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SERVICES
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SECURITY
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CSR
What is a data centre?
A data centre or data center is a facility designed to house large numbers of computers and their associated storage devices, networks and internet connections. The key objective is to maintain for their customers the availability of these systems 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To do this the data centre needs to have a carefully control working environment in terms of power, cooling, connectivity and security. It also needs to plan for failures in these systems by way of redundant capacity.
Urban data centre weaknesses
Most data centres are very vulnerable to a wide range of problems found in the world today. Many were built in times when these threats were minor, hardly featuring in risk analysis, while others are still being built in locations that are unsuitable for the storage and processing of mission critical information. Today data centres are still springing up in major centres of population, where they are often located in industrial estates or worst still, in city centres where heavy traffic flows passing close to their doors. Locations that are very different to the Deltalis data centre that is situated in an underground bunker in the mountains of Switzerland.
Factors that now need to be taken into account when selecting a data centre include the likely hood of :
- Earth quakes, flooding, power shortages
- Fire in adjacent offices or buildings, the threat of terrorist attacks, not necessary on the Data centres themselves, but on the surrounding community
- Pandemics
The latter is possibly the most series threat well demonstrated by the resent rapid spread of Swine Flu that luckily was not a killer. An outbreak unlike the Spanish Flue that killed millions of people worldwide, well before today's globalisation.
Low PUE data centre
The problems of a city centre data center is further compounded by power hungry servers now in common use today. Where in the past racks called for 2 kilowatts each, many now seek 10 kilowatts of power. Few city centres are capable of meeting this need now and will struggle further as these figures rise.
Most major companies have also well developedCorporate Social Responsibility or CSR programmes. They are keen to lower their carbon footprint and use sustainable power sources. They look to reduce power consumption and CO2 emissions. Here again Deltalis is on the cutting edge, helping clients to outsource CSR by using its low PUE data centre.
The first phase of the Deltalis Data Centre project was to secure a military bunker location which not only offered in excess of 10,000 square meters for rack space but also provided ample space for the ancillary service necessary to run a Tier 4 centre.
This provides scalability and insulates the data centre from the dangers of the outside world justifying the claim of super security. A feature, unlike urban data centre sites, where their owners have little or no control over their external environment. Deltalis clients, using multiple sites for added resilience, can now reduce both their numbers and operating costs.
Colocation, and cloud computing data centre
Next came the planning and implementation of the conversion for the first 1,000 square meters which saw the installation of its first servers in September 2010. Now Deltalis has the desire and the resources to scale up the project and wants to drive the programme forward in partnership with its clients to provide a world beating data centre, which will offer:
- Conventional collocation, often referred to as co-location or colo
- Cloud computing supplied in three formats: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS
- Disaster recovery.
Deltalis is an attractive proposition for business units of all sizes, particularly those looking for the scalability to deliver an enterprise data centre solution. This is an ideal facility for many types of customer: corporations using the facility or strategic partners wishing to attract and win new clients.
Join us in making the vision of a “Super Secure and Socially Responsible” data centre a reality.
Deltalis' unique data centre model offers a high security data centre with low power costs. Can we help you? If so please call or phone using the Contactinformation appropriate to your country.
Download white paper – 10 points to consider when selecting a data center.