> Volume 2 - January 2010
your Digital market Place magazine in this edition:
• nexellent – highquality telecommunications and IT solutions • SwissIX – largest Swiss hub with neutral data exchange platform • Cloud Suisse Association
www.interxion.ch
green data centres if not now, When?
2 Interxion offers: > HigHly secure facilities: Multi-level physical security including 24x7 onsite security, surveillance cameras, locked cabinets and private suites. > World-class facilities: Advanced Data Centre infrastructure with multiple layers of redundancy for power, cooling and fire-suppression. > flexibility to build bespoke solutions: Interxion works to ensure that every customer’s precise needs are met and their expectations are exceeded. > Market leading service levels: Interxion sets rigorous Service Level Agreements for all its services, designed to offer cost-effective, flexible ICT infrastructure. > carrier neutrality, Multiple netWork providers: Most top tier carriers and ISPs offer direct access to the networks that serve the world’s Internet/communication routes. Interxion hosts eleven of Europe’s Internet Exchanges, offering outstanding peering opportunities. > unprecedented connections: Interxion provides access to more than 700 Internet Service Providers and hosts the largest number of peering partners across Europe. Interxion ensures that the connectivity to your infrastructure - server farm, access network, or core network node - is superior. > local expertise, european presence: Every Interxion Data Centre is fully staffed with trained professionals who know the local regulations and are fluent in the local language. > european custoMer service centre: Interxion’s Data Centres are supported by a central European Customer Service Centre with a multilingual team offering technical assistance to customers 24 hours a day. > full support services: Equipment housing, engineering, maintenance, connectivity solutions and a range of monitoring services provide Interxion customers with solutions to better manage their ICT and internet infrastructures. > Volume 2 - January 2010
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interxion interacts Would you like to comment on our Interxion Magazine? We would be happy to receive your feedback via marketplace.ch@interxion.com
your Digital market Place magazine in this edition:
• nexellent – highquality telecommunications and IT solutions • SwissIX – largest Swiss hub with neutral data exchange platform • Cloud Suisse Association
www.interxion.ch
green data centres if not now, When?
3 Editorial Content In this edition: 2 interxion offers 3 editorial 4 customer case nexellent 6 green data centres 9 Who’s who Erik Vierstraete
10 cloud suisse association 11 e-drink impressions 12 customer case swissix 14 tips & tricks 15 fact sheet
Dear Customer, Fitting to phase 1 of our current expansion, the main topic in this edition is energy efficiency in data centres. In his article “Green Data Centres”, Lex Coors, Vice President Data Centre Technology & Engineering Group - Interxion, explains the criteria and latest developments which should be considered when planning the construction of a modular, energy-efficient data centre. Are you wondering who the man is, who has the skills and experience to manage such a complex expansion project? His name is Erik Vierstraete and he presents himself on page 9. Following our concept of the “Interxion Digital Market Place”, another of our customers presents himself: nexellent AG, a provider of telecommunication and IT solutions, who selected us as a facility provider and has been with us from the beginning. In addition, you can get acquainted with SwissIX, the Swiss Internet Exchange Association, which has become the leading Internet exchange platform in Switzerland and has its major hub within our data centre. And last but not least, on page 11 some impressions of our e-drink event held on October 22, 2009, with focus on the theme “Challenge Data Centre”. I hope you enjoy reading about our market place. Eddy Van den Broeck Managing Director Interxion (Schweiz) AG
Interxion Switzerland AG Sägereistrasse 29 8152 Glattbrugg Switzerland Tel. +41 44 562 30 00
4 customer
>
case
nexellent is a dynamic Swiss provider of highquality telecommunications and IT solutions that provides business clients with a comprehensive portfolio of future-oriented communication solutions. nexellent’s solid ICT infrastructure – designed with a “no holds barred” philosophy – ensures that it can cater to the needs of the most discerning of clientele. Be it data centres, fibre-optic links or security components, nexellent provides modular solutions that meet the most demanding of requirements in terms of security, availability and quality of service.
