Data Centre

Altonet has dedicated space at Teraco (www.teraco.co.za) , the largest vendor-neutral data centre in South Africa. All of Altonet’s servers and equipment are located in the Teraco data centre at Isando (Johannesburg) and Rondebosch (Cape Town) respectively. Altonet is therefore able to offer state-of-the-art large data centre hosting facilities, with small/medium company-style of service and care.

The Teraco data centre parameters are as follows:

Environment

• Multiple cooling zones with independent CRAC units, each with N+1 redundancy
• Temperature controlled at 25°C +/- 4°C
• Relative humidity 50% +/-5% Hot aisle containment
• Data centre over-pressured to ensure dust free environment
• Independent humidity and temperature monitoring on all plenums
• Separate monitoring per cabinet available

Security

• Comprehensive perimeter and building security, with ‘zones within zones’ for multiple levels of security
• Pre-authorization required for Data Centre access according to Teraco/Altonet Access Policy
• Visitor identity confirmed visually against picture on named user list, with additional biometric confirmation by fingerprint
• Service areas physically separate from Data Centre areas
• Continuous video surveillance of all zones and cabinets
• Comprehensive audit logs on all access
• Additional bespoke access policies can be implemented for private cage customers

Power

• Dual municipal power feeds into the building providing 4MVA power to the Data Centre
• N+1 diesel backup generators fuelled to provide 23 hours power at maximum load, with 9 000l of diesel on hand at any time
• Multiple fuel suppliers on 24x7 standby, additional access to building’s independent diesel store
• Power cascaded to multiple redundant distribution boards servicing multiple zones
• Two independent power circuits per cabinet from resilient bank of UPS’s
• Fully online UPS’s ensuring frequency, voltage and surge stability
• Power Distribution Unit technology to manage power down to socket level within cabinets, with optional remote management to reduce need to come to site
• Power supplied in 1.1kVA increments from 1.1KVA/cabinet upwards. High power configurations available.
• Detailed measurement and proactive notification of power usage via Secure Customer Portal

Fire protection

• Pro-active fire monitoring systems and best practice fire protection and prevention procedures
• Multi-zone monitoring within all plenums
• Multi-zone fire suppression
• Service areas physically separated to prevent damage between zones
• Diesel generators and tanks in physically separate building
• Fire seal specified to quadruple industry norms
• Independent power for fire protection and monitoring equipment

Monitoring

• Alarms and early warning messages alert technicians on duty. All areas have 24x7 intelligent monitoring and video recording with integrated motion sensing
• Unified building monitoring system logs all security and environment data
• Secure Customer Portal allows management of ACLs, drill-down into metrics and creation of reports

Connectivity

• All major network operators present in Meet Me room (Carrier Hotel)
• Structured cabling cabinets in Meet Me room for rapid and flexible interconnect to co-location area
• Interconnect cabinets on each row in co-location area
• Any point in Data Centre can be connected to any other point via multiple routes
• Cabling for single and multimode fibre, Cat 6 UTP or GPO copper
• All cabling managed by Teraco technicians only

Physical

• Cabinets are 19” racks and 43U high.
• Additional 200mm depth per cabinet, making each cabinet 1200mm deep with space for wiring, air flow and access
• All cabinets have unique locks, ensuring that only approved personnel have access.
• Perforated front and back doors, 86% air flow

Absolute Focus On Infrastructure, Service & Choice

• Teraco’s sole business goal is provision of Data Centre facilities
• Co-location available in the private Altonet cage for customer’s sole use
• Customers can choose any server hardware or networking equipment
• Unrestricted choice of network operator or interconnect within facility, utilising Altonet’s extensive local and international connectivity
• Routine daily, weekly and monthly maintenance against checklists, without interruption to Data Centre services
• Remote Hands technician services available
• Remote access via secure KVM available
• Remote power management available