Copper Cabling

Brand-Rex scales the heights at Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower

June 18, 2014 by Rachel Tipping

Brand-Rex has been awarded a project to provide network infrastructure for the prestigious Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower, further demonstrating its strength in the Middle East region and in particular its commitment to the Qatar market.

Currently undergoing construction in the prestigious West Bay district of Doha in the state of Qatar, Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower will be a state-of-the-art hotel and residential apartment building. As the most recently developed area of the city, West Bay is home to some of its tallest and most impressive buildings, with 40 storeys within its striking design, Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower will be in good company.

Located close to the beach in what is the diplomatic centre of Doha, the area attracts some of the city’s top executives and government officials. Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower’s owners will be looking to appeal to this demographic and therefore the project’s design consultant, MZ & Partners, is making every effort to ensure that it contains the very best building services infrastructure, incorporating the latest technology.

The consultants, MZ & Partners and main contractor SAK Trading & Contracting recognised early on in the design phase that in order to create an ‘intelligent building’ the correct IT network infrastructure would be vital. They demanded a network cabling system capable of supporting network speeds of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, in order to support a diverse array of building services technology including wired and wireless Internet, IP security and access control.

After completing a tender process, local IT expert, Zerone Technologies, was awarded the contract to specify, design, supply and install a suitable network infrastructure. The company’s senior sales manager, Sourabh Singh, explains, ‘We have developed an excellent reputation for our ability to provide best in class technology for a range of projects and boast a dedicated and highly motivated service oriented team. After listening to the requirements of MZ & Partners I had no hesitation in recommending a solution from Brand-Rex comprising 10GPlus copper for the horizontal connectivity and premises distribution cables (PDC) from the company’s FibrePlus portfolio for the backbone.’

Zerone Technologies has worked with Brand-Rex for many years and, as a Premier Partner, is able to issue its globally renowned 25-year system warranty. Singh comments, ‘We have completed many installations of 10GPlus and have always been thoroughly impressed with its capabilities. The warranty means that our customers have peace of mind that their chosen solution will perform as expected for the lifetime of the installation.’

10GPlus is a 3P (Third Party Testing) approved cabling system that not only meets and exceeds the performance outlined in EIA/TIA for Category 6A, but also meets and exceeds requirements in ISO/IEC for Class EA. The 10GPlus system therefore has unparalleled levels of certification and is manufactured in accordance with ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2008.

After discussing the relative merits of shielded and unshielded cable, it was decided to use the latter. Asked why, Alaa Habanjar, country manager for Qatar, Kuwait and Levant?at Brand-Rex, replies, ‘Although there was some initial concern regarding the ability of unshielded twisted pair to achieve 10 Gigabit Ethernet performance due to alien crosstalk issues, Brand-Rex 10GPlus U/UTP has a unique Reuleaux shaped cable that reduces interference from adjacent cables and incorporates very highly balanced pairs. Its performance is also independently verified in 100m length testing for both the cable and the channel configurations.’

As well as installing 10GPlus, the specification also called for a fibre optic cabling backbone. Sourabh Singh says, ‘We wanted a solution that offered high levels of resilience and, due to the building’s use, an outstanding level of fire safety performance. The PDC range from Brand-Rex met all of these requirements and more.’

The Brand-Rex PDC products are compact and provider excellent tensile performance. The cables are based on a 900?m tight-buffered fibre. The universal construction enables them to be used internally and externally without the need for transition cable joints. With a low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) construction, they will be installed in the entire backbone of Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower’s network and directly terminated at a consolidation points.

With the building programme currently on schedule, the project will be completed by 2016. The final word goes to Zerone Technologies’ Sourabh Singh, who concludes, ‘The network cabling infrastructure we are installing using products from Brand-Rex will ensure that Al Abdul Wahab Gholam Tower is able to offer its occupants the very best communications platform, while maximising the potential of its building services technology.’

