Networks Europe Nov-Dec 2019 | Page 8

08 NEWS IN BRIEF Leviton becomes the first and only company with 3rd party standards verification of PoE products Speedy Upgrade at DigiPlex Fetsund data centre shortlisted for Project of the Year Award DigiPlex, the Nordic leader for innovative, sustainable and secure data centres, has been shortlisted for Data Centre Modernisation Project of the Year by DCD Awards. The award recognises projects that deliver operational and business outcomes by upgrading existing facilities rather than building new ones. Although complex, DigiPlex’s entry demonstrates that these projects can be faster to market, cost-effective and sustainable. Innovative thinking was key to successfully transforming a data hall in an existing data centre in order to meet the criteria of a large international client. Not only did this require a doubling of power and cooling density in the data hall and an increase in electrical resilience, but it was also completed in under nine months with no disruption to existing tenants and operations. “To be shortlisted for this important award is testament to our ingenuity, technical leadership and clear-sighted partnership with our customers,” commented Gisle M. Eckhoff, CEO of DigiPlex. “Perhaps, more importantly, we have delivered on the demands of a large international client, in a short time frame while still maintaining exceptional operational efficiency.” n Leviton’s 100-watt PoE products have been verified by Intertek ETL to meet the IEC 60512-99-002 standard for support of IEEE 802.3bt Type 4 PoE (100-watt) applications. With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital buildings, PoE is poised for an unprecedented expansion in the enterprise. Leviton 100-watt PoE products are specifically designed to enable the transmission of power and data to a wider range of remote devices which rely on PoE, including lighting, access controls, computers, IP cameras, information kiosks, industrial automation equipment and wireless access points (WAPs). Following the 2018 ratification of the IEEE 802.3bt standard, all Atlas-X1 and eXtreme jacks, as well as select patch panels, were tested and have now gained full third-party verification. This makes Leviton the first and only company in the cabling industry to date to achieve third party verification at this power level for its PoE products. The verified products feature Leviton’s patented PoE optimised tine geometry to prevent arcing damage at the mating zone between jack and plug, and Retention Force Technology (RFT) to prevent intermittent disconnects. They also support higher bandwidth and power while limiting the temperature rise in large cable bundles. The verification confirms the testing that Leviton performed and announced in 2016, in which Atlas-X1 Cat 6A jacks successfully delivered 100-watt PoE performance. blu-3 boosts its data centre business with new contract Specialist infrastructure provider, blu-3, has secured another works package on behalf of a social media giant at its project in Ireland. blu-3 has previously carried out a variety of utility services and enabling packages during earlier phases of development at the data centre. This latest contract win will see the company complete the installation of fibre connectivity across campus’ one and two. Commercial Director, Richard Hope, said: “We have been awarded this latest contract as a result of our previous work on this data centre project, as well as various others across Europe. We have developed a great working relationship with the client, and this project has been a prime example of our high-quality operations and synergistic thinking.” The work includes the installation of fibre connectivity throughout the whole campus at the site. The team will deliver over 60,000 metres of PVC ducting, as well as safely decommissioning existing landscaping structures. The data centre will be powered solely by renewable energy and upon completion will be one of the most advanced data centres in the world. Work by blu-3 is expected to be completed 32 weeks after commencement is confirmed, paving the way for the entire facility to be completed on time. n www.networkseuropemagazine.com