Custodian DA2 Data Centre, Dartford

Colo-X analysis

The Custodian DA2 data centre opened in May 2022 with the first data hall of 50 racks/400kW live, fully let to a long term tenant, with a second 100 rack/500kW hall also live for colocation clients, with solutions ranging from 1/4 racks upwards.

The data centre can offer up to 800 racks or 10MW. As such, it is much larger than the original Custodian data centre which opened in 2008 and located in Maidstone, around 20 miles to the south east of DA2. Custodian are claiming a design PUE of 1.3, Tier3 standards and the ability to offer bespoke designs on the remaining data halls.

Custodian is very much the Kent data centre specialist, with the two sites supported by their self-lit and managed fibre ring connecting into Telehouse in London Docklands and the former Level3 (now Colt) data centre on Goswell Road. One leg of this ring runs through the Dartford Crossing, offering superb resilience.

Besides facilities and network, as one of the few privately owned data centre operators in the UK (with a track record going back to 2008) and with the Custodian NOC now based in DA2, Custodian can offer superb levels of customer support, thus removing the need for most site visits. Colocation solutions include part racks, full racks and dedicated self-contained pods. And, for larger users, there are dedicated data halls from 64 racks upwards (with a longer lead time).

Custodian DA2 Dartford facility description

The Custodian DA2 data centre is based on a light industrial unit comprising a ground-floor and recently installed mezzanine level for plant. There is ample onsite parking and a secure, fenced perimeter. The technical space is divided into six data halls, one of which is let to a media sector client on a long term basis. The remaining data halls range in size from 64 to 250 racks, with the first shared colocation room of 100 racks housing two 50 racks pods, with an enclosed hot-aisle system and standing on the solid concrete floorslab.

The site overall is well lit with excellent onsite facilities for clients, including build and break-out rooms.

The date centre is supported by two incoming 11kV feeds, and the standard is claimed to exceed Tier3, with fire suppresion using a pressure-mist system.

There is 24/7 onsite support and management, a key differentiator for one of the few remaining privately owned UK data centre operators and the NOC is located upstairs on the first floor.

The four vacant halls offer options for dedicated space, built to specific client requirements and range in size from 64 racks to over 250.

Network options include Zayo, ITS and Openreach onsite, but also Custodian’s own dark fibre ring which they manage and light themsleves.  This connects Dartford to Maidstone and London Docklands, with one leg of the ring running north of the Thames into Docklands via the nearby Dartford Crossing.  Carriers therefore accesbile in the longer established Maidstone site include Neos, Virgin and Colt.

Data centres in Kent

Custodian DA2 Dartford is the third Kent data centre listed on Colo-X – and when fully fitted out to its full 800 rack/10MW potential it will easily be the largest. Custodian’s first data centre in Maidstone opened in 2008 and is part of a mixed-use site that was originally a TV studio. This facility is now largely full, offering 350 racks or about 1MW of IT load.

The first Kent data centre, which came to market in the early 2000s, was originally (and aptly) known as The Bunker. It is a former MOD nuclear-bomb-proof bunker located in Ash, on the east Kent coast. The facility is now part of Cyberfort, a specialist cybersecurity and managed-hosting provider, who also operate out of a smaller data centre on the former Greenham Common airbase near Newbury, Berkshire.

The Bunker remains a very niche facility, highly focussed on organisations concerned about data protection in the event of a nuclear incident. For generalist data centre users, the more modern, highly efficient sites such as Custodian DA2 or others listed on Colo-X usually offer the best combination of low PUEs and commercial terms.

All these Kent data centres are included in Colo-X’s M25 location category. This also includes sites in Surrey, Hampshire, Slough/Reading, Buckinghamshire and up to Hertfordshire in the north, tracking the M25 orbital motorway around the capital. The Colo-X data centre database of around 150 data centres now lists 62 sites in the M25, of which 36 are wholesale, so sold only to the largest buyers. Twenty-six are retail and on solutions for smaller buyers looking for part-racks, racks or more (this is the part of the market that Colo-X specialises in).

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