Data Center in Switzerland: to work like a clock
Many companies today choose virtual servers and access the services of a hosting provider, saving themselves from the costs and hassle of buying and maintaining physical servers. Some hosting providers offer not only modern Russian data centers, but also the most advanced foreign sites for hosting VPS / VDS virtual servers . In some cases, clients resort to the services of foreign data centers . We have already written about the pros and cons of choosing such data centers and what they may be of interest to Russian customers , so we will not dwell on this in detail.
Today we will talk about the well-known data center of the Interxion holding in Zurich, Switzerland. Let's see what this site is good for and what it can offer customers, let's take a short tour of the data center. But first - a little about who the company is Interxion, and what it is famous for.
Interxion currently operates more than 50 data centers in 11 countries. Despite the fact that the company describes itself as being exclusively European, most of its customers are American companies that seek to create “bridgeheads” in Europe.
Interixion offers flexible solutions in its 50 data centers in 13 European cities - a range of options to meet different security, power and cooling needs.
Interxion customers can choose the site as close as possible to their target audience and guarantee it a minimum delay in accessing their Internet resources.
Interxion's Cloud Connect service provides secure and high-performance VLAN connections to several well-known clouds, such as Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, and Amazon Web Services.
The cloud access service Interxion Cloud Connect provides connection to several cloud providers. With Cloud Connect, a client gets quick access to the cloud and can dynamically scale the bandwidth of a network connection.
Interxion can offer the solution you need and the shortest path to the Google cloud in many parts of Europe.
If a business requires a reliable and high-performance connection to the Google Cloud cloud platform, then the Interxion data center is the right place. At the same time, you can either establish a dedicated connection on your own, or use Cloud Connect service for simplicity.
Many Interxion data centers have passed the SSAE16 audit or are ISO or LEED certified. In addition, its data centers have received industry-specific awards in a wide variety of categories, including operational reliability, market leadership, and green initiatives.
The company continues to commission new sites. This year, Interxion opened its third data center in London, codenamed “LON3”. It offers 1,800 square meters of space and 3 MW of power, provides customers with a choice of over 100 providers and eight main CDNs.
By the way, this spring, the Russian hosting provider RUVDS completed negotiations with the British data center Equinix LD8, Huawei and the international backbone carrier RETN on the creation of RUVDS containment zones in London. RUVDS also opens a new platform based on MMTS-9 ( M9 ). Currently MMTS-9is the largest technological platform in Moscow for interaction between Moscow, Russian and international telecom operators in the provision of local, long-distance, international telephone communication, data transmission, Internet access and other telecommunication services. In addition, MMTS-9 is the largest point of inter-operator exchange of Internet traffic in Russia.
Due to its location in the center of the British capital, the Equinix data center is primarily focused on enterprises in the financial sector, in the advertising and media industry.
Interxion is characterized by a consistently high utilization rate of its sites (at the level of 81%) and revenue growth. In the first quarter of this year, the total area of its data center, equipped with equipment, increased by 4 thousand m2.
Interxion engineers are no strangers to innovation. Over the years, the company has repeatedly become a pioneer in the field of modular data centers and advanced cooling solutions. For example, several years ago, it decided to use sea water for cooling several of its data centers in Stockholm, which made it possible to achieve significant advantages in the field of energy efficiency: energy costs were reduced by 80%. With the help of water from the Baltic Sea, engineers were able to achieve PUE at level 1.1. In addition to the introduction of seawater cooling technology, the company was a pioneer in the area of phased development and transition to cold corridors.
Strategically located in the center of one of the largest financial markets in Europe, Equinix data processing centers in Zurich provide security, privacy, network reliability and low latency, including the ability to reach 80% of Europe with a network delay of 30 ms (round-trip delay). In addition, it is able to connect to more than 70 network service providers, more than 60 cloud and IT providers, and over 10 content and digital media providers. Zurich data centers are certified to meet strict environmental and energy standards.
