NETWORKS EUROPE The magazine for network and data centre professionals May/June 2022 THE EUROPEAN DATA CENTRE BOOM THE EVOLUTION OF UPS TECHNOLOGY MIGRATING AWAY FROM LEGACY DATA ARCHITECTURES BRINGING NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO UNEXPLORED MARKETS AN UNINTERRUPTIBLE SUCCESS STORY HOW CAN UK BUSINESSES MOVE TO THE LAKEHOUSE? THE REAL EMBODIED CARBON COST OF A DATA CENTRE HOW TO FAST-TRACK THE DATA CENTRE SPECIFICATION PROCESS WHY NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT ON THE DATA CENTRE SKILLS GAP IN THIS ISSUE:05 Foreword 06 News The news desk highlights some of the latest industry stories. 16 The real embodied carbon cost of a data centre Ed Ansett, Founder and Chairman of i3 Solutions Group looks at a new white paper that presents the case for taking a Whole Life Carbon approach when assessing data centre carbon impact. 18 An introspective look at carbon reductions Being a sustainable company means taking steps to produce products with minimum waste and maximum recyclability. Michiel Panders, R&M General Manager Europe takes a look at the elements of our business that affect CO2 emissions. 22 The European data centre boom: bringing new opportunities to unexplored markets Rob McKernan, SVP Secure Power Europe, Schneider Electric - The digital transformation is in full flight, and data centres are at the heart of this transformation. It is predicted that by the year 2025, we will be witnessing an astonishing five-fold growth in the generation of global data. 26 Migrating away from legacy data architectures: how can UK businesses move to the lakehouse? Digital transformation has been accelerated in recent years, with the shift to hybrid working and the rise in demand for digital services across all industries acting as a trigger point. Toby Balfre, VP Field Engineering, EMEA, Databricks, looks at why, for many, holding onto legacy architectures is no longer a viable option. CONTENTS www.networkseuropemagazine.com 02 182634 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 Foster30 How IoT connectivity is reaching new heights Nick Sacke, Head of IoT solutions at Comms365 explains how to navigate the maze of options to optimise and future proof your cellular IoT investments. 34 How will data centre innovations materially affect healthcare experiences? Sustainability and our day-to-day healthcare are becoming increasingly intertwined. Innovations in AI, digital infrastructure, and data security are determining the quality of our healthcare service. Pascal Holt, Director of Marketing at Iceotope asks, how is it changing? 38 The evolution of UPS technology – an uninterruptible success story Janne Paananen, Technology Manager, Large Systems Group, Eaton Power Quality Europe, Middle East and Africa Region, discusses uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) as a crucial piece of technology. 42 Resistance unbalance measurements for PoE testing When Power over Ethernet (PoE) was first introduced, it is doubtful that the creators could have imagined how far the technology would be pushed in terms of the amount of power it would supply. Dan Barrera, Global Product Manager, TREND Networks discusses. 46 How to fast-track the data centre specification process Andy Connor, Channel Director EMEA, Subzero Engineering looks at how today, demands for data centre performance, reliability and sustainability are pushing the boundaries of physical infrastructure designs and with many businesses undertaking complex modernisation strategies, the need to simplify the design and specification process has become ever more pressing. 50 From bedroom to enterprise – how data centres are supporting the gaming industry The sector has a long history of creative, independent minds. Alex Breary, Head of Marketing, Custodian Data Centres looks at why this level of creativity should not be limited by access to data and application availability, the need for on-demand servers and storage, or the need for superfast, low-latency connectivity. 54 Why now is the time to act on the data centre skills gap Mike Hook, Executive Director, LMG looks at why now is the time to act on the data centre skills gap. We often talk about the data centre skills shortage as if it’s an industry-wide problem, but the reality is that its consequences are far-reaching. 58 Four trending factors driving global industrial ethernet market expansion Naman Shrivastava at Global Market Insights looks at the rising necessity for establishing strong and efficient communication infrastructures within an enterprise, meaning the global industrial ethernet industry is slated to witness notable expansion in the forthcoming years. 60 Movers and Shakers We take a quick look at some of the industry's movers and shakers, including new appointments, promotions and personnel changes. 