We take a look at the partnership that’s underpinned the UK’s most efficient colocation facility over the last 15 years.
Who are Netwise?
Founded in 2009, with a genesis story stretching back further still, Netwise started life as a passion project by two school friends with a love for technology. Fast forward nearly 15 years and they are now one of the UK’s leading colocation service providers, with private facilities designed and built entirely in-house, delivering end-user content on a truly global scale.
What is the relationship between EcoCooling and Netwise?
Netwise built their own bespoke facility, London South in 2011. They contacted EcoCooling to discuss putting together a scheme for an energy efficient cooling system. They went with our standard ECP CREC units (evaporative cooling external boxes hooked up to a recirculation loop which can control temperature entering the facility) and the rest is history. The modular design allowed Netwise to add more cooling units as their operation grew. EcoCooling provided control updates and technical assistance as required ensuring the most efficient and cost-effective operation of their cooling system.
Scaling Up and Continuously Improving Efficiency
2016 arrived and Netwise’s London Central data centre opened. As their second fully featured build project, it quickly became one of the UK’s most applauded privately owned data centres. Netwise were so pleased with their existing system at London South they continued to utilise the ECP CRECs in their new facility, even moving some existing coolers across. The facility is cooled exclusively by EcoCooling systems (outdoor ECP units in pods of two with CREC control interface). Upon installation, Netwise were achieving PUEs of below 1.1 while the majority of data centre operators at the time were hovering around the 1.5-2 mark. Not only a boast from a carbon footprint and energy use perspective, but also important as with only a limited amount of power to site, reduced energy used for cooling allowed them to increase the computing capacity of their data centre.
As the two companies grew EcoCooling started working on their latest CloudCooler© model, an internal, single box approach to temperature and humidity control with inbuilt filtration and recirculation. The ECT10800 unit provides free cooling, evaporative cooling and filtration in one box, all with the latest in EC fan technology. It also requires no external plant, with everything safely installed inside the building, with an internal footprint no bigger than a pallet, a particularly attractive feature for some data centres where external space is limited or external security is a concern. This new design alongside the latest CREC control system provides the most advanced temperature and humidity control in any EcoCooling system, alongside unparalleled efficiency.
