ON THE CASE
Plus two
SSE Enterprise Telecoms has announced the latest two data centres to be added to its national fibre network .
Customers of Ark and Datum ’ s data centres , which are both located in Farnborough , will now have access to SSE Enterprise Telecoms ’ full range of Carrier Ethernet , dark fibre and optical networking services .
SSE Enterprise Telecoms is committed to investing in strategically placed data centres and exchanges as part of the ongoing expansion of its network footprint . It already has more than 70 commercial data centres on-net . This continuing expansion is in response to increased demand for high capacity and the need for low latency , resilient services that support organisations ’ connectivity requirements both now and in the future .
The addition of these two facilities is in line with SSE Enterprise Telecoms ’ commitment to bringing top quality data centres in prime locations onto the network . The two Farnborough sites offer data centre occupiers the advantage of a close link into London whilst set outside the M25 .
On the Chase
Secure IT Environments , working in partnership with Chase Farm Hospital – part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust – has completed the development of a new 45m 2 external data centre in just 12 weeks .
The new data centre forms part of the Trust ’ s wider redevelopment project that will enable it to lead the way in innovate healthcare with a five storey acute hospital containing an urgent care centre , eight theatres and a day surgery unit . The completed redevelopment of the hospital will have its official opening in summer 2018 .
The new data centre has been designed to meet BS / EN1047 fire rated test standards and regarded as the benchmark standard for new data centres being installed today and with a high level of security to protect patient data and the services being provided to the hospital 24 / 7 . The new data centre will play a key role in the day-today running of mission critical IT systems for the hospital .
Wind power
ABB is supplying a secure wireless communications system to connect closed-circuit television ( CCTV ) cameras at two new substations being supplied by ABB for the Pen y Cymoedd wind energy project , being developed in south Wales by Vattenfall , a leading European utility . The full 76-turbine development , for which ABB is also providing the grid connection and the related electrical transmission infrastructure , is due for completion later this year and will be the highest capacity onshore wind farm in England and Wales , delivering up to 228 megawatts .
The two new substations will step up the voltage from 33 to 400 kilovolt ( kV ), ready to feed into a new 400kV National Grid substation . Pole mounted CCTV cameras around the perimeter fences of both substation sites will be connected into a highly resilient wireless mesh network using ABB ’ s wireless routers . The two sites will be linked by optical fibre and connected to a control station with a network video recorder to provide recording and monitoring .
Physical and cyber security is critical for utility communication networks . ABB ’ s wireless routers are designed to cope with almost any physical challenge , a necessity when routers are routinely installed in outdoor locations in the field . As the network grows , each smart router will automatically reconfigure itself , making expansion relatively simple . The mesh network design offers inherent reliability , as the network can handle any outage by redirecting data intelligently and seamlessly .