Our purpose built free-hold tier 3 hosting facility is a truly unique data centre, with numerous accreditations which recognise this. It has been awarded the British Standard 7799 for our dedication to making our customers systems and information resilient and secure. We were also the first company in the UK to be awarded the prestigious ISO 27001 for continued devotion to information security.
Based in the centre of Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s telecoms district next to BT’s main Tyneside infrastructure the facility is ideally placed 60m above river levels – in fact it’s on the same level as the iconic Tyne Bridge so the risk of the centre being affected by flooding is nonexistent.
Security
The data floor, all access routes and areas outside the building are monitored by a CCTV system with intruder detection, which comply with all NACOSS standards. DataBanx utilises 20 CCTV cameras in total, 12 external which store all data captured for 2 weeks and 8 internally which store data for 2 years.
DataBanx operates a building monitoring system known as BESAMS whereby DataBanx engineers are alerted immediately via an SMS message and e-mail on any situations that could be a cause for concern such as intruders, mains failure, generator issues and so on.
The DataBanx centre is a non-descript building with zero branding and is surrounded by a 7ft high perimeter fence. Entry to the data floor can only be gained at the discretion of a DataBanx Engineer and the data racks are secured by electronic key pad locks to ensure that only authorised personnel are able to gain access. An audit trail of personal movements and area access is retained for security and reporting purposes.
Fire Protection System
The Facility is protected by the latest overhead and under floor FM200 fire suppressant technology. DataBanx is monitored by a series of highly sensitive smoke detectors which will emit a safe, clean gaseous combination of argon, carbon and nitrogen to extinguish the fire without damaging electronic equipment .
Multiple Bandwidth Providers
Bandwidth in excess of 1GBps is provided from multiple providers with diverse feeds, including Global Crossing, British Telecom, Cable and Wireless and Onyx Group whose network is in the top 1% of connected networks in the world.
We also host the Northern Internet exchange which is a key interconnect point for local government in the region.
Un-interruptible Power Supply (UPS)
Our UPS system ensures that the facility remains fully operational 100% of the time. DataBanx Newcastle has dual diversely routed high voltage (11kV) power feeds delivering power to a dedicated sub-station and has never experienced a mains failure. However, in the unlikely event of the data centre losing power the system will maintain supply to the data floor until the 800KVA back-up generator containing 11,000 litres of diesel takes over. There is sufficient diesel held on-site for the generator to run on a full load for over 48 hours, and we have a 24 x 7 refueling contract in place, in case of a prolonged power cut.
The facility has on-site replaceable switchgear breakers which are easily exchangeable. DataBanx also benefits from multiple network lines and diverse cabling which help to maintain a 99.95% uptime.
The UPS also 'cleans' the power removing any 'spikes' & 'blips' that might affect computer equipment. The supply to each customer is protected by a circuit breaker. If one customer overloads their supply, they will trip their circuit breaker but will not affect other customers.
Climate Control
The data floor environment is controlled by N+1 air-conditioning units to ensure it is maintained at 22 degrees Celsius – the optimum temperature for servers and electronic equipment. There is a cold aisle/hot aisle scenario in place, cold air circulates under the floor whilst the servers bring in the cold air through the front and send hot air out at the back. DataBanx utilises 7 air conditioning units each with 40KW of cooling with 280KW current, there is scope for another 120KW. This means The air-conditioning system will support the data centre at maximum capacity a with redundancy to protect against unit failures.
All data cables are held on a tray suspended from the ceiling which ensures that they are separated from all power cables.
Access and Management
DataBanx’s electronic visitor access book requires all customers to sign in to an electronic database so that correct levels of access can be given to customers and it also acts as way to monitor who is on site.
