1. Our Priorities
When planning the design and fit-out of the University Shared Data Centre, the project team ensured that the University Shared Data Centre met the latest environmental and business priorities of the University:
The Shared Data Centre will provide resilience for the University's business-critical
ICT services, the fit-out includes:
- Dual resilient 'Uninterruptible Power Supplies' (UPS): electricity is supplied from two separate substations each supplying a separate UPS
- Dual power bars to each cabinet from separate feeds: each cabinet has two power bars fed from separate power distribution units which are fed from independent UPSs
- Critical service protection: there is no single point of failure as critical services are dual-honed
- Network connectivity from two incoming optical fibre feeds via diverse routes from the University backbone network
The Shared Data Centre was designed by specialists to ensure it meets international
standards:
- It meets TIA942, the international infrastructure standard for data centres
- The data centre will operate 'Trigeneration' cooling, using an absorption chiller which consumes less electricity than conventional cooling and leads to considerable savings in energy consumption
- It will be equipped with 'cold aisle containment' to maximise cooling efficiency and provide a 500 kilowatt cooling capability upon opening
- In-rack cooling via chilled water will ensure that higher density equipment remains at the correct temperature without having to cool the entire centre
The University of Oxford is committed to reducing its carbon foot print and seeks to minimise environmental costs where possible:
- The Shared Data Centre was designed by environmental specialists to be sustainable and energy efficient
- It meets the University's Sustainability Strategy
- It uses virtualised server services to minimise the use of carbon heavy hardware
- Read further details about building the University's new Shared Data Centre
The University is investigating advanced security measures within the Shared Data Centre, these include:
- A Biometric Proximity Reader entrance system, which relies on thumb print identification
- An anti-tailgating security portal and a 365 degree CCTV camera system
- Individual proximity readers on each cabinet
- Fire prevention is provided by a localised high pressure water vapour fire suppression system in the floor and ceiling
- The floor includes a leak protection system
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