Colocation Selection Guide - Workspace Technology · 2016-07-27 · Rack Colocation Selection...

Colocation Selection Guide

Workspace Technology Ltd

Technology House

5 Emmanuel Court

Reddicroft

Sutton Coldfield

West Midlands

B72 1TJ

Tel 0121 354 4894

Fax 0121 354 6447

www.workspace-technology.com

Rack Colocation Selection Guide.

Workspace Technology

Energy Efficient Rack Colocation Services of 14

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Table of Contents

Preparation ........................................................................................................... 2

Details ................................................................................................................... 2

Release.................................................................................................................. 2

1 GUIDE TO SELECTING A COLOCATION DATA CENTRE

PARTNER .................................................................................. 5

Location ...................................................................................... 5

Power........................................................................................... 6

Network Connectivity ................................................................. 6

Security ....................................................................................... 7

Future Proofing ........................................................................... 7

Flexibility ..................................................................................... 7

On-site Support ........................................................................... 8

Flexible Customer Services ....................................................... 9

Optimization Services .............................................................. 10

Quality Rack Space .................................................................. 10

Energy Efficient ........................................................................ 11

Summary ................................................................................... 12




1 Guide to Selecting a Colocation

Data Centre Partner

Demand for public and private Data Centres is growing as companies deploy more and

more storage and applications into purpose built facilities for security, availability and the

benefits of virtualisation and cloud computing. Cloud Computing companies, Systems

Integrators and Service Providers are in turn faced with a number of options where they

can potentially locate their ICT equipment.

Future proofing is crucial as I.T requirements can change rapidly in line with business

demands. Selection of the right Data Centre can save many thousands of pounds over the

term of the contract and help maintain levels of reliability and performance.

The following highlights a number of considerations that are typically made when selecting

a colocation Data Centre partner. The choice and trade-offs between location, power,

availability and network are extensive and organisations will make decisions based on their

own unique requirements.

Location - Location is typically at the top of a customer’s list when selecting a colocation

Data Centre. Having colocation nearby helps reduce road mileage and associated travel

time making it more convenient for engineers to access equipment.

Other location factors to consider include:

Physical Threats - These include environmental threats such as flood, fire, flight paths

main trunk roads etc.

Access - Is there easy site access? Is it possible to drive there with equipment or

spares? Once on site is there parking?

Diversity and separation - Is the colocation data centre far enough away from existing

facilities to ensure that sufficient resilience is maintained?

Workspace Technology’s DC1 is located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. This

provides an excellent facility for those who require rack co-location services within

the Birmingham and greater midlands area.

Located on the edge of Sutton Coldfield Town Centre 10 miles from Birmingham City

Centre, DC 1 is easily accessible by road and is approx. 3 miles from Junction 9 of




the M42. With onsite customer parking and loading bay facilities DC1 provides

excellent customer convenience.

Power – Any data centre should deliver sufficient power for both current and future I.T

requirements. The power architecture should be flexible and have the ability to support a

range of rack kW power densities. The data centre should therefore have sufficient power

capacity and easy access to the grid.

Other power considerations include:-

Power Architecture - Is the power sourced from separate sub stations, does the facility

have resilient UPS systems, generator backup and 2N rack power?

How many steps are there between the power station running and the DC? Each step

down is a potential weak link.

Power Tariffs - Does the facility offer flexible models without insisting that increased

power requires the rental of an additional equipment rack?

Workspace Technology’s DC1 colocation facility is adjacent to the local HV ring

which is feed from two independent sub stations. The HV installation has remotely

monitored Ring Main Units (RMU’s) enabling power restoration within 90 seconds of

ring failure. The facility is 400 meters away from the main substation which is in turn

is feed directly from the local power station in Hams Hall.

The initial design capacity is 1MVA however a 2MVA transformer has been installed

with associated switchgear allowing the power capacity to be doubled to facilitate

any increase in customer power demands. The utility power is supported with

standby backup generator systems and 48 hour shared fuel reserves fitted with fuel

polishing technology. Critical power circuits are supported via distributed modular

“hot swap” Schneider Electric /APC UPS systems and independent 2N “A” and “B”

32A power supply’s.

Network Connectivity - Does the data centre operate its own “Open Access”

network which provides any carrier with circuits across diverse network connecting the

building to key Internet Exchanges.

Key network factors to consider are:

Can you connect to your chosen carrier and/or Internet Access provider?

How flexible is the bandwidth available? Can it cope cost-effectively with bandwidth

growth?

Can you select a different provider for DC to DC connectivity ?

Is the facility Carrier Neutral?

Workspace Technology’s DC1 is configured with 2 x 10Gig diverse routed

independent feeds which are connected to Tier 1 IP Transit Exchanges allowing for




flexible peering arrangements and ISP access. As an independent colocation data

centre provider we are carrier neutral.