545842 www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com CONTENTS 03© 2022 TREND Networks Limited. All Rights Reserved. Depend On Us For a 20 minute demo please call +44 (0)1925 428 380 or email uk.sales@trend-networks.com For more information please visit www.trend-networks.com www.trend-networks.com When you need equipment you can depend on, we’ll be there. The new LanTEK IV-S Cable Certifier is now available in a range of copper and fibre bundles. BUNDLE 3 LanTEK IV-S 500MHz Cable Certifier, FiberTEK IV Tier 1 Adapters, 1 Year Sapphire Care Plan and Accessories SAVE £3,618 Bundle Code: LT4-500FS Sapphire CARE PLAN BUNDLE 4 LanTEK IV-S 3000MHz Cable Certifier, FiberTEK IV Tier 1 Adapters, 1 Year Sapphire Care Plan and Accessories SAVE £3,988 Bundle Code: LT4-3000FS Sapphire CARE PLAN BUNDLE 5 LanTEK IV-S 500MHz Cable Certifier, FiberTEK IV Tier 1 Adapters, FiberMASTER Quad OTDR, 1 Year Sapphire Care Plan and Accessories SAVE £5,268 Bundle Code: LT4-500FOS Sapphire CARE PLAN BUNDLE 6 LanTEK IV-S 3000MHz Cable Certifier, FiberTEK IV Tier 1 Adapters, FiberMASTER Quad OTDR, 1 Year Sapphire Care Plan and Accessories SAVE £5,608 Bundle Code: LT4-3000FOS Sapphire CARE PLAN Discount Code: FiberTEK2020 SAVE £628 Bundle Code: LT4-500S Sapphire CARE PLAN BUNDLE 1 LanTEK IV-S 500MHz Cable Certifier and 1 Year Sapphire Care Plan SAVE £698 Bundle Code: LT4-3000S Sapphire CARE PLAN BUNDLE 2 LanTEK IV-S 3000MHz Cable Certifier and 1 Year Sapphire Care PlanWelcome to Networks Europe Today's data centres may be power-hungry but there are plenty of people, organisations and companies that are working hard to reduce the centre's carbon impact. In this issue, we look at the real embodied carbon cost of a data centre and the option for a Whole Life Carbon approach when assessing data centres and the CO2 emissions elements of our business. Current demands for data centre performance, reliability, and sustainability are pushing the boundaries of physical infrastructure designs and we also consider how to fast-track the data centre specification process. Elsewhere in this issue, we look at digital transformation and the prediction that by the end of 2025 we could be witnessing a five-fold growth in the generation of global data. Is the European data centre boom bringing new opportunities to unexplored markets? We also look at why, for many, holding onto legacy architectures is no longer a viable option, how data centre innovations could materially affect healthcare experiences, uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) as a crucial piece of technology, and resistance unbalance measurements for PoE testing. In addition, we talk about the data centre skills shortage as if it’s an industry-wide problem, but the reality is that its consequences are far-reaching. Our article on why now is the time to act on the data centre skills gap looks at the options available. We also look at the gaming sector, which has a long history of producing creative, independent minds. Why should this level of creativity be limited by access to data and application availability, the need for on-demand servers and storage, or for superfast, low-latency connectivity? On top of this, we still have all our news items which keep flooding in, and our movers and shakers section which can be found on the magazine's final pages. Our next issue will cover the subjects of smart buildings, heat recovery and training and development within the data centre industry. If you would like to contribute a feature article our editorial deadline is 16th July. We look forward to hearing from you. Laura Vallis Editor Networks Europe magazine FOREWORD www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com 05Zayo Increases Fibre Presence at Proximity’s UK Edge Colocation Data Centres Proximity has announced the completion of Zayo’s high-capacity dark fibre network at its edge colocation data centre in Chester Gates near Manchester. Additionally, Zayo is nearing the completion of a new dark fibre network connection at Proximity’s Nottingham edge data centre. Combined with the existing Zayo connection at the Birmingham facility acquired earlier this year, Proximity now offers customers, carriers and service providers three strategic Zayo direct points of presence (PoP). Zayo’s dark fibre connection to Proximity Edge 4 at Chester Gates allows service providers to offer a range of low-latency services to businesses located in the Northwest of England - including a growing number of applications developers and content delivery providers (CDNs) - looking to move data and content closer to users. Services offered by Zayo will include dark fibre, Ethernet, wavelengths and IP. Additionally, the company is provisioning low latency circuits from Proximity Edge 4 to data centre hubs in Manchester, Dublin and the US, allowing their customers increased resilience when connecting to cloud services. “We are delighted that Zayo is continuing to increase its points of presence across our expanding footprint of regional UK edge data centres,” said John Hall, Managing Director – Colocation, Proximity Data Centres. “This is in line with our strategy of enabling Proximity’s sites to function as secure interconnected regional communications hubs for the benefit of our customers, offering the widest availability of diverse high-speed, low-latency fibre connections to carriers, ISPs and cloud providers.” He added: “Together with Zayo, we will be offering ultra-low latency cloud on ramp services to all major public cloud providers.” Andrew Tipping, Business Development for UK, Zayo Europe said: “Proximity’s edge data centres are ideal points of presence for Zayo, enabling us to address the growing demand from businesses and service providers for more network capacity in key regional areas. Connecting to Proximity’s strategic hubs in major UK conurbations allows