Infrastructure and Managed Services for Higher Education

Finding a data centre in the right location that offers the space, power and reliability your organisation needs can be a tall order. And the task is only getting harder, as the demand to reduce carbon footprint grows – along with the need for high-intensity computing.

As an organisation grows, so too does the demand for more space to accommodate IT equipment. As well as physical space, increasing infrastructure demands also require more power. This is particularly pertinent to organisations that are collecting huge amounts of data such as Higher Education providers.

Mission-critical applications and services dictate that reliability and availability simply cannot be compromised. Leveraging economies of scale is increasingly difficult to do with an in-house data centre, and to remain competitive, institutions need to utilise infrastructure solutions that are innovative, performance-savvy and fully complement their goals. As organisations look to expand, data centres must be in a position to deal with rapidly fluctuating volumes, velocities and varieties of big data requests.

There are many challenges to overcome, so what is the answer?

COLLABORATION BETWEEN DTP, COGECO PEER 1 AND JISC

DTP partner with Cogeco Peer 1, a globally recognised specialist provider of colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud and managed services, to provide Hybrid IT services to Higher Education institutions.

Cogeco Peer 1 are an authorised provider on the Janet network, a national Higher Education procurement framework delivered by Jisc to provide an extremely reliable and high bandwidth network that supports innovation, research and learning. Working in collaboration, DTP and Cogeco Peer 1 are focused on helping Higher Education and research institutions to access and maximise the value of Janet-connected cloud and colocation as they answer the growing need for computing, data storage, and a richer digital experience for graduates and undergraduates.

Using the existing high speed Janet network, universities and research establishments can connect directly to Cogeco Peer 1 and a suite of infrastructure options that meet the demands they face today, and make the right choices to future-proof their IT architecture for tomorrow too.

THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF COLOCATION

Colocation not only improves overall IT service levels but also reduces the cost and complexity of IT management. Many organisations have realised that the benefits of running their own server room are far outweighed by the advantages of a professionally managed colocation solution. Reducing operational expenditure and freeing up the time of internal resources to focus on core business requirements means that colocation solutions are helping organisations maximise their full potential, across the board.

Sometimes, on-site server rooms do not boast access to a resilient internet connection. With colocation, global connectivity is achieved quickly, securely and cost effectively. Creating such a network infrastructure internally is often prohibited by cost, and is therefore ultimately unviable. Add to this the need for total resilience and redundancy, and you can soon appreciate why deploying such a solution in-house is a non-starter.

Housing mission critical apps and sensitive data in a facility that is safe from the effects of natural and human-made disasters is crucial. The fact that your hardware no longer resides within your institution also means that it is not affected in the event of an issue occurring at your physical premises. Colocation facilities provide better business continuity and disaster recovery services to organisations, regardless of where they are located.

All of the above benefits lead to one significant benefit: reduced IT infrastructure deployment, management and maintenance costs. The biggest contributing factor to this is the economies of scale that a business can leverage by using a colocation facility. Energy efficiencies, sharing overhead costs with other organisations and not having to worry about power consumption, all play an integral part in overall cost savings.

ENERGY EFFICIENT. INCREDIBLE POWER. CUSTOMISABLE SPACE. A DATA CENTRE FOR THE UNSTOPPABLE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTE

Cogeco Peer 1 has invested millions of pounds in the design and construction of a next generation data centre. Building 5000 is a 58,000 square foot data centre that provides all the power and space you will ever need in one of the most energy-efficient buildings of its type in the UK. Based on a brownfield site in Portsmouth within easy reach of London, it has a staggering 12MVA power (10.8MW), space for 20,000 servers, and gives direct connection to Cogeco Peer 1’s Lighting Fast Fibe Network.

INDUSTRY-LEADING SUPPORT

As the human face of high performance IT for Higher Education you can count on industry-leading 24/7 support from DTP and Cogeco Peer 1. This not only affords peace of mind, but can also serve to help IT departments realise tangible and considerable savings in budget, time and resources. Dedicated infrastructure teams closely monitor and control all network activity to afford absolute availability, and will investigate and resolve any issues personally, should they arise.

ADVANCEMENTS IN COLOCATION

The pace at which modern businesses evolve and expand operations is stunning. And because of their rapid expansion, many Higher Education institutes find themselves in need of additional IT infrastructure. Their data warehousing capabilities are not as efficient, secure, or performance optimised as they once were. At the same time, today’s CIOs are being challenged to make their budgets stretch further. They must also decide whether to approach expansion by building a new data centres, or by leveraging a professionally managed vendor solution.

To find out more about and the buying criteria and vetting process that your organisation may adopt in order to achieve the business benefits outlined above, please download our white paper.

The challenges to modern businesses and buying criteria process

MORE ABOUT COGECO PEER 1

Cogeco Peer 1 is a global provider of essential business-to-business products and services, such as colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud services and managed services, that allow universities to focus on their core functions. With 16 data centres, extensive FastFibre™ Network and more than 50 points of presence in North America and Europe combined, Cogeco Peer 1 is a trusted partner to businesses, institutions and places of learning.

Cogeco Peer 1 powers ResearchGate’s big data platform, to bring together an online community of over 9 million scientists and researchers across the globe, allowing the sharing and analysis of data and accelerated advances in science. They also host and secure OFSTED’s reporting database, delivering a resilient and reliable platform at the heart of the organisation.

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Infrastructure and Managed Services for Higher Education

COLLABORATION BETWEEN DTP, COGECO PEER 1 AND JISC

THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF COLOCATION

MAXIMISE FULL POTENTIAL

SECURE, FAST, GLOBAL NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

BETTER DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY

RELIABILITY AND UPTIME

SCALABILITY AND ROOM FOR GROWTH

REDUCED COSTS OVERALL