Aberdeen Gets First Microsoft Azure-Enabled Data Centre In Scotland

Ben Sullivan,

Photos: brightsolid’s new data centre will hold the equivalent computer power of over 100,000 MacBooks

A new data centre in Aberdeen, Scotland has become the first and only Scottish partner of the Microsoft Cloud OS Network.

The £5 million site, built by Scottish firm brightsolid, is situated near the heart of Aberdeen and supports up to 25kW per rack.

At full capacity, the 2,200 square metre facility will hold the equivalent computer power of over 100,000 MacBooks and will have the ability to store the same amount of data that Facebook currently holds on a global scale.

Carrier Neutral

The carrier neutral site is set to hook up Aberdeen city both nationally and internationally with high-speed, low-latency links, including a 100Gb pipe straight to London. The data centre will be connected via brightsolid’s own UK network.

“We decided to build our next Tier III data centre in Aberdeen for a number of reasons,” said Richard Higgs, brightsolid CEO.

“Our primary facility in Dundee was reaching capacity due to the positive market response to our clouds, and expansion was always in our business strategy. After a detailed review of the market we realised that Aberdeen had an absolute need for a world class data centre and cloud partner that could help deliver on cost saving efficiency objectives.”

The company also claims that the the new data centre is one of the greenest data centres in the UK. Cooled by ecofris technology, using the latest fresh air-cooling research, the facility should operate at a PUE of 1.25.

Here are the main technical specifications:

  • Design PUE of 1.25
  • 1MW IT load
  • Able to support up to 25kW per rack with no hotspots
  • 2N Critical Power Solution with N+1 back-up power
  • Ecofris™ free cooling utilising a Flooded Airflow approach with N+1 back up
  • 24×7 onsite security and monitoring
  • Uptime Institute Tier III classification
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Hall 1
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Power distribution units
The Aberdeen network has been installed into brightsolid's production core network. Here are two graphs showing the memory utilisation on its London router. The left shows a three month timeline where the company added additional RAM in June where utilisation went down from c.75% to c.30%. The graph on the right shows a 12 hour timeline with no impact to memory since the Aberdeen kit has been added. Brightsolid said this means it has got optimum levels of capacity to add new customers and maintain speed.
The Aberdeen network has been installed into brightsolid’s production core network. Here are two graphs showing the memory utilisation on its London router. The left shows a three month timeline where the company added additional RAM in June where utilisation went down from c.75% to c.30%. The graph on the right shows a 12 hour timeline with no impact to memory since the Aberdeen kit has been added. Brightsolid said this means it has got optimum levels of capacity to add new customers and maintain speed.

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