Replacing existing disparate computer rooms for Research councils UK
RCUK is a strategic partnership through which the UK’s eight Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support. The Research Councils are the main public investors in fundamental research in the UK, with interests ranging from bio-medicine and particle physics to the environment, engineering and economic research. RCUK works alongside the Office of Science & Innovation (OSI) to support academic researchers in the UK and to ensure the best investment of public money in research.
The Challenge
When Research Councils UK (RCUK), the main public investor in research in the UK, began a rationalisation process, one of its main planned outcomes was to consolidate its existing five computer rooms into one main data centre at its Swindon offices. Future-Tech won a six-way open tender process for the £600,000 contract. At the core of Future-Tech’s challenge was the fact that this was a multi-phased project which involved working around an existing, live data centre environment.
The solution
Future-Tech planned and delivered a total refurbishment and extension to RCUK’s existing data centre in Swindon, the largest of its five data centres. As part of the solution, Future-Tech made use of free-cooling technology to reduce the Research Councils’ carbon output and to lower the cost of maintaining its computer room facilities - traditionally made more expensive by the use of power intensive air-conditioning.
Ron Price, Networks Manager, RCUK, was impressed by Future-Tech’s approach. “Future-Tech won this contract due to the quality and expertise of their response to the tender. It proved to be s a very complex project which involved major construction work being conducted around an existing computer facility. Future-Tech took an ambitious approach to the brief, but one that has resulted in large cost savings. The company’s harnessing of free-cooling technology to account for some of the data centre’s cooling requirements was extremely helpful in enabling us to fulfil our sustainability agenda. By utilising the cool outside air during the winter months to regulate the temperature of the data centre we can lower our carbon emissions and reduce the amount that would have been spent on traditional cooling methods. Over the life of the new data centre this will inevitably equate to a significant overall cost saving.”
The final phase was completed by Future-Tech in early-Summer, 2006. The project was delivered on time and within budget.
For more information contact Future-Tech on 0845 9000 127
Email: info@future-tech.co.uk
