My adventures into mighty IT infrastructures has seen me working in top UK Data centers such as in Global Switch, SAVVIS and Equinix. After years of servicing and managing Data halls of these greats - I thought I had seen it all, until my recent visit to Rack Space Nigeria.
I must share my brief encounter of an impressive Data Center environment in Nigeria – Rack Center.
With a firmly handled security control and an unassuming external look, I was escorted into meet the leadership team. Little did I know that I was in for a surprise.
I was blown away at the reception's desk as I stepped into a world of Infrastructure sophistication - In short a 'digital universe'.
Mr Ayotunde Coker, the Managing Director came out to meet me and he gave me a tour.
The investment into such a complex infrastructure was unimaginable. I was in awe of a top class set up and I duff my hat to their management. I felt that Africa is not lagging behind after all.
The modular constructed shell houses a meticulously arranged array of IT equipment, cabling and control equipment. A sort of ‘hand-made’ crafted composition with best of breed enterprise systems from top brands. They house the latest in system architectures, whether you call in Converged or Hyper converged.
The state of the art facility comprises of a top of the range cooling technology and power management, a live PUE indicator and managed patch panels , to mention a few.
Rack Space offers co-location services at competitive rates, they promise low latency internet speeds, super-fast broadband access as they are linked with all Nigerian telecoms carriers.
They recently bagged an Uptime (TCCF) certificate. They have won International awards and duly recognized by the UK based Data center Alliance and Data center Solutions.
Mr Coker said that the implementation of Rack center Nigeria raises the bar for IT and Cloud Service quality and client assurance in Nigeria. He goes further in expressing that the capacity to get more Nigerian SMEs online could be made available via Rack Center.
During my tour, I was amazed at the complex facility engineering co -existing with up to date IT setup.
The best is yet to come in Rack center Nigeria and with the steel modular construct, there is ample opportunity to scale up with rising demand.
My exit from Rack center was filled with satisfaction and I genuinely felt that we do have a facility to boast of in West Africa l amidst labelled as an emerging economy.
This flagship facility has paved the way for future DC implementations and I await to see what other Data Centre startups can give them a run for their money.