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ABOUT BRAND-REX
Brand-Rex is a global operation, designing, developing and manufacturing the most sophisticated, high performance copper and fibre cabling systems for communications and extreme environment applications. Headquartered in Scotland, the company is committed to being a trusted market leading provider of best-in-class communications infrastructure solutions. As well as developing products and systems of the highest quality, the company is entirely carbon neutral and offsets all the CO2 created by the manufacture and distribution of its products. For more information visit www.brand-rex.com

For further press information please contact:
Katrin Naefe on: +44(0)1295 256138
e-mail: Katrin.naefe@turtleconsulting.com
or
Phil Turtle on: +44 (0) 7867 780676
e-mail: phil.turtle@turtleconsulting.com
Turtle Consulting Group

Data Centre Deconstruction to Help Fund Junior Football

April 23, 2014 by Rachel Tipping

Brand-Rex has once again demonstrated that being environmentally responsible not only promotes sustainability, but also leads to lower costs and protects the company’s bottom line.

In collaboration with Essent, the leading power utility in the Netherlands, Brand-Rex were able to help them recover and recycle 91 per cent of all the materials from two end of life data centres they were retiring. This added up to a total of 8,385kg of cables, cords, servers, racks, wall ducts and other materials. Not only did this cover all of the costs of deconstruction and recovery but it produced a significant surplus of revenue from the recycled materials.

Having produced a surplus from their co-operation on this project the two companies decided to donate the revenue to another sustainable initiative. It was determined that “Playing for Success”, an after-school programme for 9 to 14 year olds who are not achieving their potential at school, an initiative local to Essent would be the appropriate choice

On non-match days in the Euroborg Sport Stadium children are encouraged through football to engage their interest where conventional teaching methods have failed.

To make the whole initiative ‘sustainable’ Essent and project partners have installed 500 solar panels on the roof of the stadium and Essent with Brand-Rex are donating the full revenue from five of these panels for the next 25 years.

Jeroen Loonstra, Regional Sales Director of Brand-Rex, said “It is very rewarding for Brand-Rex to be in a position to contribute to such a worthy cause that also creates a tangible value for both the company and our partner. With this initiative, which it is hoped will help thousands of young people over the next 25 years gain better access to education, Brand-Rex has demonstrated once again that it’s more profitable to be green”.

Photos Available Here: http://turt.co/0669uroborg http://turt.co/0669playingforsuccess
[username: pics | password: pics] Caption: Marco Spoel (Essent, left) and Jan-Willem Hendriks (Brand Rex, right) symbolically make the donation to Dion Folkersma of Playing for Success Groningen (middle)

Raritan Solves The Intelligent PDU Retrofit Problem Without Downtime

January 30, 2014 by Caroline Hill

Raritan, leader in high accuracy intelligent power monitoring and metering has designed a completely new retrofit power monitoring system suitable for both new and existing data centres. The technology is designed for ‘live’ installation, without any need for downtime or business interruption.

Operators of legacy data centres often look enviously at more modern facilities with intelligent power distribution units (PDUs) and their metering and monitoring reports. Without these modern systems, data centre operators cannot easily tell how much additional equipment they can safely put in a rack – or how dangerously close they are to tripping a circuit breaker. (If a circuit breaker trips a whole rack or even row could lose power – with disastrous results for services and customers).

The problem in most legacy data centres has been that retrofitting in-line PDU’s involves downtime, which is normally unacceptable. Until now, that is.

Launching the new product, Raritan’s Richard May said, “Raritan’s new BCM (Branch Circuit Monitoring) needs no downtime for installation. It uses high accuracy split-core clamps that simply attach around existing supply cables. The data from these clamps is combined with voltage monitoring information. The non-invasive BCM installation then supplies the business with invaluable data including, power (kW), apparent power (kVA), energy (kWh) plus power factor (PF) as well as load balance on three-phase systems.”

Each Raritan BCM unit can monitor the incoming single phase or three phase feeds to a distribution panel plus up to 21 tributary or branch circuits to the rack’s A&B feed PDUs.

