Photos: Inside a $250m+ datacenter complex

On-site security

The Kao Data Campus has multiple layers of security, including campus perimeter fencing, datacenter security fencing, vehicle barriers, bi-folding speed gates and pedestrian turnstiles.

CCTV cameras inside and outside the campus are monitored 24/7, while uniformed guards help restrict access to authorized personnel.

The campus and datacenter is partitioned into security zones, through which movement is controlled using an electronic access-control system.

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Outside the data hall

Each datacenter can host more than 2,000 42U to 58U servers per building.

Firms can connect to their servers in the center via fiber or copper lines, with network connections able to be routed from different carriers or telco operators, or between organizations based in the campus.

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Data hall

A data hall inside the Kao London One datacenter, which can support 2.2MW-worth of IT equipment.

Once completed the four datacenters in the campus will support 8.8MW-worth of equipment.

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Enclosed space

Server racks can be kept in enclosures, which use hot-aisle containment to allow for higher server densities of up to 20kW per rack.

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Cooling

The center relies on a climate control system that uses indirect evaporative-cooling (IEC) units to improve the efficiency of the cooling and delivers a PUE below 1.2.

PUE is a measure that reflects how much of the electricity used by a facility ends up powering its servers, rather than driving associated infrastructure such as cooling and power distribution.

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Pumping station

Like everything else in the datacenter, there are backup IEC units to provide cooling in case the primary unit fails.

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Dedicated power

Each server has two separate power supplies to ensure they keep running in the event of one supply going down.

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Powered up

The site is served by a dedicated and redundant 43.5MVA power supply, provided by the nearby national grid substation Harlow West Grid.

Each datacenter has two separate 11kV power supplies, to provide a backup in case one of the connections goes down.

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Uninterruptible power supply

In the event of a total power outage, the uninterruptible power supply can run the center at full-load for five minutes while it switches to generator power, ensuring the servers keep running.

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Diesel generators

To guarantee an uninterrupted power supply, each of the four datacenters on the campus has two 11kV generators to provide backup power.

The back-up diesel generators can provide 48 hours of power without refueling.

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Fire prevention

An automatic fire-detection system is installed throughout the campus, and is made up of a mix of Very Early Smoke Detection Alarm Systems and High Sensitivity Smoke Detectors.

Fire systems are linked to central Building Management System, and a double-knock, water-mist fire suppression system is used throughout.

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Network Operations Center

The Network Operations Center (NOC) allows for around-the-clock monitoring of the building- and power-management systems.

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24/7 scrutiny

The site uses real-time gaseous and particulate corrosion monitoring.

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Outside the campus

There are four buildings on the datacenter campus, each with 36,000-square feet worth of server space.

Image: Kao Data / Dave Cox