Zurich, located in the center of Europe, attracts companies from many countries. Its business-friendly environment, tax regime and highly educated workforce contribute to the success and prosperity of financial and technological organizations from around the world.
Zurich data center Interxion ZH1 offers flexible conditions in accordance with the needs in the data center and electricity areas, since these needs may change over time.
The ZH1 IBX is a purpose-built, highly reliable data center in the center of Zurich with conference rooms and office space. This is one of many modern Interxion data centers in key metropolitan areas throughout Europe that offer a full range of premium services. The main services of the data center include colocation services, direct access to Microsoft Azure and AWS clouds, 24x7 support.
Located in the main infrastructure of the SwissIX Internet traffic exchange, this data center is characterized by high network connectivity.
Collocation services include the placement of customer equipment in racks, cages, or dedicated rooms.
If customers need an additional perimeter of physical protection, then their racks are placed in special cells - cages. The cage can be installed its own access control system. Identification systems can be different: a magnetic card reader, fingerprints, retina. Inside you can install additional security cameras, volume sensors and movement.
All critical data center systems are reserved in a 2N or N + 1
configuration . Interxion ZRH1 is more than 40 fixed and mobile network operators, Internet service providers and CDNs, direct access to SwissIX and NL-IX Internet traffic exchange points.
Interixion operations meet the stringent requirements of the Swiss banking sector, and the data center has good CO2 reductions, which helps to meet the increased demand for “green hosting” in many sectors.
For 20 years, the company has been designing, building, operating, and managing data centers, focusing on improving reliability, security, stability, efficiency, and performance.
20 years of experience means that the company guarantees consistent design and stable quality of work across the whole range of proposals, allowing customers to easily scale their services throughout Europe.
The proposed equipment placement options range from individual cabinets to rack groups and dedicated rooms for increased security. Interixion also provides a wide range of power configurations and power distribution options.
Customer equipment is supported in climate-controlled environments, with the appropriate temperature and humidity parameters specified in the SLA. As you know, static electricity can be dangerous for IT equipment in the data center. To minimize it, it is recommended to maintain a certain level of relative humidity in the data center premises. The problem of condensation - another problem, therefore, exceeding the maximum value of the level of relative humidity in the data center is also undesirable and must be controlled. The data center complies with the SLA in temperature and humidity in accordance with the recommendations of ASHRAE. Cooling systems are reserved according to the N + 1 scheme.
All racks with server and telecom equipment are installed on the raised floor. The main function of the raised floor is to supply cold air to the racks. Under the raised floor there are busbars, through which electricity is supplied to the racks.
As emphasized in the company, customers can be confident in the physical security of their systems, infrastructure performance and its availability - it is guaranteed by the SLA at the level of 99.999%.
Data center security is monitored around the clock using CCTV and security services. The data center uses numerous access systems, including contactless keys and biometric readers. Customers can also add their own security systems - if they rent a separate room.
Interixion data centers have five levels of physical security, and security officers work 24/7.
All the premises and the territory of the data center are viewed through the internal and external surveillance cameras. A picture of what is happening in the data center is broadcast around the clock on the monitors of the security service.
The purpose of the gateway is to organize the entrance (exit) to the protected area in such a mode that the point of passage is never “transparent”.
Like all of the company's data centers, the data center in Zurich is ISO 27001 and BS 25999 certified. It uses modern systems and processes to monitor and manage operations 24x7, with local support staff working with the multilingual European Customer Service Center (ECSC).
Thanks to round-the-clock monitoring and a system for managing incidents and business continuity, the company adheres to industry best practices and operates in accordance with ITILv3.
The data center is powered by two substations of different electricity suppliers. All equipment has two power inputs, each of which is independently equipped with a UPS and a backup power supply from a diesel generator.