Multiple BCM units are connected together for larger panels and network connections are made using Wi-Fi or RJ45. Utilising industry standard SNMP protocols, the unit cleanly integrates into existing management and data collection systems.

Information is Power

Raritan BCM integrates direct to the Raritan Power IQ and dcTrack management software systems in exactly the same way as intelligent PDUs in new data centres.

This means that by the non-intrusive installation of Raritan BCM and either Power IQ or dcTrack software, legacy data centres can now easily have the full functionality enjoyed by newer facilities:

– An increase in available power by ensuring that branch circuits are suitably loaded but never overloaded.

– Avoiding pockets of ‘stranded’ (and hence un-used) power, maximising your data centre investment.

– A complete, accurate view of branch circuit loading

– Improved balance of loads

– Monitoring and ensuring that breaker-trips are avoided except in true emergencies.

– Accurately bill customers/users or user departments for energy usage.

– Accurately measure PUE

– Support energy saving and ‘green’ initiatives.

For more information visit www.raritan.eu/bcm or contact Raritan at sales.uk@raritan.com or +44 207 090 139

Brand-Rex Appoints Andy Sharkey As Sales Director

November 27, 2013 by Caroline Hill

Leading data networking solutions provider Brand-Rex has appointed Andy Sharkey as its new sales director, based at the company’s headquarters in Glenrothes, Scotland.

Andy is a highly qualified professional with over 22 years experience in the IT industry, most recently holding the position of regional business director at Panduit.

Commenting on his new position, Andy said “I am excited to join Brand-Rex and look forward to combining my industry knowledge and experience to lead the sales organisation as we move the business forward.”

At Brand-Rex Andy will be responsible for all aspects of sales strategy development and deployment. His appointment will further strengthen the senior management team ensuring ongoing support for the company’s channel and system integrator partners. Andy’s wide ranging experience across international markets will be instrumental in realising the company’s plans to extend its territorial footprint.

Commenting on the appointment, Martin Hanchard, CEO, Brand-Rex, said, “We are delighted to welcome Andy to the Brand-Rex management team and look forward to his strategic contribution to the Board. His extensive experience and sales leadership credentials will help ensure we achieve our long term growth aspirations.

Brand-Rex Partners with Allied Telesis

November 21, 2013 by Caroline Hill

Leading data network solutions provider Brand-Rex today announced it has signed an EcoSystem Partnership with IP networking infrastructure provider Allied Telesis.

Allied Telesis is a leading global network infrastructure provider with more than 25 years design and manufacture experience, resulting in an extensive portfolio of solutions that offer end-to-end networking to enterprise and service providers.

The EcoSystem Partner Program is designed to bring together technology partners who provide complimentary products and services. The new partnership will allow Brand-Rex and Allied Telesis to offer a complete network solution to meet the demands of new and existing customers.

Announcing the new partnership, Piero Bottini, Program Manager at Allied Telesis commented, “The EcoSystem partner program brings together best in class suppliers to leverage expertise and create bespoke solutions for multiple markets.”

“Having worked with Brand-Rex on a number of projects we concluded that their commitment to quality and advanced technology, matched our own objectives and solutions-based philosophy.”

Andrew Black , Technical Marketing Manager at Brand-Rex commented, “Participating in the EcoSystem program provides an opportunity to expand our knowledge of IP hardware equipment and associated technologies that benefit from our high performance cabling solutions.”

Brand-Rex and Allied Telesis will promote their new EcoSystem partnership through a series of events and campaigns. To find out more or to contact us please visit www.brand-rex.com.

Brand-Rex and How United Services Announce New Partnership

August 14, 2013 by Rob Shepherd

Brand-Rex, the leading supplier of copper and fibre optic based network infrastructure solutions for enterprises, data centres and extreme environments, is set to increase its presence and activity in the Middle East thanks to a new partnership with How United Services (HUS).

