Technology - Data Centres
Ultraspeed data centres are handpicked by senior members of the Ultraspeed team and require board approval before being put into operation. Each data centre is chosen on the following merits:
Security
Physical security is critical at all sites. For example, at Ultraspeed's primary London site customers have to go through two security checkpoints before accessing the data centre floor and access is only permitted with an authorised member of staff. All visits are only authorised on a case-by-case basis. Visitor's details, including photo ID, are recorded both by the data centre and ourselves in our transaction log.
Organisation
After many years of seeing how this is done badly in data centres, Ultraspeed now insists that power is delivered under the floor and Ethernet/fibre cabling is kept overhead, which ensures that interference is kept to a minimum. Routing Ethernet overhead also means it does not take up valuable space under the floor and prevent the flow of air to the racks.
Environment
Ultraspeed's data centres all utilise fire detection and prevention systems. For example, VESDA (very early smoke detection and activation) is used in our London data centre. Cooling is also important for the performance and reliability of all hardware. For example, our London site is kept constantly below 20 degrees centigrade. Ultraspeed ensures that the temperature does not fluctuate within one degree either side of this figure. Hot and cold aisles are utilised, and cold air is pumped up from the floors and the central columns in the racks. Warm air is then collected and recycled using heat vents in the ceiling.
Power
Power availability is obviously critical. Each rack is provided with 3 8kw feeds; all Ultraspeed data centres are efficiently designed and sustainable. For example, Ultraspeed’s Amsterdam data centre runs solely on renewable energy.