> Michael siber and Mischa n. Hächler, Managing partner of nexellent ag
“We are committed to longterm partnerships with reliable suppliers that share our philosophy of providing exceptional quality. One such partner is Interxion, a facility provider that plays a particularly important role in our value chain” explains Mischa Hächler, Managing Partner of nexellent ag, who then points out the successful cooperation between the two companies over the past five plus years. nexellent’s technicians are on site at Interxion’s data centre right around the clock where nexellent seamlessly extends Interxion’s data centre services via modular services such as “Storage as a Service”.
contact Mischa N. Hächler T +41 44 562 30 40 E-Mail: mischa.haechler@nexellent.ch www.nexellent.ch
5 High-Quality Telecommunications and IT Solutions uses state-of-the-art storage technology and mirrored systems in physically separated zones, it is suitable for clients with the highest of requirements in terms of data availability.
storage as a service: outsourcing saves up to 40 percent of costs Renting instead of buying – that’s the motto when it comes to saving on storage costs. Practically all companies today are confronted with enormous data growth. As a result, the demand for a secure data storage and management solution is on the increase. Increasing requirements from companies in terms of security and availability also imply increasing demands on the operation of the infrastructures. Data security is of the utmost importance to companies today.
features of managed storage: • Server & application-independent solution • Scalable storage capacities • Fixed costs via volume-based packages • High-performance SAS and Fibre Channel technology • No need to establish one’s own storage infrastructures • Data storage in two spatially separated data centres
Particularly in times of economic hardship where IT budges are reduced and resources are limited, nexellent’s storage service shows its value and assists in mastering the challenges posed by the complexity of data by reducing storage costs at a time of increasing storage capacities, ensuring compliance with more stringent guidelines and minimising new risks in the areas of disaster recovery and business continuity.
cost transparency The high degree of standardisation and maximised utilisation of the fully virtualised environments result in a cost advantage for clients. The service costs are calculated on the basis of a defined fixed price per gigabyte and are tailored to the respective client’s specific volume requirements. These volumes can be extended as required at any time. This means that clients of nexellent only pay for the actual data volume required.
nexellent’s storage solutions are based on powerful, redundantly designed storage platforms in spatially separated data centres. Because this service
Potential savings with "Storage as a Service " Charges SAN (Purchase)
40% cost savings
Charges Storage Services 12'000
56'000
33'400
11'000
135'000
Investment
Yearly OPEX
29'400
Yearly total cost
TCO Calculations over 36 months / all charges are in Swiss Francs (CHF)
Cost per GByte / month CHF 2.33
Cost per GByte / month CHF 1.33
Sample calculation: Investment versus Service Model
Sample comparison calculation for an industrial company with a data volume of ca. 3 terabytes, coupled with a 20% annual growth in data volume.
6 Green Data Centres: If Not Now, When?
“For years now the industry has been discussing the ultimate green data centre, but secretly wondering what it means to be “really” green. Now we need to test these claims objectively”, says lex coors, vice president data centre technology & engineering group, interxion.
lex coors lex coors, vp data centre technology & engineering group - interxion Lex Coors has been managing complex engineering and design and build challenges since the early 1980s. As Interxion’s Director of Engineering, and latterly VP Data Centre Technology & Engineering Group, he has supervised the design, build and upgrade of nearly 50‘000m2 of data centre space in 25 locations in 11 countries. A founder member of the Uptime Institute, Lex is also a member of European Commission DG Joint Research Committee on Sustainability and the European Data Centre Code of Conduct Metrics Group as well as being a regular contributor to The Green Grid Technical Forum.
energy usage: the bottom line In a few short years data centres will emit more greenhouse gases than airlines. The cost implications of this are not yet clear, but if they are half as heavy for our sector as they have been for the airline industry, we will need to fasten our seatbelts. At the same time Moore’s Law has driven the cost of powering IT higher than the cost of the IT equipment itself. Energy prices are rising too. According to The Uptime Institute, the cost of power and infrastructure for IT as a percentage of budget is moving from 1-3 percent a few years ago into double figures. All of the factors driving an energy efficiency programme – environmental, political, corporate, commercial – are converging into a single commonsense imperative; save money by saving energy. Starting now.
