Node4's Latest News Feed. Node4 RSS Feed Transformer v1.0 Node4 <p>July saw the exciting re-launch of the Node4 newsletter which is distributed on a monthly basis, keeping customers up to date on the latest news, product launches and developments in colocation, connectivity and communication solutions. If you have been allocated an Account Manager, the newsletter will also feature regular communications from them.</p><p>Implementing revolutionary technology within the newsletter, you will be able to manage your own online profile whereby you can choose preferences and update your details. This will allow you to only receive the information you find interesting and relevant as our system will send out details of articles in the categories of your choice.</p><p>To sign up to the monthly newsletter, <a href="http://node4.briefyourmarket.com/NewProfile.aspx">click here</a>.</p><p>Published: 21/07/2010</p> 88 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/88 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:17:09 GMT 2010-07-21T10:17:09 Node4 <p>Many businesses require high speed and reliable connectivity to fuel growth as an increase in applications drive the need for more bandwidth. Our revolutionary ConnectFast solution provides the answer to this common requirement, presenting a high bandwidth, managed connectivity offering.</p><p>With 10Mb, 100Mb and 1Gb options, more bandwidth provides you with access to a number of other key services which we have bundled together as part of the ConnectFast solution, including <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/products/siplink">SIP</a> trunks, allowing you to make and receive phone calls saving money on line rental and off-site storage backup providing peace of mind that your critical data is stored safely in a secure and resilient <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/products/datacentre">data centre</a>.</p><p>To suit your individual business needs, we have created two packages; ConnectFast 10, our 10Mb Ethernet circuit solution and ConnectFast 100, our 100Mb Ethernet circuit solution.</p><p>Features and Benefits:<ul> <li>5Mb internet access</li> <li>10 <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/products/siplink">SIP</a> trunks</li> <li>10Gb of <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/nvault">NVAULT</a> storage</li> <li><a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/products/businessbroadband">ADSL Max</a> backup circuit</li> <li>Managed Juniper SRX210</li> <li>Pre-configuration of router*</li> <li>Monitoring of router and link</li> <li>100% SLA (Service Level Agreement) on <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/connect">connectivity</a></li></ul> <p>For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/connectfast">ConnectFast</a> page, email us at <a href="mailto:sales@node4.co.uk">sales@node4.co.uk</a> or contact your account manager on 0845 123 2222.</p> <p>*Optional onsite install</p><p>Published: 28/06/2010</p> 87 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/87 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:37:20 GMT 2010-06-28T15:37:20 Node4 <p>Business data and information are among the most valuable assets that any business has and losing such information would have unthinkable consequences. Our <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/nvault">NVAULT</a> solution provides the answer to this problem by providing a comprehensive backup service, allowing your business to store data on a high performance hardware platform in our industry leading UK <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/products/datacentre">data centres</a>.</p><p>Features and Benefits:<ul> <li>Application based offsite/onsite backup</li> <li>Option for mirrored backup to a second site</li> <li>Fully scalable- pay on a per Gb, per month basis</li> <li>Microsoft Exchange Server backup, with the option for individual mailbox backup and restore</li> <li>Backup and restore MS SQL, Outlook/Outlook Express, Oracle, Lotus Domino/Notes and MYSQL</li> <li>Compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac or any other OS which supports JAVA</li> <li>256 bit encryption</li></ul> <p>For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.node4.co.uk/nvault">NVAULT</a> page, email us at <a href="mailto:sales@node4.co.uk">sales@node4.co.uk</a> or contact your account manager on 0845 123 2222.</p><p>Published: 28/06/2010</p> 86 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/86 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:11:46 GMT 2010-06-28T15:11:46 Node4 <p>Data Centre and communications specialist Node4 are celebrating the end to a successful 2009/2010 financial year, closing the period with £8.5 million worth of contract wins. Record numbers of companies across the UK have awarded the business contracts for data centre services such as colocation and hosting solutions as well as communication and connectivity offerings.</p><p>Node4's Managing Director Andrew Gilbert comments; &quot;We are delighted at the results from the last year and recognise this success is thanks to our growing customer base. This achievement is even greater when taking into consideration the backdrop in the economy that many market sectors have experienced. The key to this achievement has been commitment to developing our product portfolio and a focus on striving to meet and exceed customer expectations whilst sticking to our ethos of a quality service at a competitive price&quot;.</p><p>With the recent announcement of developing a third data centre in the Northampton area, along with plans to expand their Wakefield site with another hall due to increased demand for secure colocation, Node4 have provided a further platform to fuel continued growth into the new financial year.</p><p>Published: 27/05/2010</p> 85 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/85 Thu, 27 May 2010 09:17:48 GMT 2010-05-27T09:17:48 Node4 <p>Data centre providers Node4 are to exhibit at The Internet Conference on Friday 14th May at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham alongside Server Supermarket.