Rackspace launches green UK data center to support European expansion and growth
New facility custom-designed with strong eco-credentials to help meet growing demand for managed cloud services in UK and Europe
LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Rackspace (NYSE: RAX), the #1 managed cloud company, along with data center and colocation provider Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR) has today unveiled its new UK data center. Based in Crawley, West Sussex, the 130,000 square foot data center will help to meet the growing demand for managed cloud services in the UK and Europe. The facility has been designed with the specific needs of Rackspace customers in mind, encompassing top speeds, availability and energy efficiency.
Delivering outstanding Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.151 compared to the average data center today rating of 1.72, and with a design BREEAM assessment certification of 'Excellent', it is one of the UK's greenest data centers. The new operation is the first data center in the UK to make use of innovative 'indirect outside air' cooling technology on this scale, without mechanical cooling, which means the overhead energy required to operate the data center has been cut by almost 80 percent3. The use of these cutting-edge technologies in the facility is testament to both Digital Realty's and Rackspace's full support of the latest ASHRAE guidelines4, which demonstrates an ability to follow stringent energy and sustainability targets while ensuring high levels of server performance.
The Crawley data center was designed to maximize compatibility to and compliance with Open Compute Project standards. By using Open Compute Project designs, Rackspace has been able to realize outstanding scalability and energy efficiency opportunities in the hardware it deploys. The data center delivers less weight, less waste and less wattage than traditional server designs.
Mark Roenigk, COO, Rackspace commented: "This data center is the epitome of intelligent 21st century infrastructure engineering. We partnered with industry leaders to design and deliver one of the most environmentally friendly and reliable data centers in Europe. Our customers depend on us for their mission critical managed IT services and this new data center furthers our commitment to delivering world class services to those customers."
"This is our tenth global data center and this expansion will enable us to grow with our customers for many years to come. We are proud of the energy efficiency achieved with the innovative design that will become the starting point for boosting the adoption of more efficient technologies in the UK and Europe. We are honored to operate and provide a positive impact in the Crawley community."
The new data center, which is the size of two football fields and holds up to 50,000 physical servers, occupies a 15 acre site. The initial build was constructed in 15 months and took approximately 500,000 man hours. It provides 6MW capacity across two data suites, and will eventually comprise of four data suites with a total 12MW capacity. The site allows for further expansion up to 30MW, and a staggered build approach maximizes year-on-year advances in technology and efficiency gains.
Physical security is provided at multiple layers starting with the physical perimeter fence through to personnel badge readers. There are also biometrics scanners that read the fingerprint of an individual before they are given access to sensitive areas.
A. William Stein, Digital Realty's Chief Executive Officer, commented: "With the addition of the Crawley site, the Digital Realty – Rackspace collaboration, which began in 2011, has been extended to a third continent. We are delighted to see Rackspace establish its new managed cloud data center with such outstanding eco-credentials; in addition, Rackspace's recent expansion in Sydney is accessing clean energy through Digital Realty's Clean StartSM program. With competition growing for facility services across the UK and Europe, we are pleased Rackspace choose Digital Realty as a provider to collaborate on this bespoke facility in Crawley."
Customers around the world will have access to the Crawley data center, although Rackspace anticipates that the majority of requests will come from customers in the UK and Europe.
For more information:
- An infographic with some of the statistics related to the data center is available here
- A short time-lapse video of the build can be seen here
- The technology and design innovation in the Crawley data center can be seen in this gallery of pictures
Green Credentials
The Crawley data center has adopted a blend of the ASHRAE Recommended and Allowable Ranges promoting best performance without impacting server availability. This has enabled Rackspace to remove more typical refrigerant cooling systems. In addition, the air flow from the roof mounted units is delivered to the white space with as little pressure drop as possible in a way that enables high density racks to be deployed. The management of fan energy along with removal of compressors plays a key role in reducing the amount of energy necessary to cool the servers and therefore the PUE rating for the facility.
Rackspace is using an indirect cooling solution that necessitates much lower water consumption than other systems in its class and significantly less water than a traditional cooling tower. The use of rain water from the roof rainwater harvesting system minimizes use of mains water. Rackspace and Digital Realty have achieved an annualized average PUE of 1.15 for the facility, significantly reducing the amount of energy consumed.
The construction centers around a modular approach with the key items of plant including cooling solution, generators, UPS and switchgear as well as transformers constructed off-site and craned into position thereby reducing the time to deploy, improving the standards through factory based quality control and providing a scalable solution. These items of plant are located on the roof, reducing the footprint and therefore the environmental impact of the facility by reducing the amount of ancillary space required to support the data halls.
Connectivity
The Crawley site is connected to the existing Rackspace London metro fiber ring. This links its Slough facility to the main connectivity exchanges in London. The Crawley site is within a few miles of the main European long haul route therefore Rackspace has extended its London metro fiber ring using dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) technology. This enables Rackspace to quickly and easily increase bandwidth capabilities between sites as we add additional provider connectivity and in response to ever increasing customer demand.
About Rackspace
Rackspace® (NYSE: RAX) is the #1 managed cloud company. Its technical expertise and Fanatical Support® allow companies to tap the power of the cloud without the pain of hiring experts in dozens of complex technologies. Rackspace is also the leader in hybrid cloud, giving each company the best fit for its unique needs — whether on single- or multi-tenant servers, or a combination of those platforms. Rackspace is the founder of OpenStack®, the open-source operating system for the cloud. Headquartered in San Antonio, Rackspace serves more than 300,000 business customers from data centers on four continents. It ranks #29 on Fortune's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For and #26 in the Sunday Times Best Companies. For more information, visit http://www.rackspace.co.uk/
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. supports the data center and colocation strategies of more than 600 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products. For more information about data center solutions from Digital Realty, visit www.digitalrealty.com. Follow us on Twitter at @digitalrealty and on our blog at https://blog.digitalrealty.com/.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on Digital Realty Trust, Inc.'s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to Digital Realty's collaboration with Rackspace. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of current global economic, credit and market conditions; current local economic conditions in its geographic markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as a result of economic slowdowns or recession; adverse economic or real estate developments in its industry or the industry sectors that it sells to (including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges); its dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; its failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing; risks associated with using debt to fund its business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, its failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in its credit ratings or its breach of covenants or other terms contained in its loan facilities and agreements; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; its inability to manage its growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; its failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; the suitability of its properties and data center infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity, failure of its physical infrastructure or services or availability of power; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of its lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; its inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; its inability to acquire off-market properties; its inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to reporting companies; its failure to maintain its status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on its ability to engage in certain business activities; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in excess of its insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by Digital Realty Trust, Inc. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Digital Realty Trust, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2014. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
1 This is an annualised average PUE for the facility
2 Based on the survey conducted by a third party, Uptime Institute, LLC: http://journal.uptimeinstitute.com/2014-data-center-industry-survey/
3 Based on a sector norm of a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.7
4 ASHRAE TC9.9 2011
SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
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