Established in 2000 by Interserve UK and Al Darwish United, HUS was developed as a company to deliver state-of-the-art mechanical, electrical, power and maintenance services to a diverse range of clients. Today, the company employs over 1,400 experienced staff and site operatives and its operations are supported by a number of strategically located personnel that offer comprehensive logistical support.

Qatar has witnessed phenomenal growth in recent years. Its construction sector is thriving due to an abundance of major infrastructure and facilities building projects that are related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

This, combined with the Qatar National Vision 2030 programme, which aims to create a sustainable economy and advance the standard of living of its people, means that HUS’ services are in high demand.

Carole Ann Taylor Williams, marketing manager at HUS, commented, ‘We are proud to be a part of this growth through the delivery of numerous projects across all spheres of construction. We work with blue chip clients such as RasGas, Exxon Mobile and Qatar Airways and we are increasingly involved with delivering high-end structured cabling projects. We recognise Brand-Rex as a major player in the provision of innovative network infrastructure products and systems, and consider Approved Partner status as an excellent way to develop this relationship for our mutual benefit.’

An Approved Partner, HUS is part of the Brand-Rex Business Partner Program, which offers a wide range of incentives such as project support, technical assistance, training and education, dedicated account management and a vast array of marketing collateral to help partners maximise their revenue generating activities. By working closely with Brand-Rex account managers, partners are encouraged to utilise as many benefits as possible and in order to offer the ultimate in peace of mind to end users, they are also able to issue the industry renowned Brand-Rex 25-year system warranty.

‘The appointment of HUS serves to further strengthen our commitment to developing and supporting our growing operations in the state of Qatar,’ concluded Brand-Rex country manager, Alaa Habanjar. ‘We look forward to working together with HUS on some of the most exciting projects in the Middle East and providing customers with some of the most advanced structured cabling systems currently available in the world.

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Brand-Rex Appoints Aldo Strawbridge to Top Regional Post for Middle East

August 7, 2013 by Phil Turtle

Following recent growth in the Middle East, data networking solutions provider Brand-Rex, is delighted to announce the appointment of Aldo Strawbridge as Regional Sales Director.

Taking up his post in August, Aldo will be based out of the Brand-Rex Regional HQ in Dubai. With partners in 12 countries throughout the region, he expects to spend much of his time visiting customers over the first few months to gain a detailed understanding of their needs and challenges.

Aldo Strawbridge said, “Information and communication technology is at the heart of every organisation’s activities. In the Middle East we are seeing a significant increase in demand. A major driver is the requirement for new infrastructure solutions resulting from the convergence of CCTV, building management, security and access control systems to Internet Protocol (IP). Instead of deploying five or six separate cabling networks through the entire building, just a single converged network is needed. This leads to significant cost savings and improved system integration. Brand-Rex has been developing IP/Ethernet structured cabling solutions for over two decades and is at the forefront of converged network solutions.”

Aldo will join Brand-Rex from NEC UK where he previously held the role of Director of Sales and Service Operations. Aldo has been involved in the telecoms industry for over 35 years and brings with him experience of the Middle East market, having previously worked for Lucent Technologies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Announcing the appointment, Brand-Rex CEO Martin Hanchard said,
“I am delighted to welcome Aldo to the Brand-Rex team. His extensive business development and industry experience will be pivotal to help drive our plans to extend our reach throughout the Middle East and to continue to provide our customers with excellent support and service. Brand-Rex has been active in the Region since the 1990’s and has an impressive track record of reference projects including Dubai’s Silicon Oasis HQ in UAE, Bahrain Financial Harbour and Hamad Medical City in Qatar”

Aldo Strawbridge welcomes contact from customers and prospective customers and partners. He can be contacted at astrawbridge@brand-rex.com or via the Dubai Regional HQ on +971 (4)454 8644

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Brand-Rex takes centre stage at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama

June 21, 2013 by Rob Shepherd

1, Brand-Rex, the leading supplier of copper and fibre optic based network infrastructure solutions for enterprises, data centres and extreme environments, is proud to announce that its products and systems have been used extensively within the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s new £90m Milton Court facility in London.