</p><p>Aimed at business owners and marketing professionals, The Internet Conference covers the most recent tools and techniques on internet marketing featuring a number of key workshops designed for delegates at all levels.</p><p>To attend the event as a delegate, visit The Internet Conference's website <a href="http://www.theinternetconference.co.uk/">www.theinternetconference.co.uk</a>.</p><p>Published: 05/05/2010</p> 84 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/84 Wed, 05 May 2010 09:54:16 GMT 2010-05-05T09:54:16 Node4 <p>Data centre specialists Node4 are proud to be announced as 'Switchless Reseller of the Year' finalists in the prestigious and independently judged Comms Business Awards 2010.</p><p>The award seeks to identify a company that has made a significant impact upon the channel either through the development of sales with traditional lines and minutes or transitioning to new IP based services. Node4 have always pushed IP-based voice products, becoming early adopters of the technology in 2005 when they launched their own hosted IP telephony solution hostTALK. Following on from its success, they were able to further develop their voice product portfolio and become a key provider of SIP trunking services with their SIPlink platform.</p><p>Through the development of SIPlink, Node4 have been able to offer customers a variety of benefits providing a significant impact upon the channel, including; a portal for ordering, managing and monitoring their services; allocation of UK geographic, non geographic and international numbers; number porting, regardless of geographic location; fax to email; and automatic external diverts in the case of unavailability of the PBX. Node4's Senior Technical Consultant Richard Buxton comments; &quot;One of Node4's strengths continues to be the ability to offer complete end to end solutions. We have the ability to provide everything from the CPE, connectivity, through to PSTN termination of calls, meaning we are in full control of each aspect of the service&quot;.</p><p>Node4's Managing Director Andrew Gilbert, who has been named a finalist in the 'Entrepreneur of the Year' category, comments; &quot;We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this industry leading award. It demonstrates as a testament to the hard work that we as a company have put in&quot;.</p><p>The awards will be staged at the Gala Awards Dinner in London on Thursday 3rd June. To keep up to date with Node4's progress, visit the Comms Business website <a href="http://www.commsbusinessawards.co.uk/">www.commsbusinessawards.co.uk</a>.</p><p>Published: 04/05/2010</p> 83 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/83 Tue, 04 May 2010 14:04:19 GMT 2010-05-04T14:04:19 Node4 <p>A world away from the high-security temperature controlled environment of their data centres, Node4 have been official joint sponsors of the Motorpoint Yamaha team since 2009.</p><p>Keen to build on their relationship with the team, Node4 have continued sponsorship into the 2010/2011 season supporting former British Supersport and European Superstock rider Dan Linfoot alongside Superbike 'Rookie of the Year' Ian Lowry.</p><p>Node4's Managing Director Andrew Gilbert comments: &quot;British Superbikes has proven to be a great platform in raising brand awareness for us. Our decision to continue increasing our exposure in the sport is due to many members of staff being great fans of the sport and we have thoroughly enjoyed days out at race weekends&quot;.</p><p>Despite a turbulent start the Motorpoint Yamaha team have faced, they are confident of a successful season. To keep up to date with the progress of the team, visit the team website  <a href="http://www.motorpointbsbteam.com/">www.motorpointbsbteam.com</a> or the British Superbikes website <a href="http://www.britishsuperbike.com/">www.britishsuperbike.com</a>.</p><p>Published: 28/04/2010</p> 82 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/82 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:26:51 GMT 2010-04-28T10:26:51 Node4 <p>Data Centre specialists Node4 have announced expansion of their Wakefield Data Centre with plans to open a new hall.</p> <p>Since the launch of the Wakefield site in July 2009, rack space has almost sold out in the first two halls due to accelerated demand for hosting facilities, combined with Node4’s outstanding commitment to customer service.</p> <p>The third hall will continue the high specifications set previously at the Wakefield Data Centre with N+N-N+1 cooling environments and power backup infrastructure. </p> <p>Node4 promise not to stop there, with continuous investment in current and future Data Centre facilities across the UK. Experiencing rapid growth since its formation in April 2004, Node4 recently opened a new hall at their Derby Data Centre and announced the development of a new site in Northampton which is due to launch in February 2011. </p> <p>Node4’s Managing Director Andrew Gilbert comments “We are pleased at the progress of the Wakefield site. We’ve continued to meet and exceed new customer expectations, not just by the high specification of facilities at the Data Centre, but the flexibility and high levels of personal service offered by Node4”.</p><p>Published: 30/03/2010</p> 80 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/80 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:15:15 GMT 2010-03-30T08:15:15 Node4 <p>Data Centre Specialists Node4, have just expanded capacity at their Derby Data Centre by opening a new hall.</p><p>DC2 has been sold out for several months so the business was keen to expand their capability at the Derby headquarters.  The new hall, which will be called DC1 Hall 2, adds a further 80 racks to the Derby footprint, brining overall capacity to over 300 racks.  Combined with the Wakefield data centre DC3 and forthcoming Northampton data centre DC4, Node4 will have the ability to colocate approximately 1500 racks of equipment.