us to further satisfy their latency, bandwidth and backhaul requirements.” DataQube (Global) Ltd to Supply Edge Centres With 20 Edge Data Centre Modules for Deployment in the US DataQube has actively supported Edge Centres with its US expansion plans. The Australian firm has placed an order for 20 DataQube pods to provide an edge data centre offering, with further orders expected over the forthcoming months. DataQube’s unique solution will be integral to Edge Centres’ ambitious rollout plans by enabling the company to deploy multiple edge data centre and colocation facilities quickly and at scale. DataQube has been selected as the preferred solution because of its short deployment times, its compelling price point, and its green credentials. DataQube’s breakthrough design architecture removes the need for expensive property refurbishments to accommodate specialist HPC and associated cooling equipment. All IT, storage and power infrastructure is housed within secure and sterile units that satisfy all current building regulations and LEED standards. As such, DataQube installs can be fully operational within a nine month timeframe and for 50% less upfront investment compared to conventional data centre build projects. The outer and inner structures of DataQube’s novel offering are manufactured from lightweight materials for portability and easy assembly purposes. The units are also supplied flatpack, permitting transportation in bulk. Moreover, the solution’s person-free layout enables optimal use of IT, thus reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions by over 50% because the energy transfer is dedicated solely to powering computers. This equates to a PUE of less than 1.05, the lowest in the industry. Extreme Progresses Patient Care and Customer Experiences with High-Performance, Secure WiFi 6E Solutions Extreme Networks has announced that customers are reaping significant technical and operational benefits with the deployment of WiFi 6E. Henry Ford Health System in the US and Crowne Plaza Antwerp Hotel in Belgium are deploying Extreme WiFi 6E access points to provide secure, high-capacity and high-speed connectivity across their organisations, creating a foundation to roll out innovative customer and patient experiences. Extreme also expanded its WiFi 6E portfolio with the addition of the AP5010. Henry Ford Health operates 140 medical centres and seven specialised medical facilities across Michigan. Since March 2020, the organisation has relied increasingly on telehealth and real-time communications with patients, creating an increased demand for a high-performing, high-capacity network. Henry Ford Health expects to deploy Extreme WiFi 6E access points across all its facilities by the end of 2022. www.networkseuropemagazine.com NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 06Fluke Develops New European HQ in Eindhoven With Customer Experience at its Heart Fluke has announced the launch of its new European Headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands, which includes a 400sqm customer experience centre. For the first time, customers will not only be able to see Fluke’s range of world-class tools, but experience using them in a variety of real-world applications. It has been described by Fluke Strategic Support and Training Manager, Eric van Riet, as a dream come true. “What we wanted was for customers to experience our tools in an environment as close to reality as possible to show where and how our products are used, and provide the opportunity to deliver training,” he said. The individual environments in which each of Fluke’s tools is used have been reimagined in the heart of the building. From miniaturised electrical substations to small scale factories, a scene has been set for each. “The best way to offer training is to do so in a hands-on environment such as this. If customers are unable to attend in person, we can make demonstration videos to show the best of our equipment. It’s working, our customers love it,” said van Riet. The centre was developed out of a passion for customers to be empowered to make the best use of Fluke products and offers an exceptional training environment. The aim of the centre is to create user experiences, a first impression for customers through a showcase of Fluke products, to offer an environment to use and demonstrate the products and to offer a first-class training facility. Neustar Security Services’ UltraDNS Integrates Terraform for Streamlined, Automated DNS Management Neustar Security Services has launched an integration with Terraform, an open-source infrastructure-as-code software tool created by HashiCorp. The new integration, UltraDNS Terraform Provider, enables DevOps teams to provision DNS changes when applications are deployed to realise enhanced productivity during that deployment. Integrating UltraDNS into the Terraform ecosystem enhances Neustar Security Services’ capability to deliver a platform that provides speed, stability and extensibility when managing DNS. The new integration supports DNS standard and advanced records, including features such as SiteBacker, Simple Monitor/Failover, Simple Load Balancing and Traffic Controller. Available to DevOps teams on the Terraform registry, UltraDNS Terraform Provider includes four categories, 11 resources, 11 data sources, 94 self-check