Offering aspiring musicians, actors, stage managers and theatre technicians a creative and stimulating environment in which to develop as artists and professionals, Milton Court is a state-of-the-art teaching and performance building and, as such, it requires the best possible network infrastructure for its staff, students and visitors.

The Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s Head of IT, Richard Antonel, was charged with overseeing the implementation of a network infrastructure that could provide the highest possible levels of performance and future proofing. He explained, ‘The scope was to install a high specification structured cabling system that would last in excess of 25 years. We decided to install 10Gbit/s to every outlet. After carrying out research I decided the Brand-Rex 10GPlus Category 6A system would offer the best combination of value, reliability and longevity.’

Chris Chandler, technical manager at Brand-Rex, who advised on the system design commented, ‘For this environment a shielded foil twisted pair (F/FTP) low smoke zero halogen (LSOH) cable was the most appropriate option due to the quantity of electrical services in the building that could cause electromagnetic interference (EMI). Over 150km of it was used to configure 2,000 10GBASE-T channels and, in addition, singlemode (OS2) and multimode (OM4) optical fibre from our FibrePlus range has been used in the campus wide area network (WAN) and internal backbones respectively.’

A truly converged multimedia environment, as well as running data, voice and video conferencing applications, the IT infrastructure at Milton Court has to be able to handle the many radio and TV broadcasts that will be made from the new facilities as well as supporting the Guildhall’s recording studios for sound and video. It will also facilitate a large digital signage system, as well as wireless networking to accommodate the increasing preference for ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) functionality amongst students. It is also used to network a building management system (BMS) that operates access control, CCTV, and heating and ventilation.

As a third party tested and approved cabling system, 10GPlus not only meets and exceeds the performance outlined in EIA/TIA for Category 6A, but also meets and exceeds requirements in ISO/IEC for Class EA. The 10GPlus system therefore has unparalleled levels of certification and is manufactured in accordance with ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2008.

Antonel is confident that Milton Court’s communications infrastructure will fully support the technologies of the future. He concluded, ‘Milton Court will open in September and I know that its network infrastructure will perfectly complement and enhance the outstanding quality of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s training and the success of its graduates.’

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Photo Available Here: http://turt.co/brx567
Caption: Guildhall Milton Court
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About the Guildhall School
The Guildhall School is a vibrant, international community of young musicians, actors and theatre technicians in the heart of the City of London. Rated No.1 specialist institution in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2013, the School is a global leader of creative and professional practice which promotes innovation, experiment and research, with nearly 900 students in higher education, drawn from nearly 60 countries around the world. It is also the UK’s leading provider of specialist music training at the under-18 level with nearly 2,500 students in Junior Guildhall and the Centre for Young Musicians. The School is widely recognised for the quality of its teaching and its graduates, and the new building, Milton Court, will offer state-of-the-art facilities to match the talent within its walls, ensuring that students enter their chosen profession at the highest level.

Milton Court will have a new 608-seat concert hall plus two theatres (227- seat and studio), three rehearsal rooms, television studio suite, departments for costume, wigs and make-up, office space, tutorial rooms and public foyers. This will allow the School to offer facilities commensurate with those in the profession, helping to attract the most highly regarded teachers and best students internationally. The total cost of Milton Court is £89 million. The two foundation donors are Heron International and the City of London, and together they have generously provided a combined contribution of £75 million. The School is raising the remaining £13.5 million to fully equip the building to the highest professional standards.

With the opening of Milton Court the cultural quarter in the heart of the City of London will stretch from the School’s two buildings and the Barbican on Silk Street up to the Barbican’s two new cinemas, and northwards to LSO St Luke’s on Old Street, offering a richly varied range of venues and performances spaces. The Milton Court Concert Hall will also be used by the Barbican’s two new Associate Ensembles – the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia – where part of their Barbican season performances will take place, for Barbican classical and contemporary own promotions and commercial hire, as well as for Creative Learning, the Barbican’s joint outreach division with the School.