</p><p>The new hall will benefit from the developments in new and efficient technology with the latest generation power systems and cold aisle containment included in the impressive specification.</p><p>Node4's Business Development Director Paul Bryce commented, &quot;Our Derby data centre has been a huge success and with increased demand from both existing and new customers it made sense to expand the capacity.  Our team have worked extremely hard to fit out the new hall in a very short timescale without having to compromise on the quality of the facility we wanted to offer.&quot;</p><p>DC1 Hall 2 officially opened on 15th February and already over 30% of the space has been sold.</p><p>Published: 16/02/2010</p> 79 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/79 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:38:51 GMT 2010-02-16T12:38:51 Node4 <p>Data centre and communications specialists, Node4, are celebrating a partnership with RTW Hosting, a London based SaaS provider after a successful 2009 working together.</p><p>RTW Hosting, who have been providing businesses with a range of hosted services  since 1994, first came to Node4 looking for a SIP trunking provider to dovetail into their hosted voice platform. Node4’s <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/siplink">SIPlink</a> service fitted the bill perfectly. The ability to provide geographic numbers and competitive call rates fitted the customer’s requirements perfectly.</p><p>Around six months after their initial SIPlink order, RTW Hosting were looking for a colocation facility which could accommodate the business’s next planned phase of growth. It was at this time that Node4 were just completing the final developments on their latest data centre, <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc3">DC3, in Wakefield</a>, West Yorkshire.</p><p>DC3, with space for 450 racks, was just what RTW Hosting were looking for in terms of specification including, N+1 air conditioning and generators and an N+N UPS solution, cold aisle containment, up to 32amps dual feed power, and an on-site Network Operations Centre, to run their Roadtowork.com infrastructure.  As a result, they placed an order for 3 full racks in DC3 with all the power they needed, moving their equipment in in September of this year. The size and young age of the facility meant that there is the option for RTW Hosting to increase their colocation presence with Node4 either within DC3 or across Node4’s other data centre sites in Derby and, <a href="http://node4.co.uk/news/75">by late 2010, Northampton.</a></p><p>Mike Wills, from RTW Hosting enthuses about Node4 and DC3; <em>“Before moving to DC3, we were constantly up against restrictions on cooling and power and this was holding back growth. The DC3 data centre ticked all the boxes:  The data centre provided us with the very latest security, well laid out and deep cabinets, superb cooling and all the power we needed.  As a result, we have now migrated over our primary operations to DC3.  With excellent response times from the support team, near immediate remote hands when needed; we have been delighted with the outcome.  On the rare occasions when we need to visit site, the train has taken the strain in just a matter of a few hours.  The most complicated logistic is the last mile in finding the site for the taxi driver or courier given its naturally discrete physical presence!”</em></p><p>Node4 and RTW Hosting are set to continue their working partnership throughout 2010 with a number of new projects in the pipeline.</p><p>Shane Dove, Node4’s Sales Manager comments; <em>“We are very pleased to have RTW Hosting as a customer and as a partner, utilising our full range of products and solutions which has allowed them to make the most of the technologies available to themselves and their customers.” </em></p><p>Published: 18/12/2009</p> 78 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/78 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:23:54 GMT 2009-12-18T09:23:54 Node4 <p>Data Centre specialists, Node4 are proud to announce they have been short listed in the prestigious 3rd annual Datacentre Leaders’ Awards following a record number of entries. The judging process which is overseen by the British Computer Society includes specialist judges from organisations including Morgan Stanley, HP, Norland, C-Net, Dell, and APC.</p><p>The company are down to the final 4 entries in the Innovation in the Medium Data Centre category, which, as the name suggests, recognises excellent and innovative data centres. Node4’s entry detailed the design and operation behind their latest data centre, DC3 in Wakefield.</p><p>Andrew Gilbert, Node4’s Managing Director enthuses; <em>“We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this industry leading award. It is testament to the hard work that we as a company have put in in line with our vision to be recognised as the data centre provider of choice in our target markets.” </em></p><p>The annual awards are organised by DatacenterDynamics and winners will be announced at a gala ceremony at London’s Lancaster Hotel on December 15th.</p><p>Published: 03/12/2009</p> 77 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/77 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:09:12 GMT 2009-12-03T12:09:12 Node4 <p>As many organisations seek to host their hardware and applications in purpose built facilities rather than investing in the high cost themselves, Data Centres have become an integral part of today’s business environment. Node4 owns and operates a portfolio of Data Centres throughout the UK which conform to the highest service levels within the commercial data marketplace. Due to their rapidly growing customer base they opened a new Data Centre, DC3, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in July of this year, which they chose to equip with Rittal TS 8 racks and to maximise their cooling utilised the Rittal Cold Aisle Containment System.