Stellium data centre launches in Newcastle

Three-datacentre campus in Newcastle to be fully operational by the end of 2016.

Monday, 28th November 2016 Posted 7 years ago in by Phil Alsop

Noel Meaney, founder of Citadel100 Datacenters, euNetworks and Seafibre Networks, has launched his new datacenter venture: Stellium. Targeting wholesale, rack services and cloud solutions, Stellium’s datacenters have been purpose-built in recognition that, in today’s globalised digital economy, there is no longer one ‘type’ of computing or workload.

The Stellium campus has the power, scale and flexibility to provide enterprise-level cloud infrastructure, dedicated and shared co-location services, and powered shell facilities that enable customers to configure the datacenter to their own requirements. The campus will be fully operational by December.

Stellium’s Tier III+ datacenter campus is located in Newcastle, and is constructed to BREEAM Excellent and Outstanding Standards with a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating of 1.16. The campus has its own dedicated power supply from an adjacent National Grid Interconnector, which provides up to 80MVA via four 20 MVA 11kV feeds from two dedicated SSE substations.

Meaney has also invested in a 40km metro fibre network in Newcastle. The multi-duct network is the first of its kind to be built in the city and connects Stellium’s datacenters to multiple long-haul and international carriers, ensuring Stellium’s clients have low-latency, high-capacity connectivity to London, Europe and the US.

Meaney, who takes on the role of CEO at Stellium, commented: “We are in an age when the datacenter has become a powerhouse of modern business. The way we store, manage, manipulate and move data is driving and creating new market opportunities, whether it’s convergence and cloud computing, or big data and the Internet of Things. Datacenters are the hub of modern business operations and can no longer be viewed simply as a commodity. Instead, they have evolved to become a strategic business asset.

“To future-proof this asset, datacenters need guaranteed cost-effective power, modern agile engineering, and high-capacity, resilient connectivity,” he adds. “They also need to be scalable, flexible and operationally robust. We have dedicated our resources to ensure that Stellium’s datacenters have all of these attributes, as well as being part of a wider technology ecosystem. Whatever the journey our client’s technology may take in the future, our datacenters will have the ability to support and assist that journey.”

Newcastle is located on the same latitude as Dublin and Amsterdam and much like those cities is fast becoming an internationally recognised technology innovation hub; a recent report shows it as second only to London for growth in the UK tech sector. It is also home to software giant Sage and one of Proctor and Gamble’s larger European offices as well as major outsourcing delivery centres for both Accenture and HPE. Academia is also well represented by Newcastle University’s Digital Institute at ScienceCentral which hosts the UK Government’s National Institute for Smart Data Innovation (NISDI).

Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council said: “Newcastle and the North East is a hotbed for digital innovation, and this announcement cements our position as the fastest growing tech sector outside of London.

“Combined with the ?30m National Institute for Smart Data Innovation on Newcastle Science Central and world-leading and renowned research at our universities, having this kind of infrastructure will now allow us to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the explosion in big data.

“These unique assets will provide access to new international markets, attract further investment, encourage business growth and help develop skills and create jobs of the future. I’m delighted that Stellium is investing in our region, which adds to the air of excitement currently being generated around the North East’s tech scene.”