modules and 37 help files. “As IT infrastructure has grown increasingly complex, so too has the task of managing DNS strategy,” said Enrique Somoza, Director of Product Management with Neustar Security Services. “UltraDNS’s integration with Terraform enhances our customers’ velocity to accurately deploy, manage and automate DNS updates across complex cloud environments.” The integration will allow Neustar Security Services to enable its customers’ application of Terraform across different use cases and environments. Schneider Electric Drives Data Centre Sustainability with Uniflair Cooling Innovation Schneider Electric has announced its new range of Uniflair Chillers with inverter screw compressors for large data centres, which provide the efficiency, precision and configurability to adapt to current and future data centre cooling challenges. The air-cooled and free cooling extra-large chillers provide increased cooling capacity and lower power consumption for high energy efficiency in all environmental conditions. Uniflair Chillers with screw compressors are one of the first solutions to leverage low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. “The latest Uniflair Chiller air cooler is designed end-to-end with sustainability in mind and provides enterprises with outstanding energy efficiencies and reliability, even in challenging conditions. With the use of green refrigerants, combined with decreased power consumption, this offering emphasises Schneider’s dedication to purposeful innovation and sustainability while empowering customers with forward- looking adaptability,” said Pankaj Pathak, Director Cooling, Secure Power, Schneider Electric. Schneider’s latest 300-2200kW Uniflair Chillers introduce major improvements to high efficiency and reliable cooling for data centre applications and enhance the current platform with new sizes and configurations. NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com 07 Share your news! Send your press releases or announcements to: editor@networkseuropemagazine.comCentiel Expands Swiss Manufacturing Facility Centiel has announced its plans to expand its manufacturing facility further, to support continued growth in demand for Centiel's existing product family and to accommodate a new production line. Centiel is a Swiss-based technology company designing, manufacturing and delivering power protection products for critical facilities worldwide. The Company’s range of class-leading, energy-efficient, UPS systems offers the highest availability and reliability developed by the innovators of the industry’s first transformerless UPS and the world’s first three-phase modular UPS. Centiel's network of channel partners and subsidiaries is also growing, providing class-leading power protection products worldwide. Filippo Marbach, founder of Centiel SA confirms: “The continued and rapid rise in data use has meant more data centres are being developed and they all need quality, critical power protection provision. We originally took over our current factory based in Lugano, Switzerland in 2018, as we expanded and have now extended its capacity to meet the increased global demand for our leading UPS products. “We have also increased our sales, technical support and operational teams over the past few years and therefore added to the office space to accommodate our larger team. The factory which also incorporates Centiel SA’s global headquarters, houses our R&D, production, final test, sales and marketing, logistics and finance departments, in addition to quality control of all Centiel's UPS products. “It is an exciting time in the development of the Centiel brand across the globe and we look forward to continuing to lead the world in the development of critical power protection equipment for the datacentre industry and beyond.” Digital 9 has announced that it has signed a sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of Ficolo for a total consideration of €135 million (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is expected to complete later this year following customary regulatory approval. Ficolo is a leading Finnish data centre and cloud services platform. Its ultra-modern infrastructure, spread across three campuses, is industry-leading in terms of energy efficiency and environmental credentials, using 100% renewable power and distributing surplus heat to district heating networks. The Acquisition builds upon D9's strong presence in the Nordic data centre market. It delivers on D9's environmentally sustainable data centre strategy which focuses on shifting the energy-intensive processing of growing data sets to the Nordics to deliver green data centre solutions in a geographically optimal environment. D9 expects material synergies through integrating Ficolo into its existing portfolio. Jack Waters, Chair of Digital 9, commented: "Our data centre strategy is focused on identifying strategic locations that are suitable, based on their level of connectivity and access to renewable energy. The acquisition of Ficolo, with its significant expansion potential, is another important step in D9's ambition to decarbonise the data centre industry. Ficolo adds to our portfolio of Nordic data centres and represents some of the cleanest, lowest carbon footprint data centres globally." Thor Johnsen, Head of Digital Infrastructure at