</p><p>Since its formation in April 2004, Node4 has seen rapid business growth and has attracted many blue chip companies from across the country as organisations seek to host their hardware and applications in specifically designed amenities. Node4, have made considerable investment in building three modern high-tech Data Centres, (with another currently being developed in Northampton), to ensure the right environment can be provided - even for the most mission critical applications. As Data Centres of this scale command the highest level of service Node4 chose to equip the four data halls in their Wakefield DC3 with a total of 450 Rittal TS 8 Racks.</p><p>Rittal’s revolutionary TS 8 high security server racks offer strength and stability which are paramount within the Data Centre environment. Built using Rittal’s patented 16 fold continuously welded frame, the server cabinets deliver 30% more dimensional stability than available alternatives. Providing 1 metric tonne load of carrying capability, the TS 8 can provide optimum stability offering a fortified housing for IT equipment. Sufficient depth to enable larger servers to be installed whilst leaving ample space in the rear for cable routing is also a key benefit. Due to its unique design, the TS 8 can also be easily bayed together. Available in a variety of heights and depths the standard TS 8 offers protection category IP55 and complies with NEMA 12. Specialist variations are also available.</p><p>Data Centres tend not to be viewed favourably when it comes to their carbon footprint due to the amount of power consumed. Node4 are committed to reducing carbon emissions and as part of this philosophy chose to utilise the latest power efficient technologies such as free-cooling air conditioning which can save up to 35% of energy consumption. Part of strategy was to employ Rittal’s cold aisle containment system which prevents servers from developing ‘hot spots’ thereby reducing the amount of cooled air required.</p><p>Proper airflow is essential to effective cooling. Pockets of heat loads or ‘hot-spots’ typically occur when high density, high performance servers are packed into racks. Rittal cold aisle containment ensures ‘hot-spots’ do not develop by making sure that the air intake and outlet openings to all the servers blow into cold and warm aisles. (The hardware components are cooled as much as required and then proceed to blow the air (now heated) into the surrounding room, where it rises to the top. A cushion of warm air is then formed below the ceiling. As the cold aisle is blocked off, warm air cannot enter. The exhaust air, now heated, can then be freely extracted from the room via the air-conditioning unit and, once cooled, let in again as cold air). The system also guarantees that a sufficient body of cold air is available which cannot mix with any warm air which would limit its cooling capacity.</p><p>Operating cold aisle containment can significantly improve the efficiency of the cooling system thereby limiting energy demand. A by-product of encapsulating the cold aisle allows power consumption per rack to increase, typically from 5kW to approximately 10kW.</p><p>Rik Williams, Node4’s Data Centre Operations Manager commented <em>“We chose Rittal to supply our racks as their products are built to the highest specification which is in line with our offering to our customers. TS 8 racks also offer complete flexibility as well as guaranteeing a reliable supply with the added benefit of easy equipment installation which is great for our customers. Rittal’s expertise in cooling was a deciding factor in us selecting them to supply the Cold Aisle Containment which aids to reduce our carbon emissions. All the installation went ahead on target and without any problems which enabled us to open DC3 without any delays.”</em></p><p>Barry Maidment, Rittal Product Manager commented <em>“We are delighted to be awarded this contract as it reflects our customer commitment to supply equipment which is built to the highest standard, is flexible and reliable and can also help to reduce our ever increasing carbon footprint.”</em></p><p>Published: 30/11/2009</p> 76 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/76 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:57:55 GMT 2009-11-30T14:57:55 Node4 <p>Following on from the huge success of their latest purpose-built tier IV standard data centre in Yorkshire, Node4 have just announced plans for their next data centre site which will be located in Northampton.</p><p>Specialists in <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/datacentre">data centre</a> and <a href="http://node4.co.uk/communicate">communications</a> solutions, Node4 were looking to expand the business by developing a fourth data centre in a new location; the fastest growing town in the UK, Northampton, seemed like a natural choice. The move to the heart of England will expand their customer reach even further and being just an hour from London make it particularly accessible to businesses in the southern region of the UK.</p><p>Plans for the new DC4 in Northampton are currently being finalised and the facility will be ready for customers to move in by the end of 2010. The site will follow the same high standards set in Node4’s existing data centres in the <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc2">Derby</a> and <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc3">Wakefield.</a> With space for up to 600 racks and features such as UPS, generators and climate control all being N+1 and in most cases N+N it will ensure that the facility offers Tier IV levels of resiliency.  The new site will be part of Node4’s highly resilient core MPLS network that also includes points of presence in Telehouse, Global Switch and TeleCity.</p><p>The announcement of DC4 follows on from the hugely successful opening of <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc3">DC3</a> in July.  The 450 rack capacity facility in Wakefield, West Yorkshire has attracted large blue chip Plc’s along with existing Node4 customers who have expanded to the new site as part of a server expansion or DR solution.