Datacentre backup power and power distribution

Learn about datacentre power distribution, including direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) power, uninterruptible power supply, and backup power in case of a datacentre power outage.

News 28 Mar 2023
BNP Paribas moves to Swedish datacentre in high-performance computing strategy

BNP Paribas is moving data-intensive workloads to a Swedish datacentre to increase capacity while reducing its carbon footprint Continue Reading
News 27 Sep 2021
Private equity cash fuels Nordic datacentre growth

Private equity companies are betting on the Nordic datacentre sector as demand for services in the region accelerates Continue Reading

News 22 Apr 2024

Digital Edge punching above its weight in Asia datacentre market

Fast-growing datacentre provider Digital Edge is eyeing business from hyperscalers and counting on its strengths in datacentre operations and local partnerships to stand out from rivals Continue Reading
News 05 Apr 2024

Datacentre outages are happening less often and becoming less severe

Uptime Institute's annual outage tracker report suggests frequency and severity of crashes are declining, but warns datacentre operators not to get complacent Continue Reading
News 25 Mar 2024

IBM enhances network IT automation capabilities with Pliant acquisition

Tech giant makes strategic purchase to further boost software networking capabilities, offering customers the tools to enable network infrastructure observability, connectivity, control and automation across hybrid cloud environments Continue Reading
Tip 05 Mar 2024

Importance of backup generator power for data centers

Data center generators are rarely run; however, they must go through regular testing and maintenance to ensure they work when a power outage occurs to prevent server downtime. Continue Reading
News 05 Mar 2024

Dutch organisations start building a federated European cloud

The ‘European cloud services in an open federated ecosystem’ (ECOFED) project is co-funded by the Dutch government and will run from 2024 to 2027 Continue Reading
News 26 Feb 2024

TechUK warns datacentre operators government could get powers to enforce heat reuse

UK tech trade body publishes report about challenges datacentre operators may face if the government gets powers that require them to join heat reuse schemes Continue Reading
News 20 Feb 2024

University of Lincoln undergoes edge datacentre modernisation project

The University of Lincoln reveals details of the work it has done, with the help of Schneider Electric and RMD UK, to ensure the resiliency of its edge datacentre environments Continue Reading
News 25 Jan 2024

Datacentres set to consume third of Ireland’s energy by 2026

Forecast data from International Energy Agency shines light on how booming demand for datacentres is affecting energy usage levels in different geographies Continue Reading
Feature 18 Dec 2023

Iceland provides northern lights for Europe’s digital neighbourhood

As the price of energy has rocketed, IT companies running power-hungry services and datacentres are feeling the heat. It's why Iceland believes its subsea networks and growing datacentre industry offer advantages Continue Reading
News 14 Dec 2023

Government plans to regulate to tackle datacentre threats

DSIT outlines a range of proposals designed to protect data storage facilities from cyber attacks, as well as physical threats and the effects of climate breakdown Continue Reading
Blog Post 07 Dec 2023

AI: Killer app or planet killer

Looking at the latest quarterly earnings filings from the leading server makers shows they are all experiencing a significant boost in sales, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). HPE CEO, ... Continue Reading
News 06 Dec 2023

Singtel’s DC Tuas datacentre to cater to AI workloads

Offering 58MW of capacity, DC Tuas will be the first of Singtel’s new generation of artificial intelligence datacentres to incorporate more efficient cooling technologies Continue Reading
News 06 Oct 2023

Hydrogen fuel cells could find their way into more datacentres

Hydrogen fuel cells are more efficient and cleaner than alternative generator technologies, making them environmentally sustainable backup power supply options for datacentres, study finds Continue Reading
News 20 Sep 2023

Datacentre operators ‘hesitant’ over how to proceed with server farm builds as AI hype builds

As the hype surrounding artificial intelligence enters a new phase with the rising enterprise and hyperscale interest in generative AI, operators are not sure how to proceed with new datacentre builds, it is claimed Continue Reading
Feature 05 Sep 2023

How APAC organisations can drive IT sustainability

From using liquid cooling and optimising data storage to tapping renewable energy and recycling tape drives, organisations across the region are upping their sustainability efforts Continue Reading
News 12 Aug 2023

