Memset, supplier of cloud hosting services to UK SMEs and the public sector, has opened a second data center for government IaaS services.

The site, in Reading, provides an additional 60,000 sqare feet of  inventory space for services including the government’s Digital Marketplace, to which Memset is an approved SME.

Phase 1 of the build-out has been finished, with 750 cabinets supported by N+1 cooling, redundant UPS systems and N+1 generators. 

Government cloud will not fade away

Recently subjected to rigorous Information Technology Health Checks (an IT security assessment required, as part of an accreditation process, for many government computer systems in the UK) and penetration tests, the site has been accredited to OFFICIAL impact level and able to provide a suitably high level of security for handling government data, and a requirement for use of cloud services by a number of government departments.

Cross-site vLan capabilities between the Reading site and Memset’s first high security Dunsfold site will not only provide customers with dual-site capabilities, but increased resilience, disaster recovery and performance.

 As well as security, green business is important, so the site is designed for ultra-efficiency, using air-side economisers and a hot aisle containment system which enables the outside climate to cool the data center for the majority of the year and drawing on local renewable energy supplies to power the facility.

Ed Butler, Managing Director from Everest, whose team has worked with Memset to get the facility accredited, said: “We are delighted to bring our technology to the UK Government’s G-Cloud initiative and help support Memset address the increasing demand for IaaS requirements.”