Volta secures energy efficiency accreditation

Volta Data Centres, developer and operator of central London’s newest purpose-designed, carrier-neutral data centre, has been granted ISO 27001:2013 security standard accreditation and a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) as it aligns its policies and reinforces its compliance.

After a two-day audit the Information Security Management System found the Great Sutton Street data centre had met the requirements of the latest ISO 27001 accreditation that certifies Volta is secure in delivering data centre services. The scope of the Management System covers the design and provision of the colocation and managed data centre services covering security policies, legal compliance requirements and in-house processes and business continuity systems.

The accreditation allows Volta to ensure its staff are compliant with laws and regulations, has a strict management of controls in place for all its own data and storage, and includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of any information security risks to ensure all sensitive data it holds on its clients is secure.

Jon Arnold, MD, Volta Data Centres, said, “Our ISO 27001 accreditation validates to our partners and customers that we are committed to best practices and robust security procedures. We are tight on our security not just from a people level but from our own data and storage perspective too.”

This follows on from Volta meeting the Government’s energy efficiency requirements. By joining the CCA Volta is able to demonstrate commitment to managing its carbon footprint. The CCA was granted after base data from its electricity consumption for the last two years was recorded. Energy efficiency targets will now be met in order for the data centre to receive its Climate Change Levy.

Managing carbon impact through a CCA provides colocations data centre with an aligned process that takes into account the fast growing industry. Volta is also currently using specially developed row-based cooling systems to improve its energy efficiency. The system allows both Volta and its customers to monitor the intake temperatures, discharge temperatures, peak loads and fan speeds in real-time.

Jon Arnold explains, “Our state-of-the-art row-based cooling system uses 42% less fan power than the standard CRAC units you see in most facilities. This is a real advantage for us. It means we can reduce our power-consumption to help meet our environmental responsibilities that we now have laid out in our CCA.
“These certifications ensure we will continue to improve on our efficiency and security. They show that we, even as a Central London data centre, are committed to providing our customers with the quality of service and risk assurance they expect from a data centre.”

Volta are working on its next accreditation to become PCI DSS compliant that means it will be even more secure for its customers that process, store or transmit credit card information.