Computing
magazine
16
Power play
The East Sussex boarding and day
school for pupils aged 13 to 18
operates an intranet that serves around
1,200 users spread over two sites. Until
recently, this service was supported by
servers in three small data centres, all
of which were far from ideal in terms
of operating environment.
As part of a major redevelopment
programme, the decision was taken
to build a new data centre that
would provide a carefully controlled
environment for all of the school’s
servers with room for future expansion.
The school initially requested
quotations from two organisations
that offered turnkey solutions. In both
cases, however, the prices put forward
were dauntingly high and, as a result,
the school decided that it would be
more cost-effective, though much less
convenient, to draw on its own resources
to carry out the work.
“With this in mind, the school initially
approached Eaton to supply equipment
racks with a value of around £4,000 to
house its servers,” explains Paul Ryan,
UK Segment Sales Manager for Eaton.
“However, during a meeting with our
data centre experts, the total scope of
the project soon came to light. It became
apparent then that Eaton’s extensive
portfolio of products and solutions
meant that, in conjunction with Eaton-
Williams, we could provide all of the
major infrastructure items needed.”
In addition, Eaton could manage
the whole project so that the school
would, in effect, be working with a
single supplier. This proposal meant
that all equipment supplied would
be compatible and that should any
Eastbourne College has centralised three data centres in a new facility
designed and kitted out by power management company Eaton in
conjunction with climate control specialist Eaton-Williams. Savings on
equipment, installation and running costs are such that the school expects
the equipment to pay for itself in less than five years.
problems occur, there would be no
question of divided responsibility. Finally,
the price quoted by Eaton for the overall
project was around half that proposed by
the turnkey suppliers.
Project management
Eaton provided all design and project
management services for the project,
which involved the deployment of a
raised floor, and supplied and installed
two 15 kVA three-phase uninterruptible
power supplies (UPSs); four Delta³™
Rack Systems (DRS) with swipe-card
controlled locks and space for 96 servers;
and Eaton enclosure power distribution
units (ePDUS) for each rack.
Combining class-leading efficiency
with exceptional reliability, the UPSs used
give an N+1 solution with a very high
level of power protection at an affordable
price. They are designed for a runtime
of 15 minutes, which, in the event of a
power failure, gives enough time for the
servers to be shut down in a controlled
way with no data loss or corruption.
Supplied by Eaton-Williams, the
CRAC air conditioning system in
Eastbourne College’s new server room
features traditional under-floor airflow
and overhead return flow to deliver
15 kW of cooling at 24ºC ambient
temperature. Under most conditions, this
system provides ‘free’ cooling, relying on
forced ventilation alone, an arrangement
that delivers big energy and cost savings.
Refrigerated cooling is available when
required.
01753 608 700
IT specialist Quiss Technology has helped
one of Lincolnshire’s fastest growing
businesses, the Bulldog Hotel Group (BHG),
make the transition to a hosted desktop
solution for 65 employees spread across
seven hotels.
BHG turned to Quiss Technology when it
became clear, following a period of expansion,
that its existing IT infrastructure could no
longer cope with current or future demands.
BHG director Kevin Charity said: “We’ve
grown our portfolio of hotels in recent years
and with 65 users across seven sites, the
original IT infrastructure was unable to cope
with the increasing demands placed upon it.
“The aim of the upgrade was to allow
closer collaboration and interaction between
all our users, across the seven sites, to ensure
we maintain the high quality service our
clients have become used to and which helps
set us apart from our competitors.”
Quiss recommended a hosted desktop
environment that would make it easier for
staff to communicate and share knowledge.
Matt Rhodes, Quiss Technology
Commercial Services Manager, said: “The
deployment of a hosted desktop solution
allows all users to log in from any computer in
the office, home or even out on the road and
access all their applications and data to help
improve productivity. The new email service
with advanced anti-spam filters will certainly
improve connectivity and free users from
unnecessary admin jobs.”
He added: “The ability to access the full
Office 365 suite of applications via the virtual
desktop infrastructure will ensure the business
is future-proofed for upgrades and patches all
in one go, rather than worrying about individual
machines and accidentally introducing a whole
range of compatibility issues. Further resilience
has been delivered with an improved storage,
back-up and replication solution managed by
the hotel group.”
Quiss Technology helping Bulldog grow
Matt Rhodes, Commercial Services Manager,
Quiss Technology
