WELL this is certainly an interesting time to be in the data centre sector, it seems that everything is growing and everybody is busy. Just a glance at the DCA Community calendar will show you that much is going on and so much more is to do.
This year, the DCA team as part of the PEDCA research consortium has been working hard on consulting with the sector and its stakeholders, our series of “Focus Panels” in London, Amsterdam, Warsaw and just recently in conjunction with the Internet Industry Association of Germany ECO, in Frankfurt on December 2nd have provided the researchers with a huge amount of feedback on the “Joint Actions” to be implemented from next year. I’d also like to thank all those who have contributed in one-to-one interviews with researchers, online and during all the sessions on the conference circuit.
Having gained so much enthusiastic feedback, The challenge for us remains to turn it all into practical actions that speak louder than words. One thing to be sure of is that there won’t be some magic wand overnight answer to all the industry needs, the overriding dependency will be the willingness and enthusiasm of people working in the industry every day. They are the ones who have the power to shape and influence the future of our industry, whilst we aim to provide the right platform and environment for this to take place.
The focus at the moment is to co-ordinate the deliverable to the commission, however next year we plan a return to the successfully tried format of an annual member’s conference for dissemination and discussion of the activities of the DCA. This will need a large auditorium which can be afforded without any of the distractions of funding via sponsors, which is currently being investigated. On the subject of funding, the DCA Board of Governors have approved the Annual Members Report of the DCA which is available on the DCA website at http://www.data-central.org/?page=MembershipInfoV2 Finally, on behalf of the DCA team, I would like to thank all members for their support over an intensely busy 2014 and wish you and your families a prosperous 2015.
Calling all EU Code of Conduct Endorsers
By Kelly Edmond, Membership Executive at Data Centre Alliance.
IN THE DCA’s previous issue, Simon Campbell-Whyte discussed the topic on whether the EU Code of Conduct can make data centres better, it’s clear from members I talk to every day that the overwhelming view from members is that this is indeed the case.
Over the last few weeks I have been contacting DCA members to ask their EU Code of Conduct status and whether they are up to date with their annual report. This question raised a few eyebrows, “We have to submit a report?” The answer is yes, but I have not yet spoken to an Endorser who knew they needed to report.
Perhaps we are missing an opportunity? We would like to encourage members to think seriously about how they can leverage the code of conduct to help demonstrate the value of the “best practices” and how they can make a positive impact on data centre efficiency. Of course data centre managers need guidance and information on how to implement the best practices and use high energy performance the products, services and resources offered by DCA members to improve their data centres, so why not write up a case study where your organisation has implemented best practices which have had this positive effect?
Part of the DCA’s Endorser commitments is to support and help our DCA members where possible. We take this commitment very seriously as part of our strategy to ensure that the code remains voluntary – therefore as an industry association we are here to help members fulfil their commitments and keep up to date with developments. We’ve created
a dedicated set of pages at
www.eucodeofconduct.eu where amongst other resources, we intend to build a catalogue of energy saving case studies from our members.
I will be contacting all members to talk about how we can help you co-ordinate a case study in due course, but please do contact me if you would like to help or have any questions.
World class data centres: Out of Africa!
By Howard Pheby, Business Development Director - Rack Centre Limited.
I NEVER REALISED how easy a Data Centre Developer in Europe had it. I do have a smile now when I think of my old colleagues and I getting stressed over where the second redundant 20mVA line would be routed. These days, apart from considering how to expand West Africa’s first Tier 3 data centre I get involved in planning for potential fuel strikes and how best to keep snakes out of the diesel compound. Needless to say diesel supplies and snakes were not major concerns in the Docklands.
In the middle of this year I took up a position in the most exciting emerging data centre industry in the world. I quit my role leading sales for a 25 year old pillar of the co-lo market in Docklands to become the Business Development Director of a start-up, Rack Centre, in Lagos, Nigeria.
I have packed more learning into the last quarter than in the past couple of years in London. Most people have preconceived ideas about Nigeria, I certainly did. What a lot of people don’t know is that it has the largest GDP in Africa, recently overtaking South Africa. The population of the country is around 175 million, generally well educated and English speaking with a huge mobile base of 100 million subscribers and more internet users than the UK. So there is no shortage of data usage.