Thus, two beams of power supply are brought to all critical engineering equipment. All IT equipment connects to two independent beams through uninterruptible power supplies. If the city power is lost, the UPS automatically transfers its load to the batteries. At the same time, the automation system gives the command to start the DGS. They need about a minute to reach operating power, after which the data center begins to be powered by a diesel generator set, and not by batteries.
DGU can support the work of the data center for an unlimited time.
The data center has an early smoke detection system and an Inergen gas extinguishing system in accordance with local regulations. It is designed for maximum safety and minimum damage.
The data center in Zurich uses renewable energy and is certified by myclimate as the only green data center in Switzerland. It uses free cooling systems and closed cold corridors. All these measures allowed to reduce cooling costs by 30%.
With free-cooling, the power supply of the cooling system is much cheaper: when the air conditioning compressors are turned off, only fans and pumps consume electricity. All components of the cold supply are reserved under the scheme N + 1 or N2: any component can be turned off for repair or service without interruption in the operation of the entire system.
And finally, important news: Russian hosting provider RUVDS is commissioning its own pressure zone at the Interxion data center in Zurich. The company already has a similar experience thanks to the collaboration with the Deltalis data center in Attinghausen, Switzerland. The new site is designed to provide customers with the services of renting virtual servers VPS / VDS. The implementation of projects in Switzerland ensures a high level of data security - technological and legal - as well as the optimization of access speed for European customers due to its convenient geographical location. VPS services in Zurich will be available from November 11, 2018 to both Russian and foreign RUVDS customers at the same low prices.
An important advantage of Russian hosting providers offering their services on the basis of a foreign platform is the presence of a Russian-speaking technical support service, which foreign providers do not always offer. In addition, Russian hosting providers are well aware of the problems and requirements of Russian customers, and this often helps to resolve issues that have arisen as soon as possible.
RUVDS services are focused primarily on the corporate segment: government agencies, banks, stock market players. RUVDS has its own TIER 3 data center in Korolev, Moscow Region, as well as pressure zones in Deltalis (Switzerland), London Equinix LD8 (United Kingdom), and MMTS-9 (Moscow, Russia) data centers. All containment systems meet the reliability level not lower than TIER 3, and high speed and flexible tariff plans make web hosting attractive for customers.
Today we will talk about the well-known data center of the Interxion holding in Zurich, Switzerland. Let's see what this site is good for and what it can offer customers, let's take a short tour of the data center. But first - a little about who the company is Interxion, and what it is famous for.
Fifty Interxion data centers
Interxion currently operates more than 50 data centers in 11 countries. Despite the fact that the company describes itself as being exclusively European, most of its customers are American companies that seek to create “bridgeheads” in Europe.
Interixion offers flexible solutions in its 50 data centers in 13 European cities - a range of options to meet different security, power and cooling needs.
Interxion customers can choose the site as close as possible to their target audience and guarantee it a minimum delay in accessing their Internet resources.
Interxion's Cloud Connect service provides secure and high-performance VLAN connections to several well-known clouds, such as Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, and Amazon Web Services.
The cloud access service Interxion Cloud Connect provides connection to several cloud providers. With Cloud Connect, a client gets quick access to the cloud and can dynamically scale the bandwidth of a network connection.
Interxion can offer the solution you need and the shortest path to the Google cloud in many parts of Europe.
If a business requires a reliable and high-performance connection to the Google Cloud cloud platform, then the Interxion data center is the right place. At the same time, you can either establish a dedicated connection on your own, or use Cloud Connect service for simplicity.
Many Interxion data centers have passed the SSAE16 audit or are ISO or LEED certified. In addition, its data centers have received industry-specific awards in a wide variety of categories, including operational reliability, market leadership, and green initiatives.
The company continues to commission new sites. This year, Interxion opened its third data center in London, codenamed “LON3”. It offers 1,800 square meters of space and 3 MW of power, provides customers with a choice of over 100 providers and eight main CDNs.