Datacentre management vulnerabilities leave public clouds at risk

At the annual DEF CON hacking convention, researchers from Trellix have disclosed multiple vulnerabilities in key datacentre products underpinning the world’s public cloud infrastructure Continue Reading
News 16 Jun 2023

CGI to develop virtual, cloud-hosted ‘black box’ recorder technology for aircraft

IT consultancy CGI is developing an alternative to the traditional ‘black box’ recorders found in aircraft that will allow teams on the ground to intervene quicker in the event of an emergency onboard Continue Reading
Definition 07 Jun 2023

microfarad

The microfarad -- symbolized as µF using the Greek symbol mu -- is a unit of capacitance, equivalent to 0.000001 farad (F). Continue Reading
Opinion 12 May 2023

How to build an environmental cloud sustainability strategy

Environmental sustainability continues to be a top 10 business priority for organisations. Here are the factors to consider when evaluating the environmental sustainability efforts of cloud providers Continue Reading
News 11 May 2023

Kao Data unveils Tier II datacentre strategy by pledging to open Manchester facility in late 2025

HPC-focused colocation provider Kao Data is expanding its datacentre footprint into the north of England by pledging to open a 40MW facility by late-2025 Continue Reading
News 28 Mar 2023

BNP Paribas moves to Swedish datacentre in high-performance computing strategy

BNP Paribas is moving data-intensive workloads to a Swedish datacentre to increase capacity while reducing its carbon footprint Continue Reading
News 28 Feb 2023

Colt DCS starts build-out of renewably powered West London datacentre campus

Hyperscale-focused colocation firm Colt DCS claims project will bring hundreds of jobs to West London Continue Reading
News 01 Feb 2023

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust warned in 2018 about datacentre cooling issues, outage report shows

A review has been published regarding the circumstances that led to two datacentres, hosting healthcare systems for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, overheating during the 2022 summer heatwave Continue Reading
News 18 Jan 2023

US hyperscale datacentre operator completes first phase of nuclear-powered server farm campus

US-based Cumulus Data has completed the powered shell infrastructure of its datacentre campus, which will be directly fed nuclear power from a neighbouring plant Continue Reading
News 17 Jan 2023

Exclusion of datacentres from government-backed energy bill discount scheme 'no cause for alarm'

A government-backed scheme to provide power-hungry businesses with discounts on their energy bills does not include datacentres, but industry watchers claim that's not necessarily a bad thing Continue Reading
News 03 Jan 2023

Batam datacentre to capture spillover demand from Singapore

NeutraDC’s new datacentre facility in Batam will enable it to meet the spillover demand for datacentre services from neighbouring markets Continue Reading
Definition 21 Dec 2022

kinetic energy

Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, observable as the movement of an object or subatomic particle. Continue Reading
News 19 Dec 2022

Top 10 datacentre stories of 2022

The energy crisis has wreaked havoc on the UK datacentre market in various ways this year, with supply and pricing issues blighting operators and their business interests Continue Reading
Feature 21 Nov 2022

Datacentres in the dark: How the sector is preparing for the prospect of planned winter power cuts

Against a backdrop of ongoing uncertainty in the energy market, the UK datacentre market is readying itself for ‘worst case’ planned power cuts this winter Continue Reading
Feature 18 Nov 2022

Expensive datacentre outages: Untangling messy collaborations, contributing costs and complexity

Even if outages in the datacentre are trending down, Uptime data this year traces rising costs per outage. So what can be done? Continue Reading
News 06 Oct 2022

Oil giant Shell lends support to LF Energy in its open source power networks push

Open source community LF Energy is continuing to go from strength-to-strength as its push to transform the way power networks operate gathers pace Continue Reading
News 13 Sep 2022

OVHcloud opens new datacentre in Strasbourg at site of March 2021 fire

A year and a half after a fire at its datacentre campus in Strasbourg destroyed one of its facilities and damaged another, OVHcloud has opened a new server farm at the site Continue Reading
News 16 Aug 2022

