Background
A UK-based organisation responsible for supporting critical communications infrastructure was undertaking a strategic data centre relocation as part of a wider platform modernisation programme.
The existing environment had grown over time, supporting live services with little tolerance for disruption. While operational, it lacked a consistent and reliable layer of documentation. Asset records were incomplete, cabling routes were not fully understood, and the physical layout no longer reflected how the infrastructure needed to scale.
The migration was therefore driven by more than a change of location. It was an opportunity to rebuild clarity, reduce operational risk and establish a more controlled, future-ready environment.
Sunspeed was engaged to deliver the full migration lifecycle, spanning audit, design, preparation and physical relocation.
236 x
Devices relocated.
The CHALLENGE
At first glance, the environment was defined by scale. In reality, the challenge was uncertainty.
The estate consisted of 236 physical devices across compute, storage and network infrastructure, supported by a high volume of interdependent connections:
- 800+ fibre and proprietary connections
- 700+ data connections
- ~500 power feeds
This level of density is typical in production environments of this kind. The issue was that no single dataset could be relied upon to accurately represent it. Planning a migration without resolving this would introduce unnecessary risk, particularly given the critical nature of the services involved.
Before any move could take place, the organisation needed a complete and validated understanding of its infrastructure.
0hrs
Unplanned downtime.
OUR Solution
Audit and discovery
The engagement began with a full audit of the live environment, designed to capture detailed physical and connectivity data without impacting services.
