01/04/2002

INTERVIEW WITH ALFONS FRIEDL

APLEIN Ingenieros has supplied a back-projection videowall for the Internet Data Center in Alcobendas. We interviewed, Alfons Friedl, Technical Manager of acens, a leading firm in Spain in the field of web hosting services.

What's the main function of the Alcobendas Internet Data Center?

The acens Internet Data Center in Alcobendas is the place where we physically house our customers' websites and servers. And not only that, but also the equipment that guarantees the electricity supply to the servers, air-conditioning equipment, communications and security equipment, etc. We believe that this is currently the most advanced center of its kind in Spain.

What kind of investment has it involved for your company?

Up to now acens has invested a total of some 9m euros (about 1,500m pesetas) in infrastructure. Obviously there is an ongoing investment, es-pecially in servers and communications equipment, which we make as our customer base grows.

What made you opt for the videowall solution presented by APLEIN Ingenieros?

We studied various solutions, both with Aplein and with the competition. We wanted a solution that would give us a videowall with good visibility at distances of two to seven metres. When we put this requirement to-gether with the final size (4mx1.5m), we saw that the most suitable solu-tion was two 100" projection systems. And in view of the projectors' high luminosity and the fact that we have only a rather thin joint between the two screens, we thought it was much more appropriate than a tradi-tional system, based on smaller projection hub. I think the end result has proved us right.

How has the facility benefited acens's operations center?

The videowall provides basic information about the state of our critical systems, such as servers, services, networks, security, etc., simultaneously to all operational and customer service staff. This saves us from having to install and maintain additional screens at every workstation. It also facili-tates communication between staff, as everyone sees the same informa-tion as soon as they look up. And as the room is almost entirely glass-walled, all acens staff, customers and visitors can see the videowall and get firsthand information every time they go past the Operations Center. This is really useful in day-to-day work, as it not only tells us about any incidents - information that we would receive anyway - but also about the load on our systems and the state of the network. As this shows that we are steadily growing, it has an extremely positive effect on all staff. Lastly we can't deny the positive effect in image terms when visitors get out of the lift and find themselves face to face with a facility of this kind. It's enormously valuable - marketing in a split second...

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