Triple Point Investment Management LLP, commented: "Together with Ficolo, D9 now how has one of the premier pan-European authentically green data-centre portfolios, benefiting from the less volatile, less carbon- intensive green energy supplies of the Nordics. Transitioning data centre services to our green data centre portfolio is not just a question of improving sustainability, but also benefiting from lower cost and less volatile power prices. The combined portfolio's long track record of high-quality operations across the Nordics provides a significant growth opportunity to continue to invest and monetise capacity to local and international customers." €135 Million Acquisition of Nordic Data Centre and Cloud Services Provider www.networkseuropemagazine.com 08 NEWS IN BRIEF Share your news! Send your press releases or announcements to: editor@networkseuropemagazine.comTelehouse has announced that Hyve has chosen Telehouse as one of its colocation partners to help meet growing sustainability demands. With rich connectivity delivered through a fully secure, energy-efficient and power redundant data centre, Hyve can now realise its ambitions of providing customers with long-term sustainable solutions and easily scale for future growth. IT and cloud providers are under increasing pressure from organisations to improve sustainability, driven by the outcomes of COP26 and new sustainability disclosure requirements (SDRs) introduced in 2021. By housing IT infrastructure in Telehouse’s London Dockland’s data centre campus, the most connected campus in Europe, Hyve aims to improve the sustainability of its mission-critical cloud-managed security and dedicated hosting services, while still delivering the fast, reliable and flexible service that customers expect. Hyve has experienced rapid growth over the past two years, recently featuring in the 22nd annual Sunday Times Profit Track ‘Ones to Watch’ supplement. With a fast-growing customer base and plans to accommodate future expansion, the company needed a data centre partner with global site diversity, the ability to scale quickly when needed, and maximum levels of security to ensure the safety of customers and data. Telehouse was the colocation provider of choice due to its unrivalled access to 900+ connectivity partners and strong green credentials. All Telehouse London data centres are powered by 100% renewable energy procured from certified wind, solar, biomass and hydro generators and are compliant with GHG Protocol Scope 2. Telehouse also complies with international ISO standards in Environment and Energy Management, and actively participates in voluntary environmental standards, regulations and frameworks, with the company considered an ultra-small emitter under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. Hyve Colocates at Telehouse to Meet Increased Demand for Sustainable IT Infrastructure With more intermittent renewable energy generation on the world’s power networks, and fossil fuel supplies experiencing major disruptions, distributed power reserves are becoming increasingly important to maintain grid stability and keep the power on 24/7. To support this transition, ABB has launched PowerExchanger, an innovative feature for its UPS products, which allows battery reserves to provide ancillary services to the grid, reducing costly downtime and cutting energy and operating costs. UPS equipment is used to provide back-up power in the case of a grid supply failure and it can also eliminate brownouts, over-voltages and electrical noise. The UPS’ back-up power is drawn from its energy storage capacity, which often goes unused. With PowerExchanger fitted to new or existing ABB UPS systems, these batteries can be used to help the grid respond quickly to unexpected imbalances between power generation and demand, to reduce costly outages. By using PowerExchanger to join markets for grid ancillary services, for example, Fast Frequency Response (FRF), operators can now generate a new revenue stream, which lowers the cost of operating this capital-intensive equipment. Ideal for Low and Medium Voltage data centres, PowerExchanger ensures a minimum energy reserve is retained by the UPS battery, so in the event of a complete grid outage, the critical load will always be protected. PowerExchanger can also deliver additional financial and performance benefits, thanks to peak shaving. When peak-time energy comes at a premium, PowerExchanger enables on-site UPS energy reserves to cover consumption peaks and keep costs low. “Against the global backdrop of rising energy prices and supply uncertainty, our customers are under increasing pressure to optimise the use of installed assets and improve efficiencies – all while supporting the transition to renewable energy,” said Paolo Catapane, UPS Product Manager for ABB. “A powerful way to do this is to harness the untapped potential of the energy storage held within a UPS, which is what our new PowerExchanger can do. It provides demand response functionality, helping to stabilise the grid while generating a healthy revenue for operators and lowering operating costs, making it ideal for use in mission-critical facilities such as data centres.” PowerExchanger Integrates Renewables and Stabilises the Grid to Keep the Power on 24/7 NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 09Next >