Even though they’re relied upon for every aspect of modern life, data centres are now under intense public scrutiny due to their massive energy use, water consumption and overall carbon impact. This heightened visibility makes them more vulnerable, turning them into targets for a growing range of threats.

Environmental activists increasingly see data centres as symbols of digital excess, raising the risk that climate protests could escalate from rhetoric to physical disruption. At the same time, state sponsored actors view these facilities as critical infrastructure whose compromise could ripple across economies and national security.

As such, data centres must strengthen their defences while reshaping their public image from faceless power consumers to vital, responsibly managed assets. With data centres in the media spotlight like never before, in this month’s Question Time we’ve asked a specially selected panel of industry experts to examine the risks these facilities face and the measures that should be taken to strengthen their security.

Uptime defines a data centre’s resilience and reliable, uninterrupted power is the backbone of operations, preventing costly disruptions that can damage reputations, erode customer trust and trigger major financial losses. Power stability isn’t optional and we have a couple of excellent articles on the subject. Panduit’s Hans Obermillacher examines the vital role of UPS and PDU connectivity in data centres and David Watkins of Virtus Data Centres looks at power management in the age of AI.

This issue also contains a special feature dedicated to pre-terminated copper and optical fibre cabling solutions. Andrew Sedman of R&M explains the key considerations when designing and installing solutions with pre-terminated cabling. Andrew’s followed by Alan Keizer of AFL, who explains the networking foundations for advanced AI clusters and how pre-terminated fibre cabling systems offer significant advantages that are aligned with evolving demands.

Rob Shepherd 
Editor