</p><p>Andrew Gilbert, Node4’s Founder and Managing Director, commented, <em>“We have already established ourselves as a quality data centre provider with 2 locations and we want to continue to build on this reputation by increasing our capacity and geographic reach with the opening of a new facility in Northampton.  As with our other data centres, DC4 will carry a high specification but at sensible prices meaning that any organisation wanting colocation or managed hosting services can benefit from a quality facility without having to break the budget”</em></p><p>Published: 26/11/2009</p> 75 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/75 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:14:38 GMT 2009-11-26T11:14:38 Node4 <p>More developments are underway this week at Node4’s headquarters in Derby as work begins on a brand new data centre hall expanding the company’s already extensive data centre facilities.</p><p>The new hall is expected to be ready for the data centre and communications specialists’ customers to move in January 2010 and will provide even more opportunities for both new and existing Node4 customers to create a full disaster recovery solution spread between Derby and Node4’s <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc3">DC3 in Wakefield</a>, or to simply use the new hall to colocate their business servers.</p><p>DC1 Hall 2 will be an expansion of the original Node4 data centre and will have the capacity for 80 racks bringing the total number of racks at the Derby site up to 340. The new hall is being developed with the same high, Tier III specification as the company’s <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc2">DC2</a>, also in Derby, which is now full to capacity due to the high demand seen this year.</p><p>Published: 28/10/2009</p> 74 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/74 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:18:18 GMT 2009-10-28T10:18:18 Node4 <p>As experienced providers in their own right, it seemed only natural for Node4 and Synetrix; two Midlands based companies to work together to provide a range of hosted services to their customers.</p> <p>Synetrix, a leading provider of integrated applications and managed services primarily to the UK public sector and education, needed a data centre partner in the East Midlands who would be able to provide them with first class hosting facilities for one of their major contracts in the region. </p> <p>A representative from Synetrix, explains what the company was looking for; <em>“Prior to our partnership with Node4 the challenge for us at Synetrix was to find suitable facilities for a 24/7 operation with flexible arrangements in terms of power, access and expansion capabilities.” </em></p> <p>Node4 who now have two state of the art data centres across the country, initially provided Synetrix with <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/colocation">colocation</a> space across both halls in their <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc2">Derby data centre, DC2 </a>which has allowed Synetrix to provide a fully resilient 24/7 managed service to their customers. </p> <p>The Synetrix representative continues;<em> &quot;The flexibility and willing support from both the technical and management teams of Node4 has made this a very successful working partnership. “</em></p> <p>Paul Bryce, Node4’s Business Development Director adds; <em>“Here at Node4 we are delighted to be able to work with such a reputable company such as Synetrix and are thrilled that the partnership will continue indefinitely. We are currently working on plans to help expand Synetrix’s product portfolio with more of Node4’s services.&quot;</em></p><p>Published: 15/10/2009</p> 73 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/73 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:40:08 GMT 2009-10-15T09:40:08 Node4 <p>Communications and Data Centre specialist Node4 is embarking upon a national awareness campaign to help businesses understand the implications of BT’s 21CN project.  The multi- billion pound upgrade to the BT network across the UK affords a wealth of opportunity to end users, but following extensive customer feedback, Node4 has recognised a lack of awareness amongst the business community.</p><p>Many businesses are unaware of the benefits that the services, provided over the 21CN network, has to offer their businesses.  Node4 will be hosting a series of initiatives over the coming months to educate the marketplace including free regional workshops, jargon-free online information and a national awareness programme.</p><p>In the current tough economic climate many businesses are looking to reduce operational costs  whilst maintaining and improving business critical services.</p><p>Node4’s awareness programme will provide details of the changes that have been made to the BT network and explain how businesses of all sizes can benefit from the enhanced services now available.   The programme is designed to help businesses understand the new options available and optimise their IT and telecoms systems to increase capability and reduce operational costs.</p><p>Paul Bryce, Business Development Director at Node4 explains, <em>“Whilst many people have heard of BT’s 21CN network, the large majority do not understand the relevance to their business.  We have found that approximately 70% of people we contacted were unaware of the enhanced services now available across the 21CN network.   With so many new packaged products and services available, choosing the right communication solution can be a confusing process.  The infrastructure is established, now it’s just a case of helping end users to realise the benefits available”.</em></p><p>Paul continues,<em> “With IT services and telecoms presenting major cost centres for most businesses it is important that the decision makers are armed with the facts..  We intend to provide some clarity to demonstrate how greater efficiencies can be achieved in these areas and how the latest improvements in technology can enhance businesses’ activities.  