Rising energy costs erode competitive edge of colocation datacentre operators

Research from temporary power generation equipment maker Aggreko highlights toll that rising energy costs are having on colocation datacentre operators Continue Reading
15 Aug 2022

Datacentre sector denies being cause of West London electricity grid issues

Reports blaming the rapid rise of West London as a major datacentre hub for a potential ban on new housing developments in the area have not gone down well with industry watchers. Continue Reading
Definition 10 Aug 2022

electron

An electron is a negatively charged subatomic particle that can be either bound to an atom or free (not bound). Continue Reading
Feature 08 Aug 2022

Icelandic datacentres may lead the way to green IT

Iceland may soon become even more attractive to companies wanting to minimise their carbon footprint while using high-performance computing services Continue Reading
News 08 Aug 2022

Internet giants in favour as Ireland tightens rules on datacentres

Irish premier Michael Martin has insisted its temporary squeeze on datacentre construction is not a moratorium on the industry Continue Reading
News 05 Aug 2022

Datacentre sector hits back at claims that West London electricity grid capacity crunch is its fault

Reports citing the rapid rise of West London as a major datacentre hub as the cause of a potential ban on new housing developments in the area have not gone down well with industry watchers Continue Reading
E-Zine 02 Aug 2022

How to create a datacentre capacity plan

In this week’s Computer Weekly, planning datacentre capacity is a growing challenge – we ask the experts for the latest best practice. Victims of the Post Office IT scandal explain why they think they were targeted for speaking out. And we look at the digital skills gap in retail and find out how employers can source talent. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 01 Aug 2022

Microsoft hails success of hydrogen fuel cell trial at its New York datacentre

Microsoft has opened up about how its efforts to replace the diesel backup generators in its datacentres is progressing Continue Reading
News 22 Jul 2022

UK heatwave linked to ongoing IT systems issues at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Guy's & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said it is working ‘around the clock’ to restore the IT systems affected by the extreme temperatures seen in the UK this week Continue Reading
News 21 Jul 2022

Singapore to restart datacentre builds with sustainability focus

The Singapore government is running a pilot exercise to drive the sustainable development of new datacentres following a moratorium on datacentre builds Continue Reading
News 08 Jul 2022

Microsoft to roll out grid-interactive UPS tech to its Dublin datacentre

Software giant plans to support Ireland’s transition to a carbon-free energy society by making its datacentre’s backup power sources available for use to the country’s national grid Continue Reading
News 24 Jun 2022

Castrol and Submer form partnership to popularise use of immersion cooling in datacentres

BP-owned Castrol has agreed to work with immersion cooling specialist Submer to bring to market next-generation cooling fluids for use in datacentres Continue Reading
News 13 Jun 2022

The inauguration of LUMI: Europe's most powerful supercomputer launches

A former paper mill in Finland is now home to the world's third most powerful supercomputer, which will help researchers across Europe accelerate their scientific breakthroughs in the fields of climate change and medicine Continue Reading
Blog Post 09 Jun 2022

Grid stability and the risk it poses to the retail sector and its datacentres

In this guest post, Simon Brady, services channel business development manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa at datacentre equipment manufacturer Vertiv, outlines the challenges retailers face ... Continue Reading
Definition 06 Jun 2022

farad (F)

A farad (F) is the standard unit of capacitance in the International System of Units (SI). Continue Reading
News 03 Jun 2022

How digital twins can improve datacentre operations

Singapore’s Red Dot Analytics has built an AI-powered digital twin platform that lets datacentre operators simulate their operations to manage their carbon footprint and energy consumption, among other uses Continue Reading
News 31 May 2022

OVHCloud facing client compensation class action claim of €10m over March 2021 datacentre fire

The law firm overseeing the class action against OVHCloud claims 140 clients are now seeking compensation for the data lost as a result of the March 2021 fire Continue Reading
Feature 26 May 2022

Hydrogen’s promise: How fuel cells might power lower-carbon datacentres

Could UK datacentre operators soon adopt emerging hydrogen technologies to reach expanding energy and emissions requirements? Continue Reading
E-Zine 20 May 2022