Security Building security is important and there are many standards and a host of

devices such as biometric scanners, IP CCTV and man traps. Data Centre security

procedures should be given high priority to ensure security standards are maintained.

Does the data centre follow procedures?

Do you need to be certified to a particular standard and what does this mean for your

colocation data centre?

Do you need the data centre to be accessible and manned 24/7 or can you accept a

“dark” DC if you can gain unescorted access?

Workspace Technology is experienced at designing and implementing data centre

solutions for organisations that include defence and blue light services. DC1 is no

exception with high levels of physical security backed up with procedures and

technology including IP CCTV, access control and mantrap facilities to ensure high

levels of access security.

DC1 supports 24/7 access via remote managed access services. It is planned for DC1

to accommodate Workspace Technology Technical Support Centre (TSC) which

provides 24/7 data centre monitoring for DC1 and other customers across the UK.

Future Proofing - What if your power and cooling requirements double over time will

the data centre cope or will you be faced with a substandard DC for the remainder of your

contract? Will the facility support the deployment of additional equipment racks ?.

DC1 has been designed with flexibility in mind. We have planned ahead and are able

to support modular power and cooling capacity expansion.

At Workspace Technology’s DC1 we also have reserve space that will enable the

colocation facility to double its rack count following take up of the primary phase 1

area.

Flexibility - Examine each of the critical services provided by the data centre.

Is it possible to increase power, cooling and bandwidth? If so at what cost?

Can you add more rack space and connect it cost effectively to your existing racks?

Are you able to spread your power commitment for example 40kW over 10 or 15 racks

flexibly or are you restricted to a committed level of power per rack?

Workspace Technology DC1 is designed to support double the initial rack, power

and cooing capacity. Core switchgear and service infrastructure has been built into

the facility from day 1.

DC1 includes infrastructure to easily allow inter-rack connectivity via fibre or copper

connection as required to suit connectivity demands. Workspace Technology’s




offers flexible tariffs which can be balanced across a group or groups of racks to

enable simple power planning.

On-site Support - It is important to ensure that the colocation data centre provides

adequate support services for the mission critical infrastructure. It is also important to

ensure that mechanical and electrical plant is regularly services by trained technicians and

that spares are at hand should faults occur.

At Workspace Technology you can be re-assured that

infrastructure housing your equipment racks is covered

by a comprehensive 24/7 service, support & optimization

plan. Workspace Technology’s Technical Support Centre

and core Engineering & Support services team is co-

located at the DC1 premises.

The data centre infrastructure has been deployed with

onsite energy management, Data Centre Infrastructure

Management (DCIM) and environmental monitoring.

Our infrastructure is regularly maintained and backup with a 24/7 emergency callout.

Our site facilities team deliver:

Effective Maintenance Programmes

Maintain Uptime through a combination of

Callout and Planned Preventative Servicing

Optimization of mission critical infrastructure

to help improve energy efficiency of data

centre assets.

Help Identify and release stranded capacity

Provide Ongoing Moves Adds & Changes

Workspace Technology’s team proactively monitor and manage the complete Data

centre infrastructure maximizing availability.




Data Centre Infrastructure Architecture

Flexible Customer Services – Any rack colocation facility should support a range

of value added services such as part swapping, assistance with fault diagnostics and server

installation and build services.

Other requirements my include

Consultancy – Is the provider able to offer consultancy and design services ?

Project Management Services – Does the partner have the expertise and a proven

track record for building data centre infrastructure and helping migrate I.T services ?

At Workspace Technology we understand how critical it is for your equipment to be

on-line and accessible 24/7. Our engineers are able to offer ‘intelligent hands' for

your equipment: Workspace Technology’s Rack Hosting team can provide:-

Part swapping

Fault diagnostics

Server installation and racking

As part of Workspace Technology the UK’s leading independent data centre design

and build company our Rack Hosting team can offer bespoke consultancy services

providing you with tailor-made solutions to suit all your business needs and budget.

By engaging our Project Management team with extensive data centre deployment

expertise we can help manage the delivery of a trouble free transition from your

existing environment into our new space. Project services include migration

planning, risk analysis and mitigation. We will design and build the agreed space

ready for equipment migration.




Optimization Services – Does the facility offer energy optimization services to

enable you to get the very best performance out of your equipment / I.T assets. Optimization

Services deliver IT system energy usage through in-depth optimization of server utilization

for reduced operating costs.

Workspace Technology’s Rack Hosting team through “IT Optimize” software tools

helps clients increase utilization of IT assets through accurate, detailed energy

consumption profile of server by server and rack by rack. IT Optimize monitors IT

asset utilization and power consumption to help reduce costs associated with over-

provisioning and underutilization of server assets.

