Inside Rackspace's UK cloud datacentre
Summary: The Slough-based facility is preparing to expand as the company builds its UK cloud, adopts new cooling techniques and seeks to increase efficiency
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Rackspace's Slough-based datacentre
Rackspace's Slough-based datacentre houses the hardware for its UK cloud, along with the other servers rented by its customers. It has 1,600 racks in place, of which 120 support its cloud.
The datacentre, in operation since June 2008, is in the process of being expanded. The company is adding a further data hall, which will bulk up the facility's IT floor space by 17,000 square feet, to a total of 89,000. At the same time, Rackspace is bringing in new cooling systems to increase the efficiency of the site and cut its power costs.
Rackspace's server hardware is predominantly supplied by Dell. It operates a multi-vendor networking approach: Cisco is the predominant provider of switching technology, while Juniper Networks supplies backbone services and Brocade provides equipment for load balancing.
One of the key reasons for staying with Cisco is that it's "easy for hiring", Alberto Sandoval, director of product international at Rackspace, told ZDNet UK.
Photo credit: Jack Clark
See more of ZDNet UK's datacentre tour.
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