8 Solutions

15/12/2014

15/12/2014

8 Solutions, a specialist at increasing efficiency and mitigating against the risk of down-time in critical facilities, has been granted the title of Endorser, to the European Code of Conduct on Data Centres.

Notified on the 10th December 2014, 8 Solutions proudly accepts the responsibilities which come with the role of Endorser, including, but not limited to:

o Aiding Code of Conduct Participants in putting into practice the recommendations of Participant Guidelines and Best Practices
o Disseminating information on the Code of Conduct
o Encouraging companies to become Code of Conduct Participants

In recognition of our support and implementation of energy efficiency practices within the data centre, we hope to welcome several new Participants to the Code of Conduct in the near future.
8 Solutions recognise the significant benefits Airflow Optimisation brings to a Datacentre Manager:

o Increased resilience; through improved cooling effectiveness and utilisation
o Reduced costs; reduced energy bills through a more efficient operation, & furthermore claim CCA energy cost rebates from targeted energy savings
o Improved revenue opportunity; release stranded cooling capacity to be able to deploy additional IT equipment from exist cooling assets
o Improve credibility; Contribution to CSR² (Corporate & Social Responsibility, and Carbon Sustainability Reporting), & recognition from industry peers through Code compliance.

Nigel Laws, Technical Services Director of 8 Solutions, said: “Whether your focus is efficiency or capacity planning, reliability or simply more effective cooling from your raised access floor, 8 Solutions can provide impartial advice and solutions to maximize return from your investment.”

For more information about the Code of Conduct please either contact us or visit the EU website:

http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/ict-codes-conduct/data-centres-energy-efficiency

For more information about our airflow solutions and services, contact us at [email protected] or call 01438 751757.

The Institute for Energy and Transport (IET) is one of the 7 scientific institutes of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. The IET is based both in Petten, the Netherlands, and Ispra, Italy, and has a multidisciplinary team of around 300 academic, technical, and support staff.…

15/04/2014

8 Solutions grows with new client

8 Solutions has won a contract to perform a technical clean of a large data centre for the largest telecoms provider within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The contract includes four cleans over a period of the next 24 months.

David Hogg, Managing Director said “Once again we have demonstrated our ability to mobilise and deploy our teams of highly trained technicians to areas all across the World. Our track record on large scale mobilisations is impeccable and we have a great track record of customer satisfaction that ensures we continue to grow every aspect of our business”.

15/04/2014

8 Solutions top 10 worst offending contaminants and best practice tips

Contamination is a constant threat to sensitive data centre equipment. Its potential effects range from impaired power efficiency to catastrophic equipment failure. In some instances, the equipment warranty provider may deem a warranty void if there are excessive levels of contamination. But, what causes contamination in such sterile environments?

David Hogg, Managing Director at 8 Solutions, a specialist at increasing efficiency and mitigating against the risk of down-time in critical facilities, explains: “Contamination affecting ICT typically comes in two forms—particulate matter and gaseous. These can cause a number of problems. If particulate matter blocks equipment cooling fans and heat sinks, equipment needs to work harder in order to keep within operating temperature limits. This can increase a data centre’s power demand and also shortens the lifetime of critical equipment, as well as causing hardware failure due to overheating. Oxidisation arising from gas interaction can cause permanent corrosion, leading to irreparable equipment damage and failure.”

He continued: “Although contamination can have far reaching implications, there are some relatively straight-forward initiatives that can be introduced to reduce risks and avoid problems. These include banning a number of contaminants from the data centre as well as introducing practical measures to alleviate impurities and reduce the risk.”

The top 10 worst offending physical data centre pollutants include:

1.Cardboard, or any paper based material
2.Sweeping brushes
3.Non HEPA filtered vacuum machines
4.Any liquids or water
5.Wooden pallets
6.Mops/Buckets
7.Fibrous carpet mats or tiles
8.Contaminated tools or materials
9.Food or drink
10.Untrained cleaning operatives

8 Solutions carries out technical cleaning for a large majority of FTSE 100 data centres, often recommending ways to avoid contamination (both particulate and gaseous) and reduce the levels of risk. Here, the company shares its best practice tips and advice on how to minimise potential contamination problems:

1.Ensure all bare construction materials such as, concrete, plasterboard, masonry, brickwork are sealed with the relevant non-water based paint/sealer. This is to stop surface particles being drawn into the air flow and subsequently deposited into critical equipment.

2.All equipment is to be de-boxed in a dedicated staging/de-box area, fibres in cardboard and paper and related products are released when handling and distributed into the airflow.

3.Facility staff and contractors should remove all debris from their work site after completion of a project, tie wraps, nuts bolts; screws etc. whilst these items will not be picked up in the air flow they do obstruct airflow.

4.Facility staff and contractors should use a HEPA vacuum or equivalent and extract and contain any dust particles whilst drilling, pulling through cables, knocking through walls etc.

5.All construction/dirty works within a DC should be completed under a “Permit to Work” scheme and checked off after completion to ensure that all debris/contamination has been removed.

6.Carpet tiles within a DC should be removed and replaced with vinyl or laminated RAF tiles to eliminate the distribution of carpet fibres.

7.Foot traffic through a critical facility should be kept to a minimum to avoid the distribution of clothing, hair, skin and foot borne contamination.

8.ACU drive belts to be regularly inspected to ensure that the drive pulley is inline as an out of line pulley will cause the drive belt to wear quicker distributing rubber particles into the environment.

9.Tak mats or tak panels to be placed at all entry points and any key thoroughfare points through the DC.

10.Overshoes to be compulsory for anyone entering a critical environment.

For additional advice please contact 8 Solutions on +44 (0) 845 602 3075.

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15/04/2014

8 Solutions data centre decontamination services