The optimization service provides you with the ability to categorize servers into non-

utilised, underutilised and utilised for analysing IT efficiency, remove non-utilized

servers to recapture available capacity and virtualise underutilised servers to

consolidate resources. As a direct result of the optimisation service we can help

reduce energy consumption of your equipment racks reducing the variable element

of your rack charging model.

Quality Rack Space - The quality of deployed equipment can affect the operation

and installation of you I.T assets.

Does the facility offer a choice of rack types?

Does the facility provide adequate build area ?

Is there adequate front and rear clearance to make it easy to work on your systems ?




Is there appropriate cable management and cable ways to enable rack to rack

connectivity.

Workspace Technology’s Rack Hosting data centre is configured with high quality

vendor neutral racks manufactured by Schneider Electric / APC. All racks are

1200mm deep which eliminates “cable crush” which is a direct result of inadequate

rack depth. All racks are fitted with “ZeroU” PDU’s that fit discretely in the back of

the rack maintaining maximum cable management. DC1 offers both 600mm and

750mm wide format with a full array of rack containment and cable management

solutions.

Workspace Technology’s DC1 data centre is based on a two tile pitch which delivers

1200mm front and 1200mm back of aisle space. This makes for a comfortable high

quality environment for your engineers to work.

All cabinets are fitted with top of rack cable troughs providing easy to access

systems to allow for neat inter-rack connectivity. Where rack groupings are split we

are able to offer underfloor protected wire ways for reliable system connectivity.

Workspace Technology DC1 offers excellent welfare and rest area as well as hot

desks and Wi-Fi access. Access to a separate build room enables customers to stage

new or replacement equipment at your convenience prior to deployment.

Energy Efficient – At the top of many data centre mangers minds is the energy

efficiency of the data centre facility. With today’s green agenda it is vitally important that




any colocation data centre partner is able to demonstrate its expertise and ability to deliver

energy efficiency at all points within the data centre.

Workspace Technology has invested in the lasted generation of energy efficient

technology enabling Workspace Technology to deliver industry leading Power

Usage Effectiveness PUE energy ratings.

With the deployment of state of the art low energy CRAC units combined with

external free cooling the data centre offers sub 1.2 PUE energy performance. Airflow

& Aisle Containment installations ensure that all of the cold air produced by the air

conditioning system is delivered directly to your critical load.

Modular Schneider Electric / APC Symmetra UPS systems maximise UPS efficiency.

Schneider Electric energy measurement technology delivers accurate real time

energy and PUE statistics. A display within our reception provides an instant view of

our PUE ratings detailing daily, weekly and monthly performance.

Summary - ICT requirements are constantly growing fuelling the need for increased

data centre capacity. As a consequence IT and data centre managers are faced the

decision to build their own facilities, rent rack space within a data centre colocation facility

or outsource to an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider.

There are risks associated with capital expenditure in a dynamic, technical industry like

data centres and building and owning a private data centre is not for everyone. Using an

IaaS provider restricts the flexibility and choice of equipment and may hamper your ability

to easily adapt to changing standards and customer demands.

If opting to select colocation it is essential to ensure that any preferred partner is able to

offer high quality energy efficient data centre space with flexible power and cooling. Simply

selecting on price alone is short sited and invariably does not take into account the reliability

and services that will help maintain availability and quality of service throughout the

occupation of the facility.

Workspace Technology has over 7 years’ experience in designing and building data centre

facilities for public and private sector clients across the UK. As you would expect our in

house Rack Hosting division offers exceptional, flexible colocation data centre facilities.

Partnering with Workspace Technology’s Rack Hosting team will ensure your IT managers

are free deal with end-user demands and to build and operate their own hardware and

applications.




Making the difference

Connecting with our clients

Workspace Technology’s Rack Hosting division provides premium rack space that delivers optimum energy efficiency, resilience, security and flexibility to safely to host your server equipment. By engaging with you and taking the time to understand your business and performance related issues Workspace Technology is able to effectively address the demands of your business.

Workspace Technology’s Rack Hosting team welcomes this opportunity to connect with

you as a valued customer. We would like to share our vision and expertise through a

partnership approach. Our ability to deliver integrated, scalable, energy efficient solutions

has made us the preferred choice for many public sector and commercial businesses today.

Operating throughout the UK, Workspace Technology offers clients an enthusiastic and

refreshing approach, combined with teamwork that takes performance and service to new

levels of excellence.

Further details of Workspace Technology’s products and services can be found at




Workspace Technology Limited

Technology House, 5 Emmanuel Court, Reddicroft

Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B72 1TJ

Tel : 0121 354 4894

Fax : 0121 354 6447

Email : [email protected]

www.workspace-technology.com

www.workspace-rackhosting.com

Colocation Selection Guide - Workspace Technology · 2016-07-27 · Rack Colocation Selection...

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Transcript of Colocation Selection Guide - Workspace Technology · 2016-07-27 · Rack Colocation Selection...