Equinix LD8 / Telecity 6&7 Harbour Exchange (HEX)

Colo-X analysis

As part of the Telecity Harbour Exchange campus, 6&7 Harbour Exchange is the second best-connected colocation facility in London, after the Telehouse campus located 1.5 miles to the north. As such it performs an important role acting as a diverse connectivity hub to the Telehouse campus. In 2013, when Telecity expanded the site, cross-connects between 6&7 and 8&9 became possible – thus it no longer mattered which side customers were located on. Since Equinix acquired Telecity in late 2015, the site has been renamed Equinix LD8 and represents Equinix’s first ownership of an important London Docklands connectivity ecosystem.

The 6&7 side of Harbour Exchange houses several large caged areas and lots of individual rack customers, including many ISPs, who were largely the focus of the original Redbus sales pitch. Many of these ISPs use HEX as a key network node. Rack space is usually available either as churn in the older areas or at higher densities in the newer floors. Costs for colocation and cross-connects in 2016 will be subject to the new ownership under Equinix. Dedicated part racks, as quarter or half racks, are also available.

Equinix LD8 / Telecity 6&7 Harbour Exchange facility description

6&7 Harbour Exchange opened in 1999 as the first Redbus data centre, occupying three floors in a converted office building. Despite the obvious limitations of using an office building, by opening so early and at the height of the dotcom boom the facility quickly filled and network choice has always been a strong feature of the site. However, as a converted building and due to the age of the site, power densities on the original floors are limited by modern standards and slab heights fairly restricted, though cabinet heights of 47U can be used. In 2005 Redbus was acquired by Telecity, who in 2013 added a further 2MW of customer capacity to the site at modern power densities, able to run cabinets at 4kW or more.

Significantly, Telecity also united 6&7 HEX with the original Telecity building next door at 8&9 by allowing customers to cross-connect between the two buildings directly for the first time. Combining the two buildings established Telecity Harbour Exchange (HEX) as the second best-connected London site to Telehouse North, and in fact by 2015 HEX was the third busiest LINX site in London (after Telehouse North and Telehouse East) with just under 200 of the 1,500 or so LINX ports in use.

Since acquiring Telecity in late 2015, Equinix have renamed HEX as Equinix LD8 and expanded the site further by bringing on a further 2MW of capacity.

Technical stats