7 Interxion has been collaborating with the Uptime Institute EMEA and The Green Grid to agree a set of universal usable ratings for energy and power efficiency.
green data centres: Walking the talk Some people would still rather talk about green data centres than build and operate them. This can lead to confusion. So how do you recognise a Green Data Centre? It boils down to measurement. The key calculation is Power usage Efficiency (PUEenergy), or the science of maximising the amount of useful power delivered to the IT equipment for each unit passing through the data centre transformer. Total data centre energy usage divided by IT equipment energy usage gives you PUE. • So, for instance, the green dream data centre would have a PUE of 1, which means that every kWh of energy at the transformer is used completely by the IT equipment. Unfortunately this is not physically possible as some infrastructure services such as cooling etc. always have to be provided. • At the other end of the spectrum there are data centres with PUEs of anything from 2 up to 7 or 8. A PUE of 2 or more is becoming more and more unacceptable these days, because it means that more energy is being spent on powering infrastructure for IT than on powering the equipment itself. These are typically in-house data centres based on legacy equipment, but they do include some data centres managed by dedicated providers. • Today’s green data centres lie between these extremes. The PUE of Interxion data centres, for instance, is now nearly as low as it can go, as a result of a six year programme of
measurement and year-on-year improvement which took us from what we decided was an unacceptably high level to our present position in the front rank of green data centre providers.
green standards We have been collaborating with the Uptime Institute EMEA and The Green Grid to agree a set of universal usable ratings for energy and power efficiency. Progress in this area is also being shared with the Joint Research Committee of the European Commission, which has been tasked with developing the industry’s first pan-European voluntary code of practice. Some data centre owners want to compare the PUE from their data centre with the PUE of another data centre, but this was never the intention. Just measure your own PUE and improve yourself; that’s the message from the Green Grid and the European commission. The standards will simply reward existing best practice. PUEpower – that is, max transformer load over max IT hardware load - can be converted to a percentage value to create PUEcalculated – Data Centre Infrastructure Power Efficiency. This measure was developed by Interxion and circulated to both the Uptime Institute and The Green Grid. In addition, I expect that PUE will be the key calculation behind a broader energy rating with more relevance to customers – the Data Centre Infrastructure Efficiency rating (DCI-E).
8 “In order to minimise the PUEpower, a green data centre should never be over-specified for the task it performs. This is why the modular data centre build-out approach which I pioneered for Interxion has now become the norm across the industry.” lex coors
Interxion 6 year PUE Gains Industry Norm Acceptable Exceptional
2003
2004
2005
2006
Modular design & operations Green data centres have other characteristics in both design and operations. In order to minimise the power overhead, a green data centre should never be over-specified for the task it performs. This is why the modular data centre build-out approach which I pioneered for Interxion has now become the norm across the industry. Some energy-efficient components are now standard. Free-cooling on Chillers, for instance, is now a non-negotiable element in a green data centre, a feature which Interxion has been including in all build-outs since 2005. In addition, smart procurement drives efficiency gains over time. Efficiencyfocused Design Engineering Requirements which approach the energy flow of the data centre as an integrated system are the key. For instance a strict policy should be in place for selecting UPS providers, floor systems, or high Coefficient of Performance chillers which work efficiently in combination.
2007
2008
customer support For the dedicated carrier and vendorneutral data centre provider, there is one more characteristic which is key to making a data centre green: Green customers. If your data centre PUE is less than 2, then the greater part of the power spent in the data centre is used to power customer IT equipment. Everyone recognises that there are huge opportunities for gaining efficiencies at minimal cost in the short term. Our role is to support and advise. As well as keeping its own house in order, the truly green data centre should be a focal point for enabling these customer efficiencies, by sharing best practice on installation, providing energy usage measurement and analysis advice, and offering a range of tools and services. Working together with our customers, we can make the energy efficiency of the equipment at the heart of the data centre as green as the infrastructure of the data centre itself.
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Erik Vierstraete is Project Manager
teaM-
“As Project Manager at Interxion I develop, plan and realise green, energy-efficient, high-density data centres”, Erik explains. “Here in Glattbrugg, I manage the data centre build-out of Zurich 1.3.” “A part of my responsibilities is to function as mediator and communications facilitator between Interxion Switzerland and Headquarters and the other parties involved in this project, like the general planner and main contractor.”
“What I love about data centre build-outs is to be on the cutting edge of technology and bring maximum value to Interxion and its customers, while minimising the environmental impact.” Erik started his career in IT infrastructure, working as a systems/network engineer. Later his career moved into the realm of project management and business. Now he uses the experiences he gained working in data centre environments to build data centres, which match customer needs. I started out small, designing and planning 100 m2 server rooms and progressed to extensive buildouts such as Interxion’s Amsterdam 5 with its 5000 m2 customer space.
