NETWORKS EUROPE The magazine for network and data centre professionals January/February 2022 AI AND MACHINE LEARNING INVESTING IN CHANNEL SUPPORT TO SURVIVE THE SECURITY LANDSCAPE THE SOFT UNDERBELLY DDOS AND OUR RELIANCE ON INTERNET AVAILABILITY DATA CENTRES NEED TO DIFFERENTIATE THEMSELVES TO SURVIVE THE BENEFITS OF PARTNERING WITH AN ESTABLISHED MANAGED SERVICE PROVIDER (MSP) IN THIS ISSUE: DATA CENTRES OF TOMORROW: THE BIGGEST TRENDS OF 2022 THE SHAPE OF (AUTOMATED) WORK TO COME HOW THE LAST TWO YEARS HAVE AFFECTED THE DATA CENTRE INDUSTRY05 Foreword 06 News The news desk highlights some of the latest industry stories. 14 2022 and beyond - predictions from across the industry From cloud to 5G, security to sustainability, our predictions on the data centre and networking trends we expect to see taking effect throughout 2022 and beyond. 26 Data centres of tomorrow: The biggest trends for 2022 The data centre services market has been growing at an exponential rate, with many predicting that the market will be valued at $105.6 billion by 2026. Alan Hayward at SEH Technology looks at what future data centres will look like and the trends that they need to keep in mind. 28 Top five trends for data centres 2022 It’s a new year with new challenges for data centre operators. Here, Dave Sterlace, ABB Global Data Center Solutions looks at the top five themes that are emerging for European data centres looking to expand and grow in 2022. 30 How the pandemic will continue changing the cloud market in 2022 Amir Hashmi, zsah managed IT services, looks at how the pandemic will continue to impact the cloud. 32 Meeting the demand for truly high performance, sustainable and flexible data centres Andy Connor, Subzero Engineering, discusses key areas of focus for the data centre industry as it seeks to meet the ever-increasing expectations of digital consumers, alongside the environmental imperatives highlighted at COP26. 34 Why 2022 is the year of layered networks In 2022, organisations will begin to discover the value of viewing their networks holistically and as multi-layered. The increasing shift to online means that networks will need to be more capable than ever before and tomorrow’s networks are only as strong as their layers. 38 2022 predictions The latest DC Byte research revealed that not only is the data centre market showing signs of continued core expansion but there is also strong growth in new markets outside of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin. CONTENTS www.networkseuropemagazine.com 02 142634 NETWORKS EUROPE The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. The author and publisher, and its officers and employees, do not accept any liability for any errors that may have occurred, or for any reliance on their contents. All trademarks and brandnames are respected within our publication. However, the publishers accept no responsibility for any inadvertent misuse that may occur. This publication is protected by copyright © 2020 and accordingly must not be reproduced in any medium. All rights reserved. Networks Europe stories, news, know-how? Please submit to editor@networkseuropemagazine.com including high resolution (300dpi+ CMYK) images. Surrey Technology Centre Surrey Research Park 40 Occam Road Guildford, GU2 7YG www.networkseuropemagazine.com Published by: Abacus Communications Limited Publisher: Greg Ward Editor: Laura Vallis Sales Executive: Keith Foster40 The shape of (automated) work to come In the new world of work, we now more widely ‘exist and engage’ inside so-called workflows and their presence enables us to start building data- driven businesses. Matthew Clemente, Lemongrass Consulting discusses. 42 How can data centres expect to engage with utilities in 2022? Ed Ansett, i3 Solutions Group looks at the energy sector in transition. Data centre operators who may feel over scrutinised and under sustainability pressures regarding the greenness of their operations could do worse than to consider what their peers in the energy sector are experiencing. 44 How the last two years have affected the data centre industry Industry is reflecting on the past 12 months and the lessons learned from the changes wrought by Covid-19. Jack Bedell-Pearce, 4D Data Centres looks at how these changes shaped the data centre and cloud sectors over the past two years and what this means for 2022. 48 Connecting to space, the final frontier Over the past year, there was a lot of attention related to new Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation announcements from multiple network operators. Brian Lavallée, Ciena explores the subject further. 52 The cloud backup opportunity for MSPs As organisations shift from using on-premise solutions to the cloud, many will not have considered that data – despite being located in the cloud – still needs to be backed up. Carl Oliver, Product Manager, Giacom explains why cloud backup is increasingly important for SMBs and where the opportunity lies. 54 A life beyond the dashboard The role that dashboards play in our data lives has changed significantly. Businesses are now looking for a solution to data analytics that can be fluid and fast-changing. Simon Rolph of Such Sweet Thunder discusses. 