But there are challenges. Firstly, chronic underspending in the national power infrastructure has resulted in a very unreliable national grid (the power goes off around a dozen times a day). Privatisation will eventually move Nigeria away from its reliance on diesel. Secondly, competitively priced IP transit, both international and national will play an important part in the growth and usage of data. A weak and now redundant fixed telecoms incumbent did not help.
It was a vision of our Group to boldly invest in this exciting industry. We realized we would need experienced partners to achieve the international standards and recognition that we needed. It had to be world class to win over any reluctance for Nigerian and international companies to outsource their most important asset, data. The technology, the construction, the people, the organisation, the processes, everything had to be world class. The objective was to build an operation that would compare favourably with any in the world. The size of that task cannot be underestimated. A great deal of time and effort was invested to consider all the options and risks associated with this major investment in one of the world’s most challenging environments. A few decisions needed to be made.
We decided we wanted to go modular and for that we would have to buy in the resources. After scouring the world for solutions we chose DCA members BladeRoom Group in the UK to supply the core infrastructure. The technology worked, it was proven and it was high quality. Support was easier too as the UK is on the same time zone as Nigeria.
Despite previous worldwide deployments, a project within West Africa was a first for BladeRoom Group too. There were many factors to consider, not least delivery into Nigeria.
The entire cooling system design had to be rethought to suit the external environment within Nigeria; the climatic conditions were less than ideal for their standard adiabatic, direct cooling method to be used between BladeRoom Group and Rack Centre worked together to design a bespoke cooling system, incorporating a fully redundant DX System. This system, based around their own DX design, prevented the need for any external air to be used in the cooling of the Data Centre, whilst still benefiting from their experience delivering energy efficient data centres. Our external temperature rarely drops below 27C and can reach 40C with a humidity level that feels like you are walking through a garden hose on mist quite often.
With no previous installations within Nigeria, contractor contacts were very limited and the search for qualified labours was not easy. The tools and complex equipment required were also limited within West Africa.
For example, there is only one 350-Tonne crane in Lagos. We used our sister company, Jagal to ready the site at the same time as Bladeroom were building the core DC in the UK. This shortened our delivery time considerably. urance checks throughout factory manufacturing ensured the highest standards of quality were met on all mechanical and electrical items within the fully fitted out chassis.
This unique approach enabled efficient ‘plug and play’ installation, which successfully minimised risk and time spent on site in Nigeria. The commissioning of the completed Data Centre was able to occur remotely via smart hands to also reduce extended time periods on site.
To prove the technology and to give the country and the industry confidence we went through the Tier certification process with
the Uptime Institute. We remain the only
Tier III certified site in West Africa, ISO 27001, PCIDSS and are working towards other accreditations with other bodies and the only modular Tier 3 accredited Data Centre in Africa as a whole. What is more important is the real numbers. Having design targets is fine and well but we like to publish real performance. This site in Lagos, Nigeria has not had one second of downtime. We started live operation a year ago this week.
It was hard, it was fun, it worked and we learnt how to do it more quickly, less expensively and more quickly next time. When Rack Centre took the gamble and
built this site in Nigeria it was a risk. We had the opportunity to build an industry in the country and truly enable a digital economy.
Although all of the hard work would have counted for nothing if we didn’t sell it and had a stable of happy customers.
Thankfully we do. We are now ready to implement module 2 of what will be
24 modules. I still haven’t figured a fool proof way to keep the snakes out of the diesel compound though.
Are you ready for CDM 2015?
THE LONG WAIT for the new CDM is almost over. Here Justin Busk, senior Health & Safety professional at Keysource, describes some positives from the changes coming in 2015, such as making the risk management function more integral to project teams.
IT IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED FACT that the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM), and the principles enshrined in them, are a crucial part of ensuring the safety of construction projects. This holds particularly true for the Data C industry. Often projects are undertaken in highly demanding locations, on tight timescales and bring together multiple trades in a complex and highly engineered space. This poses inevitable challenges wherever you have trades and skills working in close proximity.