? If you have questions for Erik, he can be reached by telephone at +41 44 562 30 64, or by e-mail at erikv@interxion.com.
member
10 Cloud Suisse – A platform for the Swiss Cloud Computing community At present, we experience a paradigm shift in the IT industry, which, similar to the PC revolution 20 years ago, will change our world in almost all areas of life. Only by means of the recent developments that are summarized under the terms Cloud Computing and Software as a Service, the old visions of an all-penetrating and everywhere-existing computer technology are actually realized. One can endorse or reject, however hardly stop this process. Therefore, on October 5, 2009, some members of the still young Swiss Cloud Computing industry created the association Cloud Suisse. Cloud Suisse aims to become a platform and an information turntable for providers and users of Cloud Computing solutions in Switzerland. What does Cloud Computing mean for Swiss software vendors, for hosting providers, as well as for hardware and infrastructure suppliers? Which aspects should be considered by Swiss users of national and international Cloud Computing offerings? What are the chances of Switzerland as a potential location for the data centres of Cloud Computing providers?
How does Cloud Computing change the added value chain in the IT services sector? Cloud Suisse wants to initialise and enable discussing these and other questions. The founding executive board with Andreas Von Gunten of PARX (president), Wibke Sudholt of CloudBroker GmbH, Daniel Ebneter of the FHNW Basel and Eddy Van the Broeck of Interxion (Schweiz) AG is currently laying out the fundament for the new association. A working group under the direction of Wibke Sudholt organizes a first one-day conference, the Cloud Suisse Conference 2010, which will take place on March 15, 2010, in the Technopark Zurich. The association is open for natural persons, companies, as well as organizations from the academic, government and non-profit sector. If you are interested in working on the topic Cloud Computing in Switzerland or if you would like to support Cloud Suisse in any other way, you are cordially invited to contact us via the form on our web site www.cloudsuisse.org.
> from left to right: peter kunszt (cloudbroker), andreas von gunten (parx), Wibke sudholt (cloudbroker), eddy van den broeck (interxion)
11 Event Impressions
e-drink 22.10.2009
12 customer
>
case
The Swiss Internet Exchange association (SwissIX) is a major national partner and Internet exchange point over which ISPs exchange Internet traffic between their respective networks. It is therefore a hub. “The Swiss Internet Exchange association (SwissIX) was founded in March of 2001 by dedicated Internet service providers”, explains SwissIX President, Marco Huggenberger. “Since then, further local and even international ISPs have become participants. These ISPs generally carry out the direct and free data exchange for their Internet access or hosting customers over SwissIX via the local Internet exchange point (IXP). Today it’s mostly specialised content providers (content delivery networks, or CDNs for short) that provide their content directly and free of charge. In this regard, we are able to provide access to a variety of external connectivity partners over the fast-growing IXP SwissIX”, explains Huggenberger, describing the association’s activities.
“As a founder member and professional colocation partner, Interxion (Schweiz) AG provided us with the technical basis for the development of an IXP. In terms of the planning, organisation, development and long-term operation of the association, we were able to draw on the valuable experience of and contacts from Interxion (Schweiz) AG. This partnership is fundamental to the success of the SwissIX association.”
13 Largest Swiss hub with a neutral data exchange platform on the Interxion marketplace “Our main goal is the promotion of direct and free data exchange and hence also the improvement of communication between the Swiss providers. SwissIX is the largest Swiss hub with a neutral data exchange platform for small and large Internet service providers”, explains Huggenberger. “Due to continuously growing bandwidth capacity requirements, we also plan to soon offer additional services such as monitoring or reporting tools. We are currently developing a new business model that will enable us to offer the existing basic services free of charge. For a monthly fee, participants with greater demands will be able to receive additional services. Since the first participants connected, we have been noticing an enormous growth in bandwidth. ISPs at SwissIX now benefit even more from the presence of CDNs that can directly use the data of end users (e.g. Google Mail) or software updates (e.g. Microsoft). Web 2.0 applications and topics such as cloud computing support this trend.
“It’s for good reasons that SwissIX’s headquarters are located at Interxion (Schweiz) AG.” Marco Huggenberger has been President of SwissIX since July, 2009. Alongside organisational activities, his main role involves communicating with the various interest groups and members of the association (ISPs, CDNs, private persons), data centre operators (colocation, housing) and data transport providers (ISPs, carriers). The board comprises 7 members who are involved in the operation and expansion of SwissIX on a voluntary basis. about swissix The SwissIX association was founded in 2001. It ensures Internet traffic and data exchange (daily traffic volume of up to 5 Gbps) at currently over 10 locations with over 100 participants (numbers correct as of November, 2009). This includes Internet service providers such as Swisscom, UPC Broadband and Sunrise as well as content providers such as Google, Microsoft and Hattrick.org.
