T5 Data Centers: The information safeguard
Data has arguably become one of the world’s most precious commodities. The sheer volume of information stored and network/compute activity occurring within a data center facility has grown dramatically.
Enter T5 Data Centers and its nine state-of-the-art facilities spread across the USA. Though the dramatic escalation of data storage may feel like a relatively recent phenomenon, T5’s executive team has been working together to deliver best-in-class solutions since 1995.
Over the past 20 years it has been responsible for delivering or operating more than 100 mission critical facilities spanning more than 11 million square feet of space. T5 prides itself on bespoke solutions and aligning its own principles with those of its clients, which include some of the largest companies in the world.
Solutions and services
T5’s portfolio of solutions and services is extensive and flexible. Its five main solutions comprise colocation, wholesale leasing, build-to-suit programs, powered shells and sale lease-back. Services include network, smart hands and third party operations, all controlled and directed by comprehensive compliance. The latter is of critical importance to clients operating in industries including healthcare, insurance, retail and financial services, where personal data protection is of paramount importance to a company’s sound operation and external reputation.
A key figure in the solutions team is Chief Development Officer Jimmy Bailey, responsible for the design, engineering, construction and commissioning efforts for every T5 project. It is his role to ensure that customers’ projects are delivered on time and within budget.
As well as deploying its data storage solutions, T5 is also a proven expert in the building and managing of data center buildings. From procuring first class equipment to carrying out data center upgrades and extensions, the T5 team is also on hand to provide expert consulting and project management support.
T5 Facilities Management provides on-site mission critical services to data center owners. Not only does T5FM operate the company’s own sites, it also operates data centers for Fortune 500 companies in sectors including financial services, technology, retail, aerospace, and energy.
Expansion to Chicago
T5FM has been rising to a new challenge since the summer. In August, T5 expanded its own network of data centers to nine, following the opening of T5@Chicago. The company bought the 208,000 square foot Tier III facility, which is located in the Elk Grove Village suburb of the city.
T5@Chicago is currently operational and partially occupied. Additional capacity is being added to provide server-ready space for future customers. The building features a baseline Tier III infrastructure with an N+1 electrical and mechanical topology, secure private data halls available from 540kW to 9.0MW, and the ability to easily customize operational controls in each data hall to accommodate each customers’ unique data center services requirements.
Speaking at the time, Tim Bright, Executive Vice President of Wholesale/Enterprise Markets for T5 Data Centers, said: “Chicago is becoming an increasingly hot market for reliable data center services. We were fortunate to find an available, operational facility with the data center architecture and quality consistent with T5 Data Center standards. With this acquisition, we can offer Chicagoland regional customers move-in ready data center capacity, customizable and expandable to meet any need.”
In addition to the existing 208,000 square foot, LEED Silver certified building, T5@Chicago can be expanded on the adjacent, four-acre parcel by up to 28 MW.
Comprehensive coverage
Sitting alongside the new site in Chicago are several other state-of-the-art facilities spreading across the country. These include data centers in Dallas, Colorado Springs, New York, Portland, Charlotte and Los Angeles.
Atlanta houses arguably the finest example of T5’s best-in-class facilities, described by the firm as ‘a purpose-built, server-ready multi-tenant data center offering concurrently maintainable infrastructure to support companies with various data suite sizes and density requirements from 10 racks to over 2,500’.
It is a 105,000 square foot bastion for compliance, assuring clients’ data are safe by meeting the stringent requirements of HIPAA, HITECH and PCI, creating a safe haven to support crucial IT functions of many blue chip companies. Clients are provided their own autonomous suites that are separated from one another by slab-to-deck fire-rated walls.
In September the site received the much coveted Uptime Institute’s Management & Operations (M&O) Stamp of Approval. The M&O assessment process evaluates data center staffing, organization, training practices; preventive maintenance, operating conditions, as well as planning, management, and coordination practices for data center resources.
On receipt of the award, Mike Casey, President of T5FM said: “The M&O Stamp of Approval provides validation that our T5@Atlanta data center has world-class staffing and management protocols. We agree with the Uptime Institute’s notion that operational and management issues are fundamental to data center operations, and that with the right people and procedures, you can minimize risk and reduce operating costs. In fact, we formed T5 Facilities Management as an independent operation because we recognize the critical value of M&O.”
Though specifically granted for T5@Atlanta, the company is planning to request Uptime Institute certification for other data centers in its portfolio.
T5 is not stopping in Atlanta however, for another purpose-built data center is on its way in Dallas, a market where T5 has already seen success. T5@Dallas III will deliver 10.75 critical megawatts of capacity when it opens in Q2 of 2017, with leasing underway.
Partner power
The company also draws on the expertise of partner companies in order to deliver industry-leading solutions to clients.
One such partner is STULZ Air Technology Systems, experts in data center cooling and able to provide anywhere from three to 730 kW cooling capacity. Another is Hood Patterson & Dewar, specialist in data center and mission critical facility commissioning, while WayPoint Systems also provides mission critical services to T5.
By continuing to work with and harness the knowledge of various companies operating in their own niche within data center operations and processes, T5 will no doubt continue to provide flexible, efficient and best-in-class services to businesses all over the USA.
Its growing network of data centers, which continue to pick up industry-recognised accolades, are a safe bet for safeguarding critical data for enterprises big, medium and small.
