Building a home for the Edinburgh International Data Facility

Author: Paul Clark

Posted: 28 Nov 2019 | 09:31

Building on existing excellence, our new high resiliency room will provide the state-of-the-art computing and data storage infrastructure needed to develop the technologies that will underpin data-driven innovation.

The Edinburgh International Data Facility (EIDF) is a core component of the Data Driven Innovation (DDI) Programme that forms an integral part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal investment proposition.

The building currently under construction at EPCC’s Advanced Computing Facility (ACF) will house a new High Resiliency Computer Room (cr4) and associated plant areas to host and support new computer equipment.

When complete, cr4 will extend the existing ACF, which already has a number of computer rooms, associated plant rooms and office space, and will be connected via a unique and impressive walkway.

The work to build cr4 started in June 2019, and is due to finish in summer 2020.

From an engineering perspective, the new facility will provide innovative cooling solutions to help cr4 to be one of the most efficient computer rooms possible, adding to the ACF’s current portfolio of energy and cooling efficient rooms.

The EIDF will be underpinned by cutting-edge networking advancements, making the ACF and cr4 one of the fastest available. We will provide secure data hosting and analytics infrastructure, built on years of experience of running the National Safe Haven, to hold unique datasets and allow approved, authorised researchers and users to find innovative solutions to novel questions.

The room will be capable of hosting up to 270 cabinets, giving EIDF and the DDI programme a platform to grow over the next 10 years.

Author

Paul Clark, EPCC