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Datacentres

Firms should keep their data storage setups under frequent review to ensure their goals are being met effectively. In this handbook, focused on datacentres in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the shift towards colocation facilities, the projected change in spending patterns, nuclear power’s potential to reduce carbon emissions and the importance of infrastructure as code in edge datacentres Continue Reading
News 06 May 2022

Uptime Institute debuts sustainability-focused accreditation for datacentre professionals

Uptime Institute continues to build out its education resources and support offerings for datacentre operators that want to get to grips with the changing regulatory landscape around sustainability Continue Reading
Tip 03 May 2022

6 ways to increase energy efficiency in data centers

Although there is no one single trick that admins can use to achieve an energy-efficient data center, there are several small things that can significantly decrease energy use. Continue Reading
Definition 28 Apr 2022

power distribution unit (PDU)

A power distribution unit (PDU) is a device for controlling electrical power in a data center. Continue Reading
E-Zine 26 Apr 2022

The latest salary trends for IT professionals

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the results of our annual salary survey show pay returning to pre-pandemic levels and work-life balance a growing consideration. As sustainability becomes a critical issue, we look at how datacentres can meet emissions targets. And we find out how IT leaders can help protect children online. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
25 Apr 2022

How to beat the heat: What can datacentre operators do to meet emissions targets?

With new mandates around sustainability proliferating, datacentres must find ways to meet their environmental goals while remaining competitive and meeting customer service-level expectations Continue Reading
Feature 22 Apr 2022

Interview: LF Energy on using open source to ready energy systems for phasing out fossil fuels

With the climate crisis putting increasing pressure on countries to decarbonise their economies, the founder of open source championing LF Energy talks about digitising power networks to be ready for renewables Continue Reading
News 20 Apr 2022

Uptime Institute supports datacentre operators with honing their sustainability strategies

In the wake of research highlighting the patchy progress operators have made to-date on sustainability initiatives, the Uptime Institute debuts series of reports to help the datacentre sector improve its environmental standing Continue Reading
E-Zine 12 Apr 2022

Disney combines digital, data and creativity to win advertising opportunities

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the executive vice-president for client and brand solutions at Disney Advertising Sales about how it is using data to subserve story-telling excellence. We delve into how rising energy costs negatively impacted the UK arm of Sungard Availability Services. And we look at the role of infrastructure as code in edge datacentres. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
Podcast 11 Apr 2022

Energy crisis impact on datacentre market – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Podcast team discusses the energy crisis by way of the Sungard AS UK collapse, data analytics-powered wind turbines, and CW survey showing big increase in flexible working for IT professionals Continue Reading
Definition 04 Apr 2022

data center resiliency

Resiliency is the ability of a server, network, storage system or an entire data center to recover quickly and continue operating even when there has been an equipment failure, power outage or other disruption. Continue Reading
News 04 Apr 2022

Environmental campaigners halt Meta datacentre construction in the Netherlands

Datacentre being built to serve ‘metaverse’ worlds would consume nearly half as much energy as all other datacentres in the country Continue Reading
News 30 Mar 2022

British Airways passengers suffer flight delays due to another IT glitch affecting London Heathrow

Several weeks on from another systems outage that prompted it to cancel hundreds of short-haul flights, British Airways’ IT systems have been hit by another glitch Continue Reading
Feature 22 Mar 2022

Weighing up the nuclear option for powering datacentres

Resourcing energy-hungry IT through the race to reduce carbon emissions means looking objectively at all the options, including nuclear power Continue Reading
Feature 09 Mar 2022

Datacentres and climate change: Operators accused of being all talk and no action on sustainability

Datacentre operators talk a good fight when it comes to tackling climate change, but there is far more they should and could be doing to make their operations more sustainable, say experts Continue Reading
Feature 22 Feb 2022

How to beat the heat: What can datacentre operators do to meet emissions targets?