BT’s 21CN network will enable many businesses previously priced out of the market to take advantage of a range of complete solutions.  Providing a fast return on investment and on going efficiencies, the new technologies will be vital to businesses remaining competitive within their respective market places”. </em>Node4’s extensive in house capabilities allow clients to derive the maximum benefits from BT’s 21CN network.   <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/siplink">SIPlink</a>  (Node4’s SIP service) enables organisations to create a single, IP connection between themselves and their telephone service provider, giving them the ability to make and receive telephone calls and other IP services such as video calls, video conferencing and presence information.  Available nationally across the UK, Node4’s new 10Mb, 100Mb, 1Gb and 10Gb services utilise BT’s 21CN enabled node exchanges located around the UK.</p><p>Newly available <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/wes">Ethernet</a> services allow business to effectively integrate fast internet access, hosted services from Data Centres and the ability to make and receive phone calls using SIP technology or a <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/unifiedcommunications">hosted IP phone system</a>.   These Ethernet packages provided over the 21CN network can provide savings of up to 55% on connection and annual charges compared to a traditional ISDN solution.</p><p>With more accessible bandwidth now available over the 21CN network, services such as remote data storage and access become viable options for businesses previously priced out of the market..  Node4 Data Centres offer the latest technology in security and resiliencies, ensuring the services required are available when needed with a flexible range of colocation and hosting services.</p><p>Published: 24/09/2009</p> 72 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/72 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:15:49 GMT 2009-09-24T14:15:49 Node4 <p>Being connected is fundamental for any business. With the increased reliance on working online your connection to the internet or links to other sites is vitally important.</p><p>So how does your organisation make the most of these connections? With falling prices and new technologies your organisation can benefit immensely.</p><p>In this educational and informative seminar we will explore what is happening in the world of connectivity and more importantly what you can do with those connections.</p><p>We are very pleased to be joined by BT so we can hear first hand about the 21CN and what that means for you and your business.</p><p>Schedule:10 am   Registration &amp; Refreshments</p><p>10.30   Welcome (Paul Bryce, Business Development Director, Node4)</p><p>10.40  Welcome to the 21st Century NetworkSpeaker:  Liz Walsh, 21CN Consultation Manager, BT Wholesale</p><p>BT is building 21CN – the world’s most radical next generation network transformation which it believes will radically enhance and transform the way we work and live.  So what is the 21CN, what does it provide, what does it mean to me?<p>• What is 21CN (jargon free!)• What does it offer (products – e.g. Wholesale Ethernet, WBCM, IPExchange)• What are the advantages?• When is it all happening?• How does it affect me (in terms of existing services I have)• Latest developments and changes made to Ethernet already</p><p>11.10  Break</p><p>11.25  Connect!Speaker: Paul Bryce, Business Development Director, Node4</p><p>Getting the right connection for your organisation is the platform for being able to benefit from the best in technology.  This session looks at what the connectivity options are and then what options become available, touching on areas such as centralised services, cloud computing, software as a service and hosted telephony.</p><p>• Connecting multiple sites and/or remote workers• QoS Networks• Centralising services</p><p>11.55  The future of making phone callsSpeaker: Richard Buxton, Senior Technical Consultant, Node4</p><p>In this session we look at another way in which you can make the most of your connection – for making phone calls resulting in line rental and call savings.</p><p>• Basics of SIP Trunking• Benefits including number porting and allocation• Extras available including fax to email, international numbers</p><p>12.25   Lunch</p><p>1.00pm  Tours of Node4’s DC3 Data Centre</p><p>See for yourself inside Node4’s latest 26,000 sq ft data centre that benefits from the latest technology in terms of climate control, security and resiliency.  With a fast connection your organisation could benefit from hosted services in a data centre like this.</p><p>To find out more details on the sessions taking place or to book your place at the event, please contact Anna at <a href="mailto:a.webster@node4.co.uk">a.webster@node4.co.uk</a> or call 0845 123 222.</p><p>Published: 15/09/2009</p> 71 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/71 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:28:30 GMT 2009-09-15T15:28:30 Node4 <p>A world away from the high-security temperature controlled environment of the data centre, Node4 this year got involved in the noise and excitement of British Superbikes.The company have teamed up with Rob Mac Racing to sponsor the bike riden by Derby lad John Kirkham for the Motorpoint Yamaha team for the 2009 British Superbikes season.</p><p>Node4 are an associate sponsor of the Motorpoint Yamaha team and were also presented with the opportunity to become the principle sponsor of the sister team after the previous title sponsor withdrew from the series.</p><p>This sees the NW200 teambikes being rebranded in Node4 corporate orange. John Kirkham maintains his seat on the R1 Superbike after recovering from a wrist injury suffered earlier in the season whilst Dan Linfoot campaigns in the 600 Supersport series.British Superbikes is now only second to World Superbikes in terms of popularity and draws a total TV audience of around 6.6m for the 12 rounds featured last year on Eurosport.Node4 managing director Andrew Gilbert said: “It is good publicity for us and we’ll be looking to do a little bit more next year.