58 Investing in channel support to survive the security landscape By partnering with an established Managed Service Provider (MSP) who can act as a trusted advisor to create a solid cyber security strategy, SMBs can benefit from the knowledge, skills and solutions available within the channel. Mike Foster, Channel Manager, VIPRE, explains. 62 North and Midlands face losing out to the South in the race to the edge Simon Michie, Pulsant looks at the fact that only 42% of business leaders in the Midlands and 45% in the North viewed their location as an advantage for digital transformation, compared with 64% in the South. 64 AI and machine learning - data centres need to differentiate themselves to survive With Gartner claiming that more than 30% of data centres that don’t deploy AI and machine learning won’t be operationally and economically feasible by 2030, Peter Ruffley, Zizo, discusses how we can best use AI and what its role is within the data centre. 68 Smart technology to address the data centre energy drain The energy impact of data centres is undeniable but so is the need for these facilities to handle the world’s ever-increasing data demands. What can’t be ignored is the energy efficiency trends that have developed in parallel. Matthew Margetts at Smarter Technologies looks at what can be done to improve data centre energy efficiency and sustainability. 72 The soft underbelly: DDoS and our reliance on internet availability What business can now exist if they are offline? It might seem like an obvious point but the entire world now runs on connectivity. In the last few decades, the Internet has become the very lifeblood of the global economy. Ashley Stephenson, Corero Network Security looks at the commonly overlooked threat of DDoS attacks. 76 Keeping up with developments in wireless technology Jan Middeldorf, Nexans takes a look at wireless LAN, which is no longer just ‘nice to have’ but has become an essential platform for offering all of the (cloud-based, real-time) services and features people have come to expect. 78 Movers and shakers We take a quick look at some of the industry's movers and shakers, including new appointments, promotions and personnel changes. 646840 www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com CONTENTS 03Make the most of your presence NETWORKS EUROPE magazine is the longest established and industry leading technical journal for the network infrastructure and data centre marketplace. • NETWORKS EUROPE features editorial contributions from worldwide industry figureheads, ensuring that it’s the world’s best publication for information on all aspects of this constantly evolving industry. • Published every other month (x6 per annum), the magazine is produced in digital format, with a magazine viewing link (readable on all major electronic devices) e-mailed directly to subscribers on publication. • The readership consists of 26,000 industry professionals across Europe; with its core circulation covering the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy and Spain. • The magazine's highly focused editorial content caters exclusively for an informed audience consisting of network infrastructure professionals, including; data centre managers, facilities managers, CIOs, CTOs, ICT directors, consultants and project managers. • Key editorial content areas include; news, legislation and technical information from industry-leading companies and commentators, with detailed case studies, as well as the latest thinking in technology and practices. Advertising Advertising can be in the form of company or product promotion. You can contact our advertising team for details on costs. We accept adverts that are submitted to us in the form of image files saved as high resolution (>300dpi) *.pdf, *.png, *.jpg or *.eps format files. Sponsored content We publish sponsored or branded content in the form of advertorials, case studies, white papers and product/company features. Our advertising team can help with advice and costs. Contact sales@networkseuropemagazine.com for more details. NETWORKS EUROPE The magazine for network and data centre professionals So what's new for 2022? A new year always offers us a time to reflect, to make new year's resolutions based on what happened in the past 12 months and to reassess our lives, careers, health and commitments. With the last two years being all about Covid and Government guidelines but restrictions now being lifted in our roadmap back to 'normal' it is now time to look to the future with positivity and a refreshed eye on the industry. And it seems our readers and contributors to our magazine feel the same way. Our features desk is currently overflowing with articles and papers exploring a wide range of exciting subjects, from the latest industry trends, recent case studies in AI and ML, innovations in security, and technological advancements in data centre sustainability. The entire market continues to be active as news floods in of acquisitions, new hires, company expansions and developments, increases in the number of data centre campuses as well as improved and augmented product launches. Our main focus for this issue is on the data centre of tomorrow –the learning taken from the past two years and the predictions and trends that