With new mandates around sustainability proliferating, datacentres must find ways to meet their environmental goals while remaining competitive and meeting customer service-level expectations Continue Reading
News 21 Feb 2022

Website owners urged to adopt ‘eco-standard’ to help cut internet-generated carbon emissions

The Eco-Friendly Web Alliance has set its sights on preventing a further 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being generated in the next decade by helping website operators to cut emissions Continue Reading
News 09 Feb 2022

Adoption of smart grid-ready UPS tech by datacentres tipped for take-off in next four years

IT market watcher Omdia claims the next four years could see a sizeable shift in how datacentres interact with the electricity grid as the use of smart grid-enabled UPS tech becomes more widespread Continue Reading
News 07 Feb 2022

Kao Data to expand datacentre footprint by opening 16MW facility in Slough

High-performance computing-focused colocation provider is opening its second datacentre in Slough, Berkshire Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2021

Schneider Electric gifts the datacentre industry a five-part sustainability framework

Datacentre power systems specialist has drawn up a framework that it hopes will help the industry standardise its reporting of sustainability metrics Continue Reading
News 01 Dec 2021

Lithium-ion batteries find their way into datacentres

Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly being deployed in uninterruptible power supply systems to reduce datacentre real estate and energy consumption Continue Reading
News 15 Nov 2021

UK’s first datacentre-focused University Technical College course makes its debut

Some of the datacentre sector’s biggest players have pooled their resources to help launch the UK’s first industry-specific University Technical College course Continue Reading
News 12 Nov 2021

OpenUK debuts carbon-negative datacentre blueprint at COP26

Open source championing not-for-profit OpenUK puts forward plan to reduce the environmental impact of datacentres, with an emphasis on encouraging site and hardware reuse Continue Reading
News 05 Oct 2021

Kao Data secures up to £130m in funding to finance colocation datacentre expansions

Harlow-based colocation giant has secure further investment as its expansion plans gather pace Continue Reading
Feature 29 Sep 2021

Riskier business: How Brexit could be changing downtime risk and resilience in the datacentre

As the UK enters the final quarter of its first year from the Brexit transition period, the risk picture for local datacentres remains unclear Continue Reading
Feature 29 Sep 2021

Could Iceland be the best place in the world for high-performance computing?

Most of Iceland’s cheap, sustainable energy is currently used by aluminium smelters, but recognising the need to diversify, the Landsvirkjun power company now promotes other uses Continue Reading
E-Zine 28 Sep 2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak talks tech

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about his plans to support innovation and growth in the UK tech sector. Composable IT is the latest trend in building software to support business change. And Halfords built its own service management software – and now is selling it to other retailers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 27 Sep 2021

Private equity cash fuels Nordic datacentre growth

Private equity companies are betting on the Nordic datacentre sector as demand for services in the region accelerates Continue Reading
News 24 Sep 2021

IT systems failure blights UK Border Force electronic passport gates

The Home Office confirms the UK Border Force electronic passport gates are up and running again after passengers complain of missed flights due to earlier immigration processing delays Continue Reading
News 22 Sep 2021

Linode commits to NVMe storage infrastructure upgrade across its global datacentre portfolio

Alternative public cloud service provider Linode has commited to revamping the storage infrastructure across its 11 datacentres, which include sites in the US, UK and Germany Continue Reading
News 14 Sep 2021

TikTok’s take-off fuels hyperscale datacentre spend by parent company ByteDance

Following its meteoric rise to social media prominence, TikTok’s parent company is confirmed as being the world’s seventh-biggest datacentre spender after just three years of expansion Continue Reading
News 14 Sep 2021

Uptime Institute highlights patchy reporting of water use by datacentre operators

With the water usage habits of datacentres coming under increased scrutiny, research from resiliency think tank Uptime Institute highlights shortcomings in the sector's reporting of how much water facilities use Continue Reading
E-Zine 14 Sep 2021

Is 3D printing about to hit the mainstream?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out about the emerging consumer services using 3D printing and ask if the technology is about to go mainstream. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at the importance of sustainable datacentres. And we analyse the risks of increasing contactless card spending limits and whether tech could help. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 31 Aug 2021

The Raxio Group sets out Pan-African colocation datacentre expansion plans

Pan-African datacentre developer The Raxio Group has embarked on a collaboration that will pave the way for it to increase its colocation footprint within the continent Continue Reading
Feature 23 Aug 2021

