How do you get an $80 million data centre with 3,000m2 of technical space clean enough to be awarded Tier III Gold status by the Uptime Institute?
If you’re NEXTDC, you call BACS Contamination Control.
On 31 August 2017, the NEXTDC P1 data centre in Malaga WA near Perth joined the elite class of only three data centres in Australia which have received Uptime Institute Tier III Gold Certification of Operational Sustainability, a valuable endorsement from the world’s leading independent data centre advisory and certification organisation that NEXTDC manages and operates P1 to its fullest capability.
The Uptime Institute assessed the cleanliness of the facility against several different criteria. After cleaning finished, BACS tested air quality in Data Halls 1 & 2. Both rooms met ISO Class 7 levels, an achievement considered to be the high end of data centre cleanliness. Thanks to the outstanding clean from BACS, NEXTDC P1 scored perfect marks for housekeeping in all categories, which was vital for the Gold status.
For the certification audit, Uptime Institute compared its stringent standards for Operational Excellence against NEXTDC’s P1 facility and its supporting processes, behaviours, staff and vendor training regime, cleanliness and housekeeping. They found NEXTDC had fully implemented industry best-practices to avoid preventable errors, maintain IT functionality and support effective site operation.
Several BACS staff members attended the NEXTDC Vendor Training in April 2017 held in Perth. Prior to deployment of the BACS team, Joe Pitchford, BACS National Critical Facilities Account Manager, met with Andy Cunningham, NEXTDC P1 Facility Manager, to review the cleaning requirements and time frame. BACS then provided all the relevant Methods of Procedure (MOPS) covering the technical cleaning.
Ethan Camille, BACS Perth Service Supervisor, led the 5‐person BACS team who performed a detailed deep clean of the 900mm sub‐floor and all surfaces from floor to ceiling in the 750m2 Data Hall 1 and the 750m2 Data Hall 2 as well as in the secured plant corridors which contain the CRAC units. Air scrubbers specially equipped with HEPA filters were used to further reduce airborne particle levels while cleaning took place. BACS was onsite from 13 March to 9 April 2017. The entire job proceeded on time, on budget and with no downtime, accidents or injuries.
NEXTDC P1 was only eligible for the operational accolade after first achieving Uptime Institute Tier III Certification of Design Documents (Dec 2013) followed by onsite testing for Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility in (Feb 2014), which confirmed the facility’s ‘concurrent maintainability’ – any equipment replacement or maintenance doesn’t require a shutdown, and leaves customer infrastructure unaffected.
Facilities like NEXTDC P1 have adopted the internationally recognised ISO 14644‐1:2015 standard to quantify airborne particle levels and verify that the environment which houses their clients’ critical computer equipment is clean enough not to pose any operational risk.
NEXTDC Feedback
Andy Cunningham
P1 Facility Manager
"I would highly recommend BACS Contamination Control and their team of technicians. During the period of time they were on my site they were extremely cooperative and professional in their work. They were extremely cautious in working in a LIVE data centre which included a lot of work in keeping everything safe to all while carrying out their duties. The staff were very friendly and informative in keeping me up to date on a regular basis. I am extremely happy with the service I received and look forward to making it a long term partnership"