> swissix board: (from left to right) Markus Wild, nik Hug, Matthias cramer, roger lüssi, roman Hochuli, Marco Huggenberger (president) absent: erich Hohermuth
contact President Marco Huggenberger T +41 79 787 77 75 E-Mail: marco.huggenberger@swissix.ch www.swissix.ch
14 Tips & Tricks > QUESTION How can you provide redundant electric power supply for your mission-critical hardware to guarantee continuity?
> ANSWER With a source transfer switch (sts). > Dirk Gobeli
Facility Manager
Usually only the most advanced servers are equipped with double power supply possibilities. The average routers, switches and 1U servers are equipped as a standard with a single power connection, i.e. they get electricity from a single power supply source. For this reason, Interxion advises its customers to connect their hardware also to a Source Transfer Switch (STS).
advanced sla (2n) with sts Assuming one power cord per server available
Cabinet
a
server 3
a
server 2
a
server 1
plug socket rail
Source Transfer Switch
SLA Demarcation Line
UPS A (Generator backup) plug under raised floor
UPS B (Generator backup) plug under raised floor
UPS A
UPS B
How can you provide redundant electric power supply for your mission-critical hardware with only one socket cable? With a Source Transfer Switch (drawing above). The two sources (Feed A + B) can then simply be connected to this system. If the primary power supply should fail, the secondary source automatically takes over immediately.
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More inforMation For more information contact Interxion at +41 44 562 30 00 or customercare.ch@interxion.com
15 Fact Sheet > FACIlITy
• 2’700 m2 of equipped space • Located next to Zurich Kloten airport (five minutes) and ten minutes from Zurich city centre • Fault-tolerant and concurrently maintainable design
> CONNECTIVITy
• Dual-entry fibre • Direct access to 30 carriers/ISPs including the SwissIX Internet exchange • SLA-based cross connects available to all Zurich customers
> POWER
• • • •
4 MVA redundant grid connection Up to 99.999% availability SLA 2N UPA redundancy N+1 backup generators, supporting 72 hours at full capacity with highspeed refueling • Full range of output voltages and currents
> SECURITy
• Trained security staff on site 24x7 • Multiple physical security layers, including CCTV, man traps, 24x7 controlled access • ISO 27001-certified information security management systems
> CONTROllED ENVIRONmENT
• Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus (VESDA) • Inergen fire suppression system • N+1 CRAC redundancy per room • SLAs on temperature and humidity in line with ASHRAE recommendations • Entire facility infrastructure monitored 24x7 (Chiller, CRAC, Fire Panels, Generator, UPS, etc.)
> SERVICES
• Cabinets, shared rooms, cages and private suites • Remote hands-and-eyes: 24x7 installation and maintenance • Connectivity, management, backup services • Extendable across Europe via one service contract
> ENERGy EFFICIENCy
• Phased modular architecture optimizes Power Usage • Effectiveness (PUE) • Chillers with free cooling • Cold cube setup • Operated to the highest energy efficiency standards
> CUSTOmER SUPPORT
ISO 27001-accredited European Customer Service Centre (ECSC) provides support in 11 countries to the same rigorous standards: • 24x7 facility and service monitoring • Multilingual response (German, English, Spanish, French and Dutch)
accreditations & associations Contributor member, The Green Grid
Cofounder EmEA Chapter, Uptime Institute
ISO-27001-accredited Information Security management-Systems
Contributor, EC Joint Research Centre on Sustainability
Patron of the European Internet Exchange Association Cofounder and patron of the Swiss Internet Exchange Association (SwissIX)
Published by Salima Touchal
interxion switzerland ag, sägereistrasse 29, 8152 glattbrugg, switzerland
Carrier-Neutral Data Centres
POWER ON Equipment Housing | Connectivity | Managed Services Tel: +41 44 562 30 00 Fax: +41 44 562 30 01 web: www.interxion.ch e-mail: info.ch@interxion.com Amsterdam • Brussels • Copenhagen • Dublin • Düsseldorf • Frankfurt • Hilversum • London • Madrid • Paris • Stockholm • Vienna • Zurich