Welcome to the High Availability Hosting Blog

Evaporative Cooler
Our new cooling system went fully live this month, replacing the conventional air-conditioning units which have now been powered down (but remain as standby / backup units).  Due to the different way the cooler chills the air the process of changeover took 3 days but went without a hitch or service impact. We have now reduced our cooling energy usage by about 75%!

Evaporative Cooler System Live!

Hot aisle containment
Planned from when the Sheffield Data Centre was still on paper, we have implemented hot aisle containment on the first block of 6 racks (4×2 – comms, vmware, customer).  Hot exhaust air is now contained and evacuated from the computer room without mixing with the chilled air being pumped in.  The net result is the computer room runs cooler, the hot air pumps need less energy, and chilled air isn’t contaminated with hot air causing an imbalance.  It also looks cool!
 
Containment of the next block of racks is due to start next week.

Hot Aisle Containment

Hot Aisle Containment - entrance to hot aisle

Standby Generator
The generator has been tested, and re-wired ready for connecting to the Sheffield Data Centre.  Only problem is every time we arrange the concrete slab laying and crane to move the generator, it snows or gets too cold for the concrete to harden quick enough.  Another attempt will be scheduled for the near future, watch this space!
 
New Mailgate (spam / virus filter) going live
We have implemented a new spam / virus filter based on ESVA, having been tested by a small number of users, we hope to make it fully live before the end of Feburary – the exising Windows / SmarterMail server will then be switched off.
 
With additional ESVA servers (loadbalanced), we are planning to offer a spam / virus filtering service for users outside our own hosted email.  Email will first be sent to us for screening before being sent back to your existing mail server.  Users will get a daily quarantine email showing whats been blocked, along with options to release or block the message.
 
Hyper-V
Final designs for the Hyper-V and VMM (Virtual Machine Manager) servers are now being drafted, we hope to start testing sometime in March.  Prices have not yet been fully set, but are looking around £35 a month for an entry level Windows / Linux server.  Contact us if you’d like to trial a Hyper-V Dedicated Server.

Just before the weekend we test fired our new energy saving, environmentally friendly Evaporative Cooling system for the Sheffield Data Centre.

When running at full capacity, the system puts out 18,000 cubic metres (m3) of chilled air every hour. Filters and “ambient air” fans mix chilled air with ambient air to create a balanced ventilation system. Once commissioned next month the system will replace the existing conventional air conditioning units currently in use. The existing air conditioners will be kept for redundancy.

Powered by water, the Evaporative Cooler chills the air with water vapour, before being filtered and mixed with ambient air to dry and regulate the supply. This air is pumped into the Data Centre via new vents installed in the ceiling. Waste air is extracted by the existing pumps and re-circulated in the roof void before chilling again.

As well as saving energy (and money), the Evaporative Cooler will be more reliable and easier to service than conventional air conditioners, requiring no specialist tools, gasses or vacuum pumps.

New Evaporative Cooler undergoes first testing

Above the ceiling, in the plant room – the Evaporative Cooler pump sits on a vibration cushioning mat. Once the ducting is completed and the control gear installed the system should go live mid-December.

It’s with great pleasure I announce that the hosting room of the Sheffield Data Centre is complete.

The first 4 racks are fully installed and (nearly) cabled.  We’ve this week placed an order for an additional 12 racks to meet customer demand, and we’ve started to show the first prospective clients round the building.

The “snag list” is nearly complete too, with only a few jobs remaining – most notibly the gassing of the air-conditioners which is scheduled to happen this Thursday. 

Today was also the day our 100Mbit fibre went live, with a connection straight through to the Internet.  We’ve now got a few days of testing and firewall building ahead, which is where the “fun” starts  :-)

So the question everybody’s been asking us… “when are you going to open??”.  Providing the air-con gassing goes ok, and the network build is complete and tested over the weekend, we’ll begin to offer colocation from next week.  So if you’re interested in colocation with us, now’s the time to email us and arrange a visit.

We’re booking people in to see us from next Monday (22nd), so either give us a call on 0114 228 0022 or email sales@sheffielddatacentre.com.  If you’ve already got your details registered with us you’ll be getting a more personalised invitation later this week, or you could queue jump and contact us!

And finally the usual update pics…

Computer room build complete

100Mbit fibre live

This week we hit a major milestone taget – getting the internal “heavy” construction complete, and taking delivery of the first 4 racks to go in the Sheffield Data Centre.

All the major work within the computer room is now complete, and we can turn our attention to cleaning and removing waste from the computer room.  Elsewhere the carpet tiles have been delivered and are being installed, the air-conditioners are due to be gassed next week and the first phase of Cat6 wiring has begun.  We should also be able to use our office as an office from next week!

The first four racks are due to be positioned Monday, these racks are for the internal comms, CCTV, fibre, infrastructure servers etc… and for the first phase of customer colocation.  Extra racks are on order and will be delivered when appropriate.

We’ll be making an “opening” announcement very soon - but we’re committed to having the first phase of colocation live before the end of June.  Check the blog next week for updates.

Latest pictures…

Computer room construction complete

Rack van

...here they come

First 4 racks ready to be installed next week

While most people have been eating chocolate eggs, our team have been busy over the Easter break pressing on with construction in order to meet our June deadline.  Thanks go out to all involved over the Bank Holiday!

We’ve now removed all the original wiring from the unit, and temporay lights + sockets have been installed, all the computer room and office ceilings have been borded ready for finishing, the entrance hall has been boarded, and construction of the loading bay has begun.

We also got our first real look above the computer room ceiling.  This is where the air conditioning condenser units will go, recycling and cooling the air in the roof void rather than air from outside.  Not only will this enable us to use less power for cooling, but will help create a constant environment in the whole building, recycling the hot air removed from the computer room.

Temporary lights and sockets

Above the data centre

Office walls nearly complete

Into the entrance hall

Watch out for further updates during the week as work progresses!