</p><p>Published: 26/08/2009</p> 70 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/70 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:04:04 GMT 2009-08-26T10:04:04 Node4 <p><strong>Featured in this week's Derby Evening Telegraph Business Weekly is a double-page profile on Node4...</strong></p><p>IF fire reduced PCs to a gooey mess, flooding caused servers to fizz and crackle or a terrorist attack damaged IT equipment beyond repair, data would be lost forever, potentially costing businesses millions.</p><p>Our growing reliance on computers to conduct business over the last decade has meant that storing information securely off-site at data centres is a growing trend to hedge against the risk of catastrophic IT failure.</p><p>Sitting behind high-security fencing on Pride Park, there is a company that makes sure that its customers can get back up and running and carry out business as usual even if their premises are hit by a meteorite.</p><p>Node4 is at the forefront of data <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/colocation">co-location </a>an area of IT that has seen huge growth in the last five years.</p><p>Managing director Andrew Gilbert said: <em>&quot;People are so reliant on IT that they have to have disaster recovery systems in case of fire or flooding.</em></p><p><em>&quot;Businesses with more than one site often have a head office which provides their IT infrastructure so there are wide-reaching implications if there are any serious problems.</em><em>&quot;That has meant a growing demand for our services,&quot; </em>said Mr Gilbert.</p><p>Hosting data for other companies means that every day when they switch on their PCs at work, thousands of people across the country are reliant on Node4's <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/storage">data storage</a> – most of them oblivious to the fact that the unusual-looking building on Pride Park provides them with a nerve centre.</p><p>Local companies who work with Node4 include Ennstone, Interfleet, Orchid IT, PX-Tech and the Mortgage Advice Bureau. On a national level, Node4 has contracts with blue-chip firms including Dixons and Provident Finance.</p><p><em>&quot;What we do is try to eliminate risk and provide a kind of insurance for information,''</em> says Mr Gilbert.</p><p>Now in its sixth year, Node4 expects to turn over between £7.2m and £7.5m this year and growth shows no sign of slowing.</p><p>The company has just invested a total of £5m to open its second data centre in Wakefield and a quarter of the space for business data and information has already been taken.</p><p><em>&quot;We built the Wakefield site from scratch over the last 18 months and things are looking good,&quot;</em> he said.</p><p>The Pride Park head office is reaching full capacity and further investment will see it grow further this year. Another site is being sought for a third data centre, possibly in Milton Keynes or Northampton.</p><p>The driving force behind the business is 28-year-old Mr Gilbert, who doesn't fit the stereotype of the head of a high-growth multi-million pound company, having left school at 16 with no academic ambitions. He said: <em>&quot;I wanted to get out to work and had no desire to do A-Levels or go to university so I started out at PC World as a technician fixing computers.&quot;</em>His interest in computers can be traced back to when his father bought him a Commodore computer when he was 10. It offered a mighty 64 kilobytes of random access memory data storage.</p><p>Today, Mr Gilbert and his colleagues at Node4 measure the flow of information in and out of its data centre in 1,000s of terabytes, each one equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes.</p><p>Staff at the Derby base have moved on to a mezzanine floor to make way for further equipment to store and send information.</p><p>Mr Gilbert said: &quot;<em>There are about 250 racks here which each do the work of between 30 and 40 servers.</em><em>&quot;People were moved upstairs to create space for 80 more racks that will be in use by the end of the year. It is the final squeeze on space here in Derby.&quot;</p><p></em>The additional space is expected to be full within six to 12 months by which time Andrew's thoughts will have already turned to a second site in or around the city.</p><p>While working at PC World and then Mastercare repairing PCs, he taught himself computer programming and web design.</p><p><em>&quot;I was lucky in that the jobs that I had gave me the chance to use my own initiative,&quot;</em> he said.</p><p>He was involved in e-commerce sites, gained experience working on the Freeserve project and was doing well from a financial point of view for a man in his early 20s.</p><p>That said, he was not satisfied in his work and being an employee was never part of his game plan.</p><p><em>&quot;I had ambition and never liked working for other people or being told what to do.</em></p><p><em>&quot;At the end of 2003, I decided to do something for myself and in 2004 I got stuck in without really thinking about it too much,&quot;</em> said Mr Gilbert.</p><p>Node4 initially provided <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/unifiedcommunications">internet protocol telephony</a>, a means for business to get cheaper calls by routing them over the Internet.</p><p>In those early days, unable to afford to pay for a sizeable account management team, Mr Gilbert worked long hours and also found himself on a steep learning curve as far as running a business was concerned.</p><p><em>&quot;I used to be more hands-on in terms of the technology but now I have a very good team who take some of the pressure off,&quot;</em> he said.