of exciting connectivity-focused projects in 2018 dramatically grew our service set in that area, helping a number of major organisations better connect with their customers and the wider world.
  • TV Capabilities – we added the ability to connect direct-from-air TV services from UK broadcasters straight into client racks.
  • Plus Additional Projects – countless smaller projects throughout the year.

Beyond all of this, we’ve also exceeded our financial targets for the year, taking us to new ground in terms of what we’ll be capable of delivering to end-users in 2019.

We’re excited to say that the deployment of Pods 4 & 5 in Data Hall 1 are now firmly on the horizon, with final fit-out and readiness for client installations expected later this year.

Looking ahead

2019 is already set to be another enormously successful year for Netwise, with many exciting new projects already green-lit for delivery in the first few months of the year.

We enter 2019 with a number of major developmental projects already in motion for Q1, and excitedly bring on-board new clients in the artificial intelligence, crypto, digital research, voice communications, investment management and storage technology industries.

Despite being a little late, we’d like to wish all of our stakeholders a fantastic New Year. We look forward to sharing it with you.

by Matt Seaton

A look back at 2017

Time certainly flies, as we’re already bidding farewell to another successful year here at Netwise.

2017 has been a year of substantial investment here at our London Central data centre and headquarters. This is in keeping with our ongoing commitment to constant reinvestment, which we maintain for the improvement of our facilities and the experience of our customers.

Reception

Over the course of the past 12 months, we’ve invested enormously in our infrastructure, upholding our position as London’s leading independent data centre operator, a position we will sustain as we continue to meet growth forecasts here in the capital.

The key projects undertaken this year include:

  • Data Hall 1 Expansion – bringing Pod 3 online, and readying Pods 4 & 5
  • Switch to Renewable – all electricity now from renewable sources
  • Power Capacity – upgrade of transformers to double on-site capacity
  • Generator Supply – on-site diesel storage increased by 3,000 litres
  • V3 Network – deployment of new ASR9k routing fabric
  • IX and Carriers – turn up of LINX services, peering, and additional carriers
  • Looking Glass – deployment of new network testing interface
  • Perimeter Compound – full enclosure of facility with razor wire and turnstile
  • Additional Cooling – supplementary / supporting A/C system
  • ISO Accreditation – 9001 & 27001
  • Customer Amenities – the launch of our new Customer Lounge and DR Suite
  • Plus Additional Projects – countless smaller projects throughout the year

As you can see, we’ve been very busy.

This has all happened alongside our continued operation in the delivery of world-class data centre services to our ever-growing roster of enterprise clients, now spread across 13 countries.

We will enter 2018 with an additional 35% rack capacity in Data Hall 1, and a clear road map for both the continued deployment of the remaining capacity in Data Hall 1 and the development of Data Hall 2.

 

The switch to renewable energy

The largest single story of 2017 was undoubtedly our switch to renewable energy here at our London Central facility.

This holds a more prominent place in the story of our development this year, as not only was it a positive step forward for our organisation and our customers, but also for the sustainability of our planet.

By 2025, it is expected that 1/5th of the world’s power consumption will be drawn by data centres, with 100 billion connected devices anticipated globally. While that in itself is very positive for the future of this industry, it also highlights the responsibility we have in leading the push to renewable energy.

You can learn a little more about why this was such an important move for us here:

 

Looking ahead

There are already a number of highly interesting projects lined up for the year to come, including some pioneering new technologies that may well pave the way for the future of data centre services everywhere.

Despite our sizeable investments over the past 12 months, we’ve maintained our fantastic profitability ratio, which lays the groundwork for another impressive year in 2018.

Until then, we’d like to wish all of our stakeholders a very happy holiday season, and a fantastic New Year.