By the way, this spring, the Russian hosting provider RUVDS completed negotiations with the British data center Equinix LD8, Huawei and the international backbone carrier RETN on the creation of RUVDS containment zones in London. RUVDS also opens a new platform based on MMTS-9 ( M9 ). Currently MMTS-9is the largest technological platform in Moscow for interaction between Moscow, Russian and international telecom operators in the provision of local, long-distance, international telephone communication, data transmission, Internet access and other telecommunication services. In addition, MMTS-9 is the largest point of inter-operator exchange of Internet traffic in Russia.
Due to its location in the center of the British capital, the Equinix data center is primarily focused on enterprises in the financial sector, in the advertising and media industry.
Interxion is characterized by a consistently high utilization rate of its sites (at the level of 81%) and revenue growth. In the first quarter of this year, the total area of its data center, equipped with equipment, increased by 4 thousand m2.
Interxion engineers are no strangers to innovation. Over the years, the company has repeatedly become a pioneer in the field of modular data centers and advanced cooling solutions. For example, several years ago, it decided to use sea water for cooling several of its data centers in Stockholm, which made it possible to achieve significant advantages in the field of energy efficiency: energy costs were reduced by 80%. With the help of water from the Baltic Sea, engineers were able to achieve PUE at level 1.1. In addition to the introduction of seawater cooling technology, the company was a pioneer in the area of phased development and transition to cold corridors.
Datacenter in Zurich
Strategically located in the center of one of the largest financial markets in Europe, Equinix data processing centers in Zurich provide security, privacy, network reliability and low latency, including the ability to reach 80% of Europe with a network delay of 30 ms (round-trip delay). In addition, it is able to connect to more than 70 network service providers, more than 60 cloud and IT providers, and over 10 content and digital media providers. Zurich data centers are certified to meet strict environmental and energy standards.
Zurich, located in the center of Europe, attracts companies from many countries. Its business-friendly environment, tax regime and highly educated workforce contribute to the success and prosperity of financial and technological organizations from around the world.
Zurich data center Interxion ZH1 offers flexible conditions in accordance with the needs in the data center and electricity areas, since these needs may change over time.
The ZH1 IBX is a purpose-built, highly reliable data center in the center of Zurich with conference rooms and office space. This is one of many modern Interxion data centers in key metropolitan areas throughout Europe that offer a full range of premium services. The main services of the data center include colocation services, direct access to Microsoft Azure and AWS clouds, 24x7 support.
Located in the main infrastructure of the SwissIX Internet traffic exchange, this data center is characterized by high network connectivity.
Collocation services include the placement of customer equipment in racks, cages, or dedicated rooms.
If customers need an additional perimeter of physical protection, then their racks are placed in special cells - cages. The cage can be installed its own access control system. Identification systems can be different: a magnetic card reader, fingerprints, retina. Inside you can install additional security cameras, volume sensors and movement.
All critical data center systems are reserved in a 2N or N + 1
configuration . Interxion ZRH1 is more than 40 fixed and mobile network operators, Internet service providers and CDNs, direct access to SwissIX and NL-IX Internet traffic exchange points.
Interixion operations meet the stringent requirements of the Swiss banking sector, and the data center has good CO2 reductions, which helps to meet the increased demand for “green hosting” in many sectors.
For 20 years, the company has been designing, building, operating, and managing data centers, focusing on improving reliability, security, stability, efficiency, and performance.
20 years of experience means that the company guarantees consistent design and stable quality of work across the whole range of proposals, allowing customers to easily scale their services throughout Europe.
The proposed equipment placement options range from individual cabinets to rack groups and dedicated rooms for increased security. Interixion also provides a wide range of power configurations and power distribution options.