</p><p>As time went on, the IP telephony service was overtaken by hosting and data solutions for which there has been more demand and, noticing the trend, the business invested accordingly in both premises, technology and personnel.Last year the company employed around 30 people, this year the head count has grown to nearly 40.</p><p><em>&quot;It has been a hard time for many people and I have friends in business who have struggled but fortunately the services we provide are the last thing that companies are going to cut back on,&quot; </em>said Mr Gilbert.</p><p>According to Mr Gilbert, there is not much competition out there for Node4 at the moment because larger companies with data centres like BT, Telecity and IBM are only interested in big accounts.</p><p><em>&quot;It has been really hard work and I feel like I'm about 45. Some days are still very long but I'm still passionate about the business,&quot; </em>said Mr Gilbert.</p><p><em>&quot;I suppose it would be easy enough to say that's enough and sit back but that's not really what it's all about and there are still goals I want to achieve.&quot;</em></p><p>Published: 21/08/2009</p> 69 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/69 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:22:43 GMT 2009-08-21T11:22:43 Node4 <p>Node4 hosted a very successful launch party last week to celebrate the opening of their brand new data centre, <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc3">DC3</a> in Wakefield. </p> <p>The Mayor of Wakefield, Councillor Heather Hudson cut the ribbon alongside Node4’s MD, Andrew Gilbert, at the event which was attended by around 100 invited customers and friends of the company, including special guests from the world of <a href="http://node4.co.uk/news/60">British Superbikes</a>, Chris Walker and his team from Rob Mac Racing. </p> <p>The new tier 4 standard facility is now officially open as the first customers move servers into DC3 this week. The company is pleased that a substantial amount of the 450 rack capacity has already been sold.</p> <p><em>“DC3 is the next step in the development of Node4’s vision to be recognised as a leading data centre provider in the UK. The location of DC3 just outside the large city of Leeds helps us to expand our ever-growing customer base into the north of the UK.</em></p> <p><em>“DC3 also allows us to provide a reliable and resilient disaster recovery solution not only to new customers, but also to existing customers at our Derby site to take advantage of the two locations,”</em> comments Node4 Business Development Director, Paul Bryce. </p> <p>DC3 is one of the first in the country to combine 2 of the latest energy saving technologies throughout the site: cold aisle containment and free cooling chillers. By using these methods, Node4 hope to make DC3 one of the most energy efficient data centres in Europe. </p> <p>Cold aisle containment is still a new but relatively simple idea to get the best efficiency from air conditioning units, ensuring that air at the most optimum temperature flows through the servers. Ultima Compact Freecool air conditioning units from Airedale International have been chosen to ensure that sound and vibrations are kept to a minimum, which in turn maximises the energy efficiency of the units without compromising the capacity. </p> <p>As the company moves forward Node4 plan to work with customers and partners to make the most of the green initiatives at DC3 as every business begins to take steps towards making their own business carbon efficient.</p><p>Published: 31/07/2009</p> 68 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/68 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:23:42 GMT 2009-07-31T11:23:42 Node4 <p>t-mac Technologies, one of the UK’s leading designers and manufacturers of energy management solutions, has chosen to host its business servers in Node4’s Derby data centre, <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc2">DC2</a>.</p><p>Due to recent new contract wins, t-mac Technologies needed to upgrade its servers and the resilience of its service to customers. t-mac’s current hosting provider was not providing an adequate level of service - this is when the company was directed to <a href="http://node4.co.uk/aboutus">Node4</a>.</p><p>Jonathan Wilkinson Director at t-mac Technologies comments; <em>“Based north of London there appears to be a lack of well established hosting companies in this area. Our t-mac service operates 24/7 and we need a data centre that can cope with the demands. We looked at two other data centres in the area but after being shown around Node4 and seing first-hand its expertise we were confident of their skills and signed that day.”</em></p><p>A colocation solution, rather than managed hosting, provides t-mac Technologies with much more control over its hardware and configuration, support engineers can access servers in Node4’s data centre whenever they need to in order to make any changes needed. The dedicated bandwidth provided with the rack space by Node4 also creates a consistent and reliable connection to the main head office simplifying remote management for the company.</p><p>Jonathan continues; <em>“By looking at <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/colocation">colocation</a> rather than managed servers we can use our own newer and quicker server hardware and save a considerable amount of money each month at the same time.” </em></p><p>With Node4’s brand new data centre, <a href="http://node4.co.uk/products/dc3">DC3</a> just outside of Leeds, now fully operational to customers, t-mac Technologies can easily expand their solution with Node4 in the future by creating a disaster recovery solution for their servers based across the two data centre sites, or by adding more servers as the business grows further.</p><p>Published: 15/07/2009</p> 66 http://www.node4.co.uk/news/66 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:52:18 GMT 2009-07-15T11:52:18 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:07:15 GMT http://www.node4.co.uk/news 15 Node4 - Managed Technology http://www.node4.co.uk/ http://www.node4.co.uk/images/logo_node4.png