EXPERT OPINION
It requires investment but also evolves
organically with major carriers, service
providers and fibre specialists often
choosing to connect to certain facilities
based on their reputation, strategic
location and business value.
Simon Bearne, Commercial Director at
UK data centre operator NGD
seen as vital in assisting customers with
their carbon credentials and ultimate tax
exposure. And don’t forget that regulatory
and other charges make up a significant
component of the price consumers pay and
these too vary from country to country.
Connectivity
An interesting observation made in these
surveys was the rise in geographical
clusters of highly connected data centres;
in cities and metro areas for enabling
dense connectivity for supporting
increasingly demanding cloud and digital
services. This development demonstrates
how space, power and cooling have now
been joined by connectivity as one of the
prerequisites in modern facilities. A data
centre can no longer be an island and
expect to survive let alone thrive.
However, conjuring up highly diverse
connectivity doesn’t happen overnight.
NGD-Campus – The NGD
campus in South Wales
Fast-track hyperscale connectivity is
of course possible but often involves
considerable investment on the part of
the data centre operator. Perhaps this
is an indication as to why the pricing of
many emerging data centre clusters is
on the rise – somebody has to fund and
get a return on the costs of the additional
capacity required somehow.
These factors and 100% uptime since
commencing operations 10 years ago have
all contributed to NGD’s facility becoming
established as a major international and
regional hub based in Western UK.
Multiple carriers are connected via dark
fibre together with ISPs and major cloud
providers. And in a recent twist, NGD has
launched subsidised POPs in Telehouse
London allowing users to leverage the out of
town advantage via a metro interconnect.
affordable high quality, resilient, well
connected and inherently secure data
centre facilities in the UK. But to tick
all these boxes you may well need to
look further afield than London and the
surrounding areas. ◊
IT IS ENTIRELY
POSSIBLE TO FIND
AFFORDABLE
HIGH QUALITY,
RESILIENT, WELL
CONNECTED AND
INHERENTLY
SECURE DATA
CENTRE FACILITIES
IN THE UK.
Security
Location has an impact on a data
centre’s physical security. Those in metro
areas will be at a natural disadvantage.
A more remote out of town location
offers sufficient elbow room for secure
perimeters set back from the facility,
clear separation from infrastructure
such as roads, fewer limitations on
available grid power, more campus
space to support logistics and superior
environmental risk profiles.
In congested and expensive locations
such as London this is very difficult
to achieve. Furthermore, a secure site
should have a low footfall – remote
from highly populated focal points, a
location where unwanted strangers are
easy to spot. And of course, the data
centre should not be in the vicinity of
obvious crime targets, flight paths or
flood plains.
In summary, it’s vital to look beyond the
headlines. It is entirely possible to find
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Issue 03
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