Now, to better align with EU legislation the Health & Safety Executive is making some changes to CDM, and we welcome many of these, which will optimise the achievement of best practice. Beyond the self-evident aim to ‘maintain or improve worker protection’, some of the standouts in the HSE’s stated policy objectives behind the CDM 2015 update are to simplify the regulatory package, ‘discourage bureaucracy’ and focus on improving health and safety standards on small construction sites. In addition, CDM 2015 will implement the European Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive (TMCSD) ‘in a proportionate way,’ and ‘meet better regulation principles.’
One of the key changes within CDM 2015 will be to replace the CDM-c role with a new role, that of the ‘principal designer’. The responsibility for discharging the function will rest with an individual or business in control of the procurement and pre-construction phase (i.e. the client). It is this element of control and influence over the design which marks a fundamental shift from the previous CDM-c role. Importantly, the default position will be that the responsibility for discharging the function will sit within the existing project team, facilitating an integrated approach to risk management. (More information on this can be found in HSE document CD261, page 11, item 42 & 43.)
Implications for clients
In short, HSE wants to realign the way in which the co-ordination function is delivered, and want it to be seen as an integral business function rather than a separate, and in many cases external, add-on.
Quite often the CDM-c is engaged too late in the planning stage and is not fully up to speed with the potential hazards and risks. Moving away from a default position where an external contractor is appointed will deliver considerable economies of scale.
If you are planning a project that will involve more than one contractor, you will need to appoint a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor. You must have a suitable and sufficient construction phase H&S plan in place, regardless of the project size, value and duration. Installing or upgrading a highly efficient and high performance infrastructure has to happen in a safe and secure environment, where neither standards or availability are compromised. Where the designer is also managing the delivery and construction works, it makes perfect sense to appoint one contractor to fulfil both of these roles. This way the client can be re-assured that the internal co-ordination and communication is both reliable and effective.
Being armed with experience of managing and running such complex projects, and ensuring supervising teams are used to this type of project, are key to safe delivery. As designers with many years of experience in this field, we understand the importance of designing not just efficient and high performance systems, but also solutions which are simple to construct, implement and finally manage. Such experience and knowledge, coupled with the changes in CDM itself facilitating best practice, help us to protect not only our customers, but also our employees, in what are very sensitive and challenging construction environments.
About Keysource and Justin Busk,
Head of Safety, Health and Environment
Keysource is an award-winning deliverer of data centre projects, specialising in the design, build, and management of business critical environments. It has extensive experience, including delivering some of the most efficient and resilient data centres in the world. A senior Health and Safety professional and CDM coordinator on a number of complex projects, Justin is a Chartered H&S professional who sits on a number of technical steering groups.
To find out more about CDM 2015 you can visit the HSE website
www.hse.co.uk or contact Justin.busk@keysource.co.uk
UK Cloud awards:
DCA VP invited to be judge
DCA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Andrew Green will be the data centre expert judge at the prestigious UK Cloud Awards this year. Andrew, a Board Director of PTS Consulting, was invited to the judge’s panel for his knowledge and vast experience of advising some of the world’s largest companies on their ICT & data centre strategy. The UK Cloud Awards event will held on the 11th March 2015 at the Plateau in London
As Cloud moves to the mainstream, awareness of its business value and the innovation cloud technology is delivering in best-in-class projects is increasing. So what are the standout Cloud products and services of the year? Which company is proving to be the most innovative? Which are the most inspiring Cloud projects? With 21 awards across 4 categories the industry will celebrate the best in the business at the awards venue in Canary Wharf.
The event is run by the Cloud industry Forum and Cloud Pro. The Cloud Industry Forum advocates the use and adoption of cloud computing by businesses and individuals alike. It provides an independent voice and guides business end-user consumers about the key issues that need to be addressed to raise levels of confidence and trust in the market. Cloud Pro is the market-leading site for cloud computing. Combining a senior business and IT profile, it provides the latest news, expert opinion and analysis for this fast-moving industry.
Of course, DCA Members play a key role in the delivery of cloud in providing resilient, operationally robust, environmentally sound and secure data centre infrastructure which provide the foundations to foster cloud growth.
Alex Hilton, CEO Cloud Industry Forum, said “it’s great to have DCA involved because a data centre industry association is key to any cloud service in order to promote best practice in this growing industry.”
To participate, vote and find out more about the UK Cloud Awards go to www.ukcloudawards.co.uk
