SDC Hosting and Support (SDC Colchester) Data Center

Opened in autumn 2020 as Colchester’s first purpose built facility, this data centre represents a significant six figure investment designed to meet the growing demand for secure and efficient infrastructure. Strategically located in Essex with excellent transport links to both London and East Anglia, the facility serves as a convenient hub for regional businesses. The site is a retrofitted sole tenant construction that offers expandable whitespace and a dedicated Meet Me Room, ensuring a professional environment for high performance computing.

For businesses looking to avoid the heavy capital expenditure of purchasing hardware, SDC offers fully managed dedicated servers. This service provides high levels of processing power and off site security while ensuring all data remains within the UK to satisfy GDPR requirements. By renting a dedicated server, clients benefit from a scalable future proof solution where the SDC team handles all management backups and maintenance according to specific business instructions.

The facility provides versatile colocation options for companies that prefer to own their hardware but lack the space or security at their own premises. Clients can rent space ranging from a single 1U unit up to full 42U racks, with competitive pricing available for quarter and half rack configurations. This model allows for a hybrid management approach, where businesses can choose to maintain their own equipment rely on SDC’s onsite engineers for remote hands support or use a combination of both.

As a Tier 2 design facility, the data centre is engineered for reliability and high density power needs, supporting up to 130KW total power capability. Each cabinet is equipped with 16amp A and B feeds to ensure redundancy. Temperature is managed via a sophisticated cold aisle downflow cooling system, maintaining the optimal environment for hardware longevity. These technical specifications allow the facility to maintain an impressive 99.941 percent uptime, ensuring consistent availability for critical business applications.

Security and safety are paramount, with the facility protected by 24 hour CCTV remote monitoring and a comprehensive monitored alarm system. During business hours onsite security staff are present to manage access and safety. To protect physical hardware from fire without damaging sensitive electronics, the data centre utilizes a Novec 1230 fire suppressant gas system, which includes specialized protection at the individual rack level.

The data centre is a cornerstone for modern Disaster Recovery planning, offering diverse 1GB fibre links to ensure high speed connectivity and data redundancy. To guard against utility failures, the site features a backup generator capable of a 16 hour runtime. With 24 hour client access available in phase two and onsite parking for visiting technicians, the facility is designed to minimize business disruption and provide a resilient secondary site for any IT infrastructure.