BSEE DATA CENTRES
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PROTECTING THE DATA Are you robust and ready?
As the world continues to become increasingly digitalised, data centres are more important than ever, keeping businesses and UK infrastructure afloat. Alan Scrafton, Head of Marketing for Adler & Allan, looks at the ways in which we can protect these all‐important assets.
potentially increase by 20%. The UK is a major player in this growth, representing around 44% of the total across key European markets. Drill down further, and it’s London that’s bearing the brunt of the demand, with a rapid increase in data centre energy consumption concentrated in areas such as the M25 corridor. For growth to happen in a sustainable way, without increased risk of downtime, data centres need to take steps now to ensure they are robust and ready. Downtime is extremely costly and potentially very disruptive. A survey by security vendor, Symantec**, indicated that in the 12 months prior to September 2016, the globe experienced an average of 16 outages per site. The most common causes are systems failure, human error and natural disaster. While building services installers and facilities managers may not be able to help control human error, system failure and natural disaster can be countered through ensuring back-up power is fully functional and at-risk sites are protected from the UK’s most common natural disaster; flooding.
A Back‐up power
Power outages can lead to system failure, for this reason, it’s essential to keep emergency backup generators fully operational – assets maintained, fuel in good working order and contingency plans in place. With back-up generators hopefully rarely used, it can be easy to forget their upkeep. In the event of a disaster, however, it’s essential that they’re in good working order. Usually in the form of oil-fired generators, a regular maintenance programme can reduce the risk of generator failure and extend the useful life of stored fuel.
Tanks
Storage tanks holding back-up fuel can degrade over time, causing leaks and subsequent pollution. Regular inspection
ccording to a 2015 report*, by 2020 the amount of space and power consumed by European data centres will
is recommended and required, in accordance with Fuel Storage Regulations and OFTEC guidelines. Legally, the overall responsibility for all fuel storage facilities falls to the owner, including ensuring that these annual inspections and their subsequent maintenance requirements are adhered to.
Before serviced fuel is returned to storage, it’s imperative that tanks are cleaned thoroughly. Residual sediment should be removed, pipes flushed with clean fuel, filters cleaned or replaced and pumps bled.
Depending on the size and type, tanks can either be cleaned manually by trained operatives or using automated machinery. Remote controlled washers can speed up the cleaning process as well as reducing downtime and man-entry costs, such as scaffolding.
Fuel
All fuel is vulnerable to contamination by water, which causes microbe growth and damaging sludge formation in bio-fuels. EU Directives on bio-fuels and EU Standards for bio- diesel have increased the need for more frequent and higher standards of maintenance, not to mention the harmful effect fuel contamination can have on tank interiors, pipework, filters and seals.
Monthly checks will help to identify any problems with bacterial growth or sediment build-up, which can then be swiftly addressed. Solutions include emptying and cleaning the tanks, or using bacterial additives and fuel polishing, a process that eliminates the source of the problem as well as removing infected material. Fuel can be tested and treated on-site, using mobile units, or in a laboratory environment.
Natural disaster
Flooding is becoming an increasing and more common problem throughout the UK. This summer has already seen flash floods in Cornwall, with the Met Office*** predicting in July this year that there was a one-in-three chance that a new record would be set for monthly rainfall during coming winters.
With this in mind, data centre sites that may have historically remained ‘flood free’, could potentially fall foul of rising waters in the future. The first step in protection is to conduct a Flood Risk Assessment to determine risk – ours predicts up to 60 years ahead. This can then be used to develop appropriate contingency plans so that action can be taken quickly to minimise damage caused to environment, assets and reputation. Flood defences that also provide bunding are a good solution for essential plant. Our modular solution, JBAR, delivers containment as well as flood protection; ideal for equipment containing oil or chemicals. Apart from physical product, flood mitigation should also centre round a plan should disaster strike – moving critical electrical equipment, for example.
With downtime costing in the region of $9000 per minute, as detailed in Ponemon Institute’s January 2016 Cost of Data Center Outages report**, data centres cannot afford to leave operational safeguards to chance. Any cost involved in maintaining and protecting assets is far outweighed by the financial burden of non-operation, not to mention the knock on effect to an organisations reputation. Adler & Allan supplies a range of fuel and environmental services; tank maintenance, fuel polishing and flood mitigation.
www.adlerandallan.co.uk Sources
* TCL (Tariff Consultancy Ltd) Data Centre Europe Pricing – 2015 to 2020 report,
http://www.telecomspricing.com/ news_detail.cfm?item=10643
**
https://www.future-tech.co.uk/ do-you-know-the-real-cost-of-a-data- centre-outage/
***
https://www.theguardian.com/ uk-news/2017/jul/24/uk-winter-rain-met- office-supercomputer-record- rainfall-flooding
‘ While building
services installers and facilities managers may not be able to help control human error, system failure and natural disaster can be countered through ensuring back‐up power is fully functional and at‐risk sites are protected from the UK’s most common natural disaster; flooding.
’
uAll fuel is vulnerable to contamination. Regular checks will identify any problems with bacterial growth or sediment build‐up. Solutions include emptying and cleaning the tanks, or using bacterial additives and fuel polishing, which eliminates the source of the problem and removes infected material.
40 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2017 VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
www.bsee.co.uk
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