Comtec announces new UK data centre

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ICT firm Comtec Enterprises have announced the completion of its new data centre, located just outside the M25 in Reigate, near London.

It is the first data centre the firm has built for itself, having previously built such facilities for Royal Caribbean, Qualcomm, NHS trusts and banks, according to Nick Claxson, the managing director of Comtec. "It's something we've been established in for quite a while," he said.

The firm chose to build its own data centre in order to offer managed services to small and medium enterprises, where it could guarantee quality of service and control cost - unlike other managed services offerings which must sub-contract such infrastructure. "We wanted to put in place services supported by us... which therefore guarantee a certain level of service," said Claxson.

The new centre provides the platform for Comtec's managed services, which include email, application and voice hosting, as well as disaster recovery, replication, and a virtual desktop service.

Comtec said the data centre also offers a third party platform where customers can host their infrastructure during relocation projects.

The high density centre uses in-row cooling and hydrogen fuel cells to keep things green. Indeed, customers can request the "green option" and have everything from their servers to their fail-over systems powered in an emission-free way, Claxson explained.

It has a dedicated electricity substation in addition to the hydrogen fuel cells, and has high-capacity connections to TeleHouse and TeleCity, as well as to BT and NTL Telewest backbones, the firm said.

The high density data centre features 35 cabinets, which hold 64 HP blade servers each, all connected via Cisco products. Because it uses virtualisation, the facility's capacity is easily scalable, said Claxson. With "two of absolutely everything" it is safe from any disaster, he said.

The facility also features security aspects including secure fencing, 24-hour CCTV, multiple layer card entry, raised floors and fire suppression to prevent disasters, and is staffed at all times by qualified engineers, Comtec said.

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