Datum, the business-class data centre provider, teamed up with Keysource to develop its flagship facility at the high-security QinetiQ Cody Technology Park in Farnborough, Hampshire. The company took the decision to adopt a modular approach to allow the company to expand capacity to meet customer demand with a flexible and scalable solution.
In July 2012, Datum announced it had secured funding from Darwin Private Equity to develop a network of regional carrier neutral data centres within the UK. Built to provide colocation facilities for mid-sized to large enterprise clients and IT service providers, Datum is committed to delivering environmentally intelligent, secure and resilient data centres with first class client service. In order to develop its data centre infrastructure in a cost effective and responsible manner, Datum was looking to utilise the latest modular approach to design and build. This would enable the company to develop its flagship data centre in a number of phases, without impacting performance and whilst achieving high levels of availability and best in class for efficiency.
Datum selected Keysource because of the company’s proven experience of high performance and efficient facilities as well as its approach to modular data centre design and build. As a result, Keysource was tasked with developing a facility in four phases, with high levels of availability and an annualised design Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25.
The solution adopts Keysource’s Modular Data Centre Infrastructure (MDCI) to meet Datum’s precise business and operational requirements both now and in the future. The first phase provides an initial 250 rack positions with an average and maximum IT load of 3.5kW and 20kW per rack respectively, and has been developed to be easily scalable up to 1,000 racks. The design utilises Keysource’s award winning Ecofris cooling solution that not only delivers world class levels of efficiency and performance but also the infrastructure needed for high availability and flexibility.
The modular build methodology allows Datum to develop capacity in an economically manageable way without any risk to existing live services. This means that the business can grow without having over provisioned capacity, but similarly have the ability to react quickly when client demand requires significant extra capacity or growth.
The data centre utilises Keysource’s Building Management System (BMS) developed specifically for data centres. This solution delivers all aspects of performance, status and alerts for proactive management of the facility’s equipment and environmental conditions. This specialist BMS complemented and integrated with an industry leading Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution to provide Datum and its customers with real time information for unrivalled management and operational performance throughout the lifecycle of the data centre.
The mechanical and electrical systems are designed for high levels of resilience including 2N electrical infrastructure, back-up power generation and N+1 cooling. Furthermore, the facility is supported by Keysource’s dedicated Data Centre Facilities Management team, including a 24/7 manned helpdesk, technical support and specialist engineering services.
Once fully completed the site will provide flexible colocation with more than 40,000 sq ft of nett technical space in a purpose-designed building. In addition, a separate 10,000 sq ft energy centre has been constructed to house all of the backup power, including the UPS and generators, with a total power capacity of 7.5 MVA to allow for higher density requirements.
