TelecityGroup will not use containers in new datacentre

TelecityGroup will not use containers for its just-announced 3.5 megawatt facility in Manchester.

On Tuesday the co-location provider's managing director of the UK and Ireland, Adriaan Oosthoek, told ZDNet UK that "we're not using containerised solutions, mainly because I do not think they are very flexible for our customers". TelecityGroup will open a new facility in Manchester by the third quarter of 2011, it was announced on Monday.

He said containers could scare away business as "they are inflexible because they fix the position of your racks and also your type of racks".

Also, as has been said by both TelecityGroup and Interxion, businesses involved in finance that take space in a datacentre tend to want to mingle, socialise and cross-link equipment. Containers make this more difficult for customers to do, Oosthoek said.

But containers do have their uses: Capgemini used containers throughout its recently-opened energy efficient Merlin datacentre and achieved a power usage effectiveness rating of 1.1. TelecityGroup expect to reach a PUE of around 1.4 with their Manchester facility, Oosthoek said.