Uninterruptible power in the datacentre: Choosing between sustainability and uptime

With datacentres under heavier pressure to decarbonise, could even the lowly UPS play a larger role? Continue Reading
News 12 Aug 2021

Government Digital Service signs two-year public cloud hosting deal with AWS worth £12m

The Government Digital Service has signed its longest and highest value deal with AWS to-date, as the public cloud giant’s hold on the public sector continues to grow Continue Reading
News 09 Aug 2021

Possible ransomware attack hits Italian vaccine booking system

It is still unclear who is behind the attack that caused Covid-19 vaccine bookings in Lazio, Italy, to grind to a halt, as despite masses of files being encrypted no specific ransom demands have been made for the decryptor Continue Reading
News 09 Aug 2021

Alliance formed to build modular power-hungry HPC datacentres in energy surplus regions

Green datacentre company Cloud&Heat Technologies has formed an alliance with Earth Wind & Power that will see the pair seek to build scalable, modular datacentres in areas where utility firms are producing surplus energy Continue Reading
News 04 Aug 2021

Research points to growing importance of secondary datacentre hubs across Europe in years to come

Datacentrepricing’s half-year look at the growth of the European datacentre market reinforces the rising importance of secondary datacentre hubs across the continent Continue Reading
News 28 Jul 2021

APAC organisations can reduce carbon footprint with cloud

Energy savings of nearly 80% can be achieved by running business applications in the cloud rather than on-premise infrastructure, study finds Continue Reading
Feature 21 Jul 2021

Five ways to ensure remote working security and compliance

A mix of on-site and remote working has become a fact of life for many organisations. We look at five key things you should consider to ensure compliance and security Continue Reading
News 15 Jul 2021

Virgin Media outage: Electrical explosion takes down network in south-east London

Underground electrical network explosion causes ‘significant collateral damage’ to cabling infrastructure, with users in south-east London told to brace themselves for ‘at least’ 24 hours of disruption Continue Reading
News 05 Jul 2021

Ascendas India Trust to build datacentre near Mumbai

New datacentre campus near Mumbai will deliver 90MW of power to host technology and cloud suppliers as well as large Indian companies in a fast-growing market Continue Reading
Feature 22 Jun 2021

Nautilus Data Technologies CEO on building waterborne datacentres in the name of sustainability

James Connaughton, CEO of waterborne datacentre design champion Nautilus Data Technologies, sets out why the firm is convinced that water-cooled facilities are the answer to the tech industry’s sustainability woes Continue Reading
News 21 Jun 2021

Philanthropists join forces to create $1bn distributed green energy platform to fight climate change

IKEA Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation to help make renewable energy more accessible as part of a global push to fight climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions Continue Reading
News 18 Jun 2021

Brent Council plots £3.8m datacentre revamp to protect IT infrastructure from cyber attacks

Local authority is embarking on a multi-faceted datacentre revamp to protect it from cyber criminals and ensure it can bounce back more quickly from potential outages Continue Reading
News 18 Jun 2021

Druva helps Thirteen Group get round Azure data retention limits

Social housing business has migrated to Microsoft Office 365 on Azure, but needed long-term data retention to comply with General Data Protection Regulation Continue Reading
News 16 Jun 2021

Singapore universities to develop cooling solutions for tropical datacentres

The National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University will research on cooling technologies that help to lower the power consumption and carbon footprint of topical datacentres Continue Reading
Blog Post 02 Jun 2021

Hydrogen vs. diesel: The great datacentre backup power debate

In this guest post, Martin Keenan, technical director at IT distributor Avnet Abacus, sets out why hydrogen fuel cells could be on course to replace diesel generators as the datacentre industry’s ... Continue Reading
News 19 Apr 2021

Uptime Institute: Networking issues to overtake power problems as main cause of datacentre outages

The Uptime Institute's third annual datacentre outage analysis report suggests downturn in number of downtime incidents over the past 12 months due to the pandemic, with networking issues fast-emerging as main source of technical difficulties Continue Reading