industry experts expect to see taking effect in 2022 and beyond. From security to sustainability, cloud to edge, automation and acceleration, we have a number of articles on how they see the industry evolving and progressing. We also have articles on Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, complementary to existing terrestrial and cellular networks when providing high-performance connectivity. We cover cloud backup opportunities for MSPs, the role of dashboards in our data lives, the consideration of critical security for SMBs and DDoS attacks, in addition to the race to the edge and how smart technology can address the data centre energy drain. That's a lot of articles to read, digest and consider. Enjoy! Laura Vallis Editor Networks Europe magazine FOREWORD www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com 05DataQube secures €26M from French company, RGREEN INVEST DataQube Global has acquired a €26 million Serie A funding from RGREEN INVEST, a French investment management company focused on financing green infrastructure and technology projects. With more than €800 million already invested in InfraGreen and renewable energy markets, this is the company’s first venture in the data centre industry. DataQube’s person-free layout offers a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to traditional edge computing infrastructures because the energy transfer is dedicated solely to powering computers. Indeed, feasibility studies have shown that DataQube reduces power consumption by as much as 56% and C02 emissions by 56% due to its ability to support a greater IT load per sqm. DataQube also features a range of cooling options, including next generation immersive cooling in its core internal infrastructure, that enable further consumption and emission savings. The system’s efficient use of space, combined with its optimised IT capacity, reduces its physical footprint as less land, less power and fewer raw materials are needed from the outset, thus setting a new standard in the industry. “We are honoured to receive backing from an organisation that recognises the importance of green infrastructure and InfraGreen technologies,” says David Keegan, CEO of DataQube Global. “Our goal has always been to develop a sustainable solution to support the data centre industry in its drive to reduce C02 targets in line with CSR policies. Big tech firms may well be transitioning from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources but their overall energy consumption is still growing. This needs to be addressed.” DataQube’s optimal PUE advantages, together with its compact design, lightweight structure and sterile operational environment facilitate its easy deployment in a wide range of internal and external locations at the edge of the network where the installation of traditional infrastructures is neither feasible nor financially viable. n Atlas VPN adds support for next- generation WireGuard protocol Atlas VPN has introduced support for the state of the art WireGuard protocol which aims to be a more modern, faster and more secure alternative to existing legacy protocols. The protocol is available to all Atlas VPN users on Windows, Android, Android TV, iOS and macOS apps. WireGuard’s lean code base which provides a low attack surface, modern cryptography and is easy to audit, places less load on VPN servers than older protocols, resulting in higher server performance. This way, WireGuard can offer lower latency and reach higher speeds for a faster streaming, gaming and overall browsing experience. “WireGuard is one of the fastest and most secure VPN protocols available right now. Therefore, we wanted to make it available for Atlas VPN users. It works seamlessly with all Atlas VPN features and further enhances the VPN’s performance,” says Ruta Cizinauskaite, the PR Manager at Atlas VPN. Up until now, Atlas VPN employed IPSec/IKEv2 — a widely trusted and accepted VPN protocol. However, with the introduction of WireGuard, VPN users can choose from several protocols to find the one that best meets their needs. Recently, Atlas VPN also announced the release of its data breach tracking tool Data Breach Monitor, malware, ads, and third-party tracker blocking tool Tracker Blocker, as well as SafeSwap feature, which enables users to have multiple rotating IP addresses by connecting to a single server. n Exa Infrastructure and Islalink announce agreement for Ionian cable system EXA Infrastructure, dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, and Islalink, a neutral fibre infrastructure operator specialising in submarine cables, have announced a partnership whereby EXA will become the key landing and terrestrial services partner in Italy and anchor tenant in IONIAN. Islalink is building IONIAN, a 24 fibre pair ultra-low-loss fibre optic cable across the Ionian Sea from Crotone in southern Italy to Preveza in Greece, offering an alternative to the existing ageing sub-sea cables in the region. Crotone is a new and diverse landing location offering faster and more resilient network links. IONIAN has Contract In Force and is due to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2022. EXA Infrastructure will offer Islalink a fibre route between Crotone and the