Engineering | Future-tech

Data Centre Water Usage in the UK vs. the US – The Real Facts!

Mark Acton — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 09:37:31 +0000

In recent months, headlines have painted an alarming picture of data centres draining precious water resources, particularly in the UK and Europe. But the real story is far more nuanced than the headlines suggest… This blog aims to set the record straight. Following the recent article by the BBC ‘Concern UK’s AI ambitions could lead […]

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Understanding Harmonic Analysis and Its Importance in Data Centre Design

Atousa Zaeim — Thu, 22 May 2025 09:45:03 +0000

In the modern era, data centres are the backbone of digital communication and information storage. As the demand for data processing increases, so does the complexity of electrical systems within these facilities. Understanding harmonic analysis is essential to ensure that data centres operate efficiently and reliably. In this blog, Senior Electrical Engineer at Future-tech, Atousa […]

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Understanding Arc Flash and Its Importance in Data Centre Design

Atousa Zaeim — Fri, 09 May 2025 14:03:07 +0000

Arc flash is a dangerous electrical event that occurs when an electrical fault causes a sudden release of energy, resulting in an intense explosion. This event can produce extreme heat, light, pressure, and sound, leading to severe damage to equipment and posing significant safety hazards to personnel. In environments such as data centres, where electrical […]

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Understanding Selectivity and Its Importance in Data Centre Design

Atousa Zaeim — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 10:09:44 +0000

Selectivity, also known as protective device coordination, is a fundamental concept in electrical power system design, especially in environments like data centres where continuous operation is critical. Selectivity ensures that, in the event of an electrical fault, only the protective device nearest to the fault (such as a fuse or circuit breaker) will operate to […]

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Understanding Short Circuit and Its Importance in Data Centre Design

Atousa Zaeim — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:14:15 +0000

Short circuit analysis is a critical aspect of electrical system design, especially in data centres where power reliability and safety are essential. A short circuit occurs when a fault creates a low-resistance path between two conductors, allowing an excessive amount of current to flow through the system. This high current, known as the short circuit […]

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Understanding Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Its Role in Data Centre Design

Atousa Zaeim — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:21:27 +0000

In data centre operations, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum reliability is essential. One of the key metrics used to assess this reliability is Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), which measures the average time a system, component, or product operates before experiencing a failure. MTBF is particularly important in environments where high availability and minimal downtime […]

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11kV Utility supplies for Data Centres

James Wilman — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 23:00:00 +0000

The amount of electrical power needed to supply data centres rises inexorably. This is despite seemingly never ending gains in IT computing power efficiency which only results in greater density, to the extent that the only viable option is to take electrical power from the utility grid at 11kV. This trend presents new challenges to […]

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Circuit Breaker Discrimination

James Wilman — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 23:00:00 +0000

Circuit breaker discrimination (also known as selectivity) is the ability of the local circuit breaker to operate before any upstream circuit breakers under fault conditions. This applies to HV and LV, the illustration below is for a simple single-feed LV system. With correct discrimination, a single fault on one rack power supply will trip the […]

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Designing and operating a micro-data centre for Bristol City Council

Richard Stacey — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 23:00:00 +0000

Bristol City Council’s listed Head Quarters won the Innovation in the Micro-Data Centre Award at the 2009 Datacentre Leaders Awards. Most micro-data centres are situated in buildings designed primarily for purposes other than housing IT and this may accentuate the challenges of designing and operating a micro-data centre. Working with Future-tech, Bristol City Council achieved […]

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A purpose built data centre facility for NHS Kent & Medway Trust

Richard Stacey — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 23:00:00 +0000