Concrete slab key to HP’s new data centre success

As data storage becomes ever more critical to the world of business, the technology powerhouses of the world are striving to create larger and larger facilities.

One such facility has recently been opened in Sydney, Australia, and is very much many people’s idea of the future.

High tech, shiny, glossy and full of wholesome green credentials, the HP Aurora facility is certainly cutting edge.

However, one of the most important aspects of the £130million (AU$200million) facility is rather more basic.

HP itself points to the industrial concrete flooring as a key part of the data centre’s design.

The design of the flooring has not had to include the installation of pipework. All of this has instead been directed through the ceiling which, thanks to the market leading tech at work in the floor, is incredibly high.

The extra height gained is invaluable to temperature control in Aurora and allows the racks already installed and soon to be in place to be well ventilated.

With the heat generated throughout the facility tremendous – HP expect 4Kw to be produced, ensuring the flooring is up to task was a key to its design.

The expanse of the centre is also tremendous – taking up more than 48 tennis courts.

Charged with controlling the data of Australian government agencies, it is little wonder security is high. This includes an airlock portal which measures a person’s weight and palm reading biometrics.

In many respects then, it is the future now, though comforting to know that it all rests on good old industrial concrete flooring.