Italian data centre hubs of Milan and Rome. It will also construct the beach manhole and front- haul ducts in Crotone, and provide maintenance services for the Cable Landing Station (CLS). EXA Infrastructure will also be a main anchor customer on the new cable, to further strengthen the most robust and reliable network infrastructure connecting the two countries, and will also construct a new 345-kilometre high fibre-count G.652D cable between its existing network in Bari and Crotone, to ensure that the quality of the IONIAN fibre cable can be matched by that of the terrestrial backhaul. Data growth has surged in the region, particularly driven by hyperscalers needing capacity for social media applications and cloud computing services. To date, businesses wanting long haul data connectivity in the region have to either use sub-sea cables that are around 20 years old or terrestrial routes via Bulgaria and the Balkans. “Our partnership with Islalink forms the first phase of our expansion with a high-quality, geographically-differentiated route. We continuously invest in network expansion where our customers need it most. The ability to offer much greater and more robust sub-sea capacity is a huge step forward for our customers in the infrastructure capability we can deliver in south-eastern Europe,” said Martijn Blanken, CEO of EXA Infrastructure. “IONIAN will offer far greater capacity than existing sub-sea routes, and for EXA Infrastructure forms part of our wider plan not only to serve the growing demand of services between the two countries, but also improving connectivity to the Balkan region and the high-growth Turkish market, as well as surrounding Middle Eastern nations,” he said. Esther Garcés, CEO of Islalink, stated: “Islalink has taken a major step in its international expansion by building IONIAN, the most advanced fibre route directly connecting Athens and Thessaloniki with Milan and Rome. With our landing infrastructure in Crotone, designed to accommodate multiple cables, Crotone becomes an alternative and secure landing point in south Italy. Having EXA Infrastructure as a partner is key for the project: its strong presence in Italy, with a nation- wide fibre network, its extensive pan-European network infrastructure footprint and its expertise in the deployment of terrestrial infrastructure for submarine cables give us a lot of confidence in such a challenging endeavour.” n www.networkseuropemagazine.com NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 06Proximity expands with Birmingham edge data centre Proximity Data Centres has announced the further expansion of its edge data centre footprint with the opening of a new site in Birmingham. Situated in central Birmingham and close to the new HS2 rail station and BBC campus, the facility is strategically located for all the major fibre networks traversing the UK including BT, ITS, Lumen, Virgin and Zayo in addition to various regional fibre providers. This will make Proximity Edge 8 especially attractive to hyperscalers, CDNs and gaming providers looking for both high quality and super- connected edge colocation facilities. Enterprises in the region will also be very well served by this outstanding facility. Built and accredited to The Uptime Institute Tier 3 specifications, the secure and resilient 63,055sqft facility has capacity for up to 2000 racks in three separate data halls. There is currently 6MW of IT power available with the potential to increase this to 12MW. “Located midway between London and Manchester, our new Birmingham edge colocation facility will serve as an ideal low latency communications hub for organisations such as hyperscalers, CDNs and gaming providers looking to bring data, services and content closer to users around the country - while also optimising data transit efficiencies and costs,” said John Hall, Managing Director, Colocation at Proximity Data Centres. He added: “Businesses and managed cloud providers within the Birmingham conurbation will also benefit from the wide choice of connectivity available from both major carriers as well as local connectivity providers. Proximity Edge 8 will help them increase competitive advantage with low latency connections and high speed bandwidth to ensure their data and applications are always highly responsive to users.” Proximity Edge 8 in Birmingham joins Proximity’s expanding UK network of interconnected regional edge data centres which also includes sites in Bridgend, Swindon, Nottingham, Rugby, Liverpool, Chester Gates and Wakefield. The company expects to have 20 sites available within the next 12 months, all in close proximity to major conurbation areas. n NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com 07 £15M acquisition of a data centre and landing station D9 has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a data centre asset and subsea fibre landing station, SeaEdge UK1, on the UK’s largest data centre campus in Newcastle for a purchase price of £15 million. The asset forms part of the Company’s pipeline identified in the IPO prospectus and delivers on the Company’s landing station data centre strategy. The asset is occupied and operated by data centre operator, Stellium Data Centers Limited, via a 25-year lease with