25 July 2020 / News
Raxio Data Centre receives operational critical power equipment from Umeme Ltd in readiness for launch operations
Power is one of the most important things to consider when building a data centre; the availability of reliable, steady and connected power is a critical element that brings a data centre to life and keeps the critical IT infrastructure up and running.
In order to ensure continuous uptime and minimize outages as much as possible, the main power supply comes from the national grid. Today onsite at the Namanve Industrial and Business Park, Raxio Data Centre achieved a key milestone in the construction of the Tier III carrier neutral data centre as it received key technical power equipment from the national distributor, UMEME Limited.
The equipment, consisting of the Ring Main Unit, Metering Unit, Meter Box and supporting accessories, will ensure that Raxio Data Centre is kitted with the requisite power connections to operate at full capacity.
While receiving the equipment Raxio Data Centre General Manager Mr. James Byaruhanga noted that:
“As Raxio Data Centre, we are excited about this step forward, this is a huge milestone for this project as power is a very crucial element in our operations. The connection of the Ring Main Unit (RMU) to the UMEME Limited power ring means power is delivered to Raxio Data Centre from two different power sources – Namanve Power Sub-Station and Kiwanga Power Sub-Station. This is unique as it complies with N+1 power redundancy that ensures power availability in the event of power failure at one sub-station”.
Present at the delivery from UMEME Limited was David Birungi (Manager, Stakeholder Relations) and Engineer Isaac Serwadda (Head Capital Projects) who stated that:
“As Umeme our Mandate is to distribute power efficiently, effectively and reliably. We have Done an underground network within the park that stretches for about 25km. We are doing this to enable easy connections of power to the various industries within the park that has about 100MW demand from about 112 industries of which Raxio Data Centre is a part of.”
It is important to note that data centers provide power to more than just servers. In practical terms, data centre power design accommodates systems that make up its infrastructure. Among others, air handlers, air cooling, ventilation systems, lighting, environmental controls, fire suppression systems, security systems, surveillance cameras, and sensors all taking up a substantial amount of power.