• power
• cooling
• network
• security
• fire protection

Power Distribution System

There are four key aspects to our power distribution system, which result in one of the most reliable environments possible in which to house your critical server infrastructure:

Private 11,000 Volt substation

The datacentre is connected directly to United Utilities' local 11,000 Volt ring main, with two separately routed incoming high Voltage cables. We have a dedicated 1 Megawatt substation onsite, protecting us from most common disturbances in the local distribution network. As well as providing us with isolation from other local power users, it provides us with the massive amount capacity needed for running several thousand servers in the datacentre.

N+1 UPS Protection

All critical services in the datacentre (ie servers and network equipment) are protected by a sophisticated Riello N+1 Uninterruptable Power Supply system. This system is made up of a number of individual units configured in a decentralised paralleled fashion, removing any potential SPoF (single point of failure). In this instance N+1 means that where we might, for example, require 5 units to accommodate the required load, we would install 6 units to protect against any failure in one of the units. These are online double-conversion units, meaning they are constantly filtering and conditioning power (smoothing spikes etc) to prevent damage to other hardware in the datacentre. In the event of any disruption in the mains supply, the UPS cluster's internal battery units provide 10 minutes of immediate uninterrupted power protection. These 10 minutes are intended to allow our backup diesel generators to start up and provide power indefinitely.

Diesel Generators

In the event of a prolonged mains power supply failure, our backup diesel generators automatically start-up and assume the full load of the building. Each half-megawatt SDMO unit is powered by a large internal Volvo engine. The generators are capable of providing full power to all building electrical services such as cooling, server room, lighting and office hardware etc. We have sufficient on-site fuel storage to provide 48 hours of generator runtime, and have contracts in place for additional fuel deliveries within 4 hours 24/7/365 allowing us to continue full operation in the event of a major long-term power outage.

Rack Distribution

The power for each 47u and 11u equipment rack in the datacentre is provided by two 16A or 32A 'commando' sockets mounted under the raised floor. Each rack 'footprint' is individually fed directly from the pod's distribution board and protected by a dedicated 16A or 32A MCB circuit-breaker. This ensures that in the unlikely event of an electrical fault in one of the racks, the fault is isolated and prevents other major 'upstream' breakers tripping and causing unnecessary disruption to other server racks.

A full 'dark' test of the power system is performed once per month in order to verify all systems are operating correctly. This test involves simulating a full mains failure, by cutting the main incoming power supply.

We are so confident in the stability and reliability of our power system that most colocation contracts include a 100% Service Level Agreement, which provides a financial credit back to the customer in the unlikely of any power issues in the datacentre.