over 24 years remaining. The rent received under the lease will deliver an attractive yield to D9 and is subject to annual, upward-only inflation-linked rent reviews. SeaEdge UK1 is the UK’s only landing point for the new North Sea Connect cable, part of the advanced North Atlantic Loop fibre optic cable network, which hosts AEC-1 and AEC-2, both owned and operated by D9’s cornerstone subsea fibre platform, Aqua Comms. The presence of Aqua Comms and its knowledge of the asset will deliver synergies for the wider portfolio and reaffirms D9’s wider strategy of bridging the connectivity divide (in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 9), leveraging D9’s subsea fibre platform to build a vertically integrated portfolio of digital infrastructure investments. SeaEdge UK1 is also the landing station for the NO-UK subsea cable, connecting Altibox Carrier’s Norwegian network to the North East of England, and onwards. In addition to being a subsea landing station, the data centre hosts several Tier 1 carriers and a leading technology company. Commenting on the SeaEdge UK1 transaction, Thor Johnsen, Head of Digital Infrastructure at Triple Point, said: “Data centres form a key part of the digital infrastructure backbone. We are pleased to support Stellium through our ownership of the SeaEdge UK1 asset. Stellium offers customers robust transatlantic and intra-Europe connectivity, as well as access to the Newcastle Internet Exchange (NCL-IX). This level of connectivity is key in delivering on D9’s strategic ambition and bridging the connectivity divide. “We are thrilled to add SeaEdge UK1 to the growing D9 portfolio and look forward to updating investors on further opportunities in due course." n SmartZone G5 Security Handle offers secure dual authentication Panduit has launched the SmartZone G5 Security Handle for ITE cabinets which is designed to meet the most rigorous security challenges, both physical and digital, in today’s data centre environments. The multi-functional smart handle offers multiple configurations with and without a keypad to compliment users’ operational requirements. The integrated keypad version enables dual authentication by allowing for a card swipe and pin-code combination to access the cabinet. The G5 Security Handle seamlessly mates with most data centre cabinets and has the capability to read both low frequency (125kHz) and high frequency (13.5MHz) cards. The handle has been designed to be future compliant with regulations required within this environment and is also GDPR ready, HIPAA ready and PCI-DSS ready to ensure that this design meets data centres’ and users’ cabinet security needs. It can support 200 authorised users and features an integral humidity sensor allowing humidity sensing to be optimally placed near the centre of the cabinet. The Status LED provides visual indication of the handle and security status. The Beacon LED is a visual indicator to provide status of the health of the cabinet at-a-glance. The beacon will flash yellow when the cabinet is in a minor alarm or flash red when the cabinet has a critical alarm. Expanding the capabilities of the Panduit SmartZone software, the G5 Security Handle offers an integrated humidity sensor and specially designed environmental and door sensors. This allows data capture and consolidation which is utilised for real-time monitoring management and automated documentation. The SmartZone G5 Security Handle connects directly to Panduit G5 iPDU and transmits real-time information enabling control and management of cabinet access either directly through the on-board web interface or via SmartZone Cloud Software. nPaessler launches new sensors to monitor server system health Paessler has announced that it has added capabilities to its PRTG Network Monitor. The launch of new sensors will help organisations monitor system health and virtual disk health. As a result, Paessler’s PRTG can also now take data from the Redfish System Health sensor and provide insights into the overall system status of server equipment and the status of various components such as power supplies or PCIe devices. The Redfish Virtual Disk sensor, which monitors the virtual disks of Redfish-capable servers and shows their capacity and status, has also been added to PRTG’s capabilities. Rather than having to search for monitoring data by server make, the Redfish protocol allows you to search right across the server estate. Businesses no longer have to monitor a number of different channels but have information about server health all in one place. As a result, monitoring is easy to develop and evolve without the in-depth technical knowledge required with previous APIs. It can also be scaled to meet modern data centre needs, for example, monitoring the move from physical to cloud. It is also easy to implement and as it is model oriented and it can express the relationships between different components. As such, it is also easy for humans to read – making it a simple process for operating IT infrastructures. n www.networkseuropemagazine.com 08 NEWS IN BRIEF Nebulon announces 2-node smartEdge for distributed edge deployments Nebulon has announced the availability of a 2-node Nebulon smartEdge solution for distributed edge deployments. The 