Intelligent Data Centres Issue 23 | Page 49

END USER INSIGHT END USER INSIGHT about the solution benefits and the modernisation project .
Can you tell us about your role at the company and how you contribute to ensuring business success ?
I ’ m responsible for uptime – for keeping the lights on , keeping the business running and keeping our customers happy across our global data centre portfolio . I ’ m also responsible for business in EMEA as we expand . Until recently , we were mainly a UScentred company and we planted the flag in EMEA in 2018 . We ’ ve been steadily expanding since and one of my responsibilities is continuing that expansion – so driving business within EMEA .
What was the driver behind the modernisation of the facility ?
This particular data centre in London was originally an enterprise data centre with a single tenant . As is common with a lot of enterprise data centres today , they become trapped in a spiral as systems age , efficiency decreases and per kW operating costs increase . We entered into a sale and leaseback arrangement with the original owner of the data centre . We renovated the existing space , fitted out the unused space and increased the quality of the operation . This created additional value by unlocking stranded space and providing capacity to new users in a multi-tenant environment . So , everybody benefitted from the modernisation of the facility and that was the key driver .
Why did you select i 3
Solutions Group as the vendor ?
We ’ ve known i 3
Solutions Group for some time and it is well-known in the data centre industry as a leading mechanical and electrical designer of data centres . We had successfully worked together on a few smaller projects , so it was a natural choice for us . We ’ re very happy with our decision . i 3
Solutions Group is now a trusted partner of Serverfarm and we consider it to be the best data centre design house in EMEA .
Why was increased data capacity a requirement and what longterm benefits does this offer ?
The economics dictate that if wholesale data centre is less than 2 – 3MW , it ’ s really tough to make it work financially . Therefore , the increased capacity at LON1 was driven by market economics . By increasing the capacity above 3MW – and we have invested in this site and brought it into the 10 – 12MW range – it has created a financially stable and sustainable data centre going forward . Today , it ’ s very rare you ’ ll find something less than 2 – 3MW and those that are tend to be tough financially and tend to be sites that are under-invested .
How important are environmental factors for your customers and how has this project generated efficiencies in this area ?
Environmental sustainability is very important for all our customers . Data centre tenants these days are very concerned about every aspect of providing a sustainable service . Part of that is the best use of space . Some of the efficiencies we have generated from a sustainability perspective is due to the sale and leaseback of an existing site rather than a Greenfield build . We have provided a much lower carbon footprint to bringing new data centre capacity online . When you ’ re repurposing an existing building ’ s shell , you eliminate the need for new steel , concrete and groundwork so you greatly reduce CO 2 release . We had the shell , so we effectively repurposed the data centre using its existing footprint to keep it intact and just fitting out the equipment inside . That makes a massive difference for sustainability .
We have a much-improved PUE , so the Power Usage Effectiveness of the LON1 data centre is much higher , demonstrably a more efficient data centre . We created a much more efficient operation because we ’ re over the kind of critical mass in terms of the size of data centre . This allows us to negotiate keener power pricing and more sustainable choice of power sources to include more renewables . This allows our customers and their end-users to make sustainable choices when they ’ re locating with us .
What are some of the main advantages of being situated in a prime location ?
In data centres , location is a big driver . Our data centre is located between Slough and London – Slough being one of the main data centre thoroughfares in Europe currently . We are on the main transit and fibre paths between Slough and the city .
The historical picture in regard to location was often more about server huggers and how they wanted their servers located close-by so that they had physical access to them regularly . There was much less remote access happening . Now , it ’ s more about providing ‘ smart hands ’ services remotely . The location story has now changed to being in close proximity to where you need to be from a data transfer perspective . For example , it might be sub-millisecond latency to major cloud on-ramp . And there are two major factors driving that location aspect ; if you ’ re a hub facility , your data centre really needs to be at the centre of the eyeballs you want to serve . It ’ s about targeting the centre of gravity of your users and where you can locate your large hub data centre to serve them . The second one is around being an Edge data centre and the location there is picked to best serve a concentrated local area . So , in our case , we ’ ve got the best of both worlds – we ’ re hitting both of those needs . We ’ re big enough to be a UK hub and well-located in providing Edge services to a growing number of our end-user tenants for the London metro area . ◊
DATA CENTRE TENANTS THESE DAYS ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT EVERY ASPECT OF PROVIDING A SUSTAINABLE SERVICE . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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