Customer equipment is supported in climate-controlled environments, with the appropriate temperature and humidity parameters specified in the SLA. As you know, static electricity can be dangerous for IT equipment in the data center. To minimize it, it is recommended to maintain a certain level of relative humidity in the data center premises. The problem of condensation - another problem, therefore, exceeding the maximum value of the level of relative humidity in the data center is also undesirable and must be controlled. The data center complies with the SLA in temperature and humidity in accordance with the recommendations of ASHRAE. Cooling systems are reserved according to the N + 1 scheme.
All racks with server and telecom equipment are installed on the raised floor. The main function of the raised floor is to supply cold air to the racks. Under the raised floor there are busbars, through which electricity is supplied to the racks.
As emphasized in the company, customers can be confident in the physical security of their systems, infrastructure performance and its availability - it is guaranteed by the SLA at the level of 99.999%.
Data center security is monitored around the clock using CCTV and security services. The data center uses numerous access systems, including contactless keys and biometric readers. Customers can also add their own security systems - if they rent a separate room.
Interixion data centers have five levels of physical security, and security officers work 24/7.
All the premises and the territory of the data center are viewed through the internal and external surveillance cameras. A picture of what is happening in the data center is broadcast around the clock on the monitors of the security service.
The purpose of the gateway is to organize the entrance (exit) to the protected area in such a mode that the point of passage is never “transparent”.
Like all of the company's data centers, the data center in Zurich is ISO 27001 and BS 25999 certified. It uses modern systems and processes to monitor and manage operations 24x7, with local support staff working with the multilingual European Customer Service Center (ECSC).
Thanks to round-the-clock monitoring and a system for managing incidents and business continuity, the company adheres to industry best practices and operates in accordance with ITILv3.
The data center is powered by two substations of different electricity suppliers. All equipment has two power inputs, each of which is independently equipped with a UPS and a backup power supply from a diesel generator.
Thus, two beams of power supply are brought to all critical engineering equipment. All IT equipment connects to two independent beams through uninterruptible power supplies. If the city power is lost, the UPS automatically transfers its load to the batteries. At the same time, the automation system gives the command to start the DGS. They need about a minute to reach operating power, after which the data center begins to be powered by a diesel generator set, and not by batteries.
DGU can support the work of the data center for an unlimited time.
The data center has an early smoke detection system and an Inergen gas extinguishing system in accordance with local regulations. It is designed for maximum safety and minimum damage.
The data center in Zurich uses renewable energy and is certified by myclimate as the only green data center in Switzerland. It uses free cooling systems and closed cold corridors. All these measures allowed to reduce cooling costs by 30%.
With free-cooling, the power supply of the cooling system is much cheaper: when the air conditioning compressors are turned off, only fans and pumps consume electricity. All components of the cold supply are reserved under the scheme N + 1 or N2: any component can be turned off for repair or service without interruption in the operation of the entire system.
And finally, important news: Russian hosting provider RUVDS is commissioning its own pressure zone at the Interxion data center in Zurich. The company already has a similar experience thanks to the collaboration with the Deltalis data center in Attinghausen, Switzerland. The new site is designed to provide customers with the services of renting virtual servers VPS / VDS. The implementation of projects in Switzerland ensures a high level of data security - technological and legal - as well as the optimization of access speed for European customers due to its convenient geographical location. VPS services in Zurich will be available from November 11, 2018 to both Russian and foreign RUVDS customers at the same low prices.
An important advantage of Russian hosting providers offering their services on the basis of a foreign platform is the presence of a Russian-speaking technical support service, which foreign providers do not always offer. In addition, Russian hosting providers are well aware of the problems and requirements of Russian customers, and this often helps to resolve issues that have arisen as soon as possible.
RUVDS services are focused primarily on the corporate segment: government agencies, banks, stock market players. RUVDS has its own TIER 3 data center in Korolev, Moscow Region, as well as pressure zones in Deltalis (Switzerland), London Equinix LD8 (United Kingdom), and MMTS-9 (Moscow, Russia) data centers. All containment systems meet the reliability level not lower than TIER 3, and high speed and flexible tariff plans make web hosting attractive for customers.