2-node solution reduces infrastructure costs by 33% and also provides enterprises with a smaller entry point into smartInfrastructure for test and development deployments or other projects that may start small and grow. “By 2025 more than 50% of enterprise-managed data will be created and processed outside the data centre or cloud,” according to Gartner. Telcos with 5G towers, retailers, warehouses, medical clinics and cloud service providers with edge services are driving this trend, but challenges with traditional 3-tier architectures and hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) limit enterprises from fully meeting their edge data centre requirements. One such challenge is the limited real estate available for infrastructure at the edge which often has space for no more than two servers. Most HCI solutions require a minimum of three nodes and a network switch. There are HCI vendors that advertise a 2-node solution but they require the customer to purchase a network switch, set up a quorum witness (QW) on another customer- provided server or instance in the cloud and then maintain it. The Nebulon smartEdge solution with 2-node cluster configuration support eliminates the need for the customer to set up and maintain a third server quorum witness. Instead, Nebulon manages a single quorum witness for all edge deployment sites in the Nebulon cloud, Nebulon ON. By providing the quorum witness as a service in Nebulon ON, administrative tasks related to hosting and maintaining the quorum witness are eliminated. Eliminating the third node while still providing a highly available configuration also equates to significant cost savings, as one-third fewer server and software licenses are needed across hundreds or even thousands of edge locations. Nebulon also announced support for switchless clusters for 2-node deployments, resulting in additional density and cost savings. “The cloud is expanding. No longer is it a set of remote services running only in a public cloud data centre. The cloud is extending on-premises to both enterprise and edge data centres,” said David Vellante, Chief Analyst at Wikibon. “Nebulon’s 2-server edge solution leverages public cloud infrastructure combined with the company’s innovative API-centric management and automation, making it an ideal solution for organisations that want a modern, cloud-simple experience for edge data centres.” The Nebulon 2-node solution is not only ideal for distributed edge deployments, but it also provides a lower entry point for new cost-constrained ones. The solution is an affordable, high-availability alternative for enterprises looking to stretch the cluster across two racks for protection against partner node, power and top-of- rack (ToR) switch failures. n Semtech announces new tool suite enabling dense deployments and satellite connectivity for LoRa Semtech Corporation has announced the release of a software upgrade for LoRa integrated circuits (IC) and gateways that significantly increases network capacity, robustness to interference and enables a low power and reliable direct data link from sensors to satellites. The software enhancement can be leveraged by second generation LoRa ICs to enable the LoRaWAN standard new data rate, Long Range Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (LR- FHSS), recently ratified by the LoRa Alliance. “As smart cities continue to proliferate globally, the new capability is a step for Semtech’s LoRa platform toward massive Internet of Things (IoT) deployments in densely populated areas,” said Marc Pégulu, Vice President of IoT product marketing for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “In addition, the enablement of direct IoT to satellite services revolutionises the industry with affordable ubiquitous connectivity for remote areas, ultimately creating a smarter and more secure planet.” The new suite of tools will be specifically enabled on Semtech’s LoRa transceivers: SX1261, SX1262, LoRa Edge platform and the V2.1 gateway reference design. For LoRaWAN networks where V2.1 gateways are deployed, operators can enable the new capability with a simple gateway firmware upgrade. In addition to expanded capacity, LoRaWAN networks will be more robust in harsh radio conditions (deep indoor) and in some regions will offer the possibility to increase terrestrial coverage. nDalrada Corporation, through its subsidiary Dalrada Precision, has announced that the Company is collaborating with Lenovo for its computing power and with Iceotope to provide a 360º solution to overcome environmental concerns, high energy and cost issues of water consumption with data centres and uses, including cryptocurrency mining. Heat recovery options are a new opportunity for data centres. Exporting excess high-grade "heat" to district heating networks creates an additional income stream with optimised technology engineered for cooling data centres. LikidoAD absorption chillers result in ultra-low power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratios. The Likido-Lenovo-Iceotope collaboration offers the next generation of low-carbon, HFC-free, ultra-low PUE, fully-encapsulated liquid-cooled rack-mounted servers with heat recovery, for district heating and other heating