BRX0567

Fifth Year At The Top For Brand-Rex

April 21, 2013 by Phil Turtle

For the fifth year running Brand-Rex, the data networks solutions provider has re-affirmed its leadership position in the UK market for volume of structured cabling systems sold.

The latest independent market research report conducted by specialist building consultants BSRIA – shows Brand-Rex shipping a significant 15 per cent more ‘outlets’ than its closest rival. In product terms. ‘Outlets’ represent complete system solutions, incorporating copper data cables, patch panels, patch cords and outlet sockets.

Martin Hanchard, CEO at Brand-Rex commented, “It is very pleasing to note that although certain manufacturers sell more cable kilometres and others more component units, Brand-Rex remains the preferred UK supplier for fully integrated solutions.“

According to the research, Brand-Rex has 18.6 per cent of the UK market by volume with 1.33 million outlets sold in 2012 compared to the market total of 7.13 million.

A star performer for Brand-Rex last year was its Data Centre Zone Cable product. Thinner than competing 10Gigabit/s cables this innovation has been a real success with installers. By reducing overcrowding in equipment racks and solving the problems of conventional cables blocking under-floor flows of vital refrigerated air, end users and system integrators can more efficiently plan their Data Networks.

“We have secured exciting new UK contracts including Manchester City FC’s new training ground; media companies MTV and Viacom; Odeon Cinemas; The Welsh Assembly; and the South Glasgow Super-Hospital. Brand-Rex has also supported many of the London Olympics venues,” said Hanchard.

Despite the challenging economic climate in the UK, Brand-Rex continues to invest heavily in new product development – evidenced by the launch of its Fibre Superset, a complete range of 10 to 40 Gigabit migratable and 10-to-40-to-100 Gigabit migratable products. Unlike most products these are designed for in-situ re-configuration to higher speeds providing for the much sought after future proofing required by network managers and specifiers.

“Brand-Rex environmental credentials continue to contribute substantially to the company’s success. Brand-Rex leads the industry,” said Hanchard, “we were first in the world to be able to state that our complete global operations were carbon neutral and continue to challenge ourselves every day to further develop this competitive advantage.”

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Brand-Rex Launches New Structured Cabling Systems Catalogue

March 27, 2013 by Rob Shepherd

Brand-Rex, the leading supplier of copper and fibre optic based network infrastructure solutions for enterprises, data centres and extreme environments, has just announced the completion of its latest catalogue, which details its entire range of structured cabling systems.

The 2013 Structured Cabling Systems catalogue is easy to navigate and features more than 7,500 products and over 178 pages, including up-to-date information and technical data regarding the company’s range of copper, optical fibre, data centre and intelligent infrastructure management (IIM) systems. As well as including a comprehensive overview of the well known 10GPlus, Cat6Plus, GigaPlus, FibrePlus, Blolite, MTConnect and SmartPatch ranges, latest innovations such as the 10GPlus PCB Patch Panel Set and MT Connect SuperSet pre-terminated fibre optic cabling range are also profiled.

‘The new Structured Cabling Systems catalogue represents the culmination of over 40 years of design and manufacturing excellence,’ commented Audrey O’Brien, marketing communications manager at Brand-Rex. ‘With over 200 new products featured in its pages, it is an essential tool for those involved in the specification and installation of network infrastructures, and its design and layout makes finding information about our systems quicker and easier than ever before.’

Although previous editions have been published in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as English, this year’s Structured Cabling Systems catalogue has for the first time been produced in a French version due to demand from those countries where it is the mother tongue.

Also, in line with Brand-Rex’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, and as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, the catalogue will be available in an electronic format. Installers will be able to download a fully searchable PDF of the catalogue, while those that prefer a hard copy version will be able to obtain one that is printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved paper.

The new Brand-Rex Structured Cabling Systems catalogue will be available from early April. A copy can be requested by emailing marketing@brand-rex.com or at www.brand-rex.com/newcatalogue

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