applications. A typical university data centre uses approximately 600-750kW/hr of cooling. This energy is lost to the atmosphere in most data centres as waste heat without recovery. For AI and Edge computing applications, the combined technology is a game-changing solution, with the capacity to cool in silence, the highest power GPUs and extreme rack densities, in the smallest space possible, without the need for large and costly purpose-built buildings with cold and hot aisles. The Likido-Lenovo-Iceotope 360º approach to providing server cooling with high-grade heat recovery saves data centre operators on two of their most expensive operational costs: energy and water consumption. Likido-Lenovo-Iceotope systems are adaptable to existing Lenovo air-cooled servers by using the Iceotope Ku:l liquid-cooled system. Precision delivery of dielectric coolant maximises the cooling directly to the hotspots meaning no front-to-back air cooling, no bottom-to-top immersion constraints and no physical space wasted. The other significant advantage is each liquid-cooled chassis is 100% sealed to isolate and protect the IT from the surrounding atmosphere. The sealed chassis creates a controlled environment impervious to dust, gases and humidity. Likido heat pumps use carbon dioxide as the refrigerant fluid, also in a closed system. The cooling for the server racks is via a secondary heat transfer fluid, usually water or glycol. Recovered heat from servers is transported directly into the heating system, usually by water. The powerful combination of Iceotope and Likido means that data centres can be located anywhere - even in the harshest IT environments. Mining or offshore locations in dusty or desert environments often operate without considering ambient air temperatures or renewable energy sources such as solar PV. Brian Bonar, Chairman and CEO of Dalrada, states, "We are very excited to collaborate with leading companies like Lenovo and Iceotope. This partnership allows Dalrada to provide a liquid-cooled solution that combines the benefits of LikidoONE's robust system cost-savings, increased performance and output. A bonus is that the heat recovery and modular design is customisable, as a solution for a multitude of applications." The new partnership with Lenovo and Iceotope authorises Dalrada to market and sell the combined system in the US and Puerto Rico. n Dalrada Corporation collaborates with Lenovo and Iceotope NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 09 on365 becomes the first Schneider Electric dual-partner in UK Schneider Electric has named on365 as its first dual- partner in the UK. The organisation has been a long- standing Schneider Electric Secure-Power partner for 23 years, now joining the growing list of its EcoXpert Power Services Partners. on365 is an independent specialist provider of energy efficient physical infrastructure and data centre services for public sector, SME and corporate customers across the UK and Europe. It provides a range of technical services for server rooms, edge closets, branch offices and data centres across the physical infrastructure. The company specialises in f-gases and cooling services – a key area for sustainability improvements. This dual partnership puts on365 in a unique position of being able to offer a holistic set of solutions and services across customers’ entire electrical power infrastructure. As Schneider Electric’s biggest service partner to date, on365 has access to the resources and relationships to meet the needs of large facilities customers like major hospitals, life sciences hubs and universities. Its long-standing position as a Secure-Power Elite partner meant on365 already had a trusted relationship with Schneider Electric in the UK. Becoming a dual partner is the next step in this relationship, promoting the company across a wider range of segments. “Our clients are increasingly looking for well-informed advice that considers their entire infrastructure, to boost efficiency, from people who truly understand their business,” said Colin Richardson from on365. “The wealth of experience within on365, coupled with our recognition as a trusted Schneider Electric partner really gives us a unique edge. With this new dual-partnership, customers can have even more faith in us – they can trust that we have the resources and relationships to offer them the best possible solutions, whilst remaining local enough to understand their individual needs and concerns.” David Pownall, VP Services at Schneider Electric UK&I, commented: “We are incredibly pleased to see on365 become our first dual service partner. The team at on365 is a stellar example of how combining local expertise with Schneider’s global reach can unlock new efficiencies, innovations and opportunities for partners and their customers. Their goals of providing a truly holistic view of customers’ electrical infrastructure and using this to meet their sustainability and efficiency goals align so closely to those of Schneider Electric. This dual-partnership truly shows the rare and unique capabilities on365 possesses, and the ways Schneider Electric can help take our partners to the next level.” n If you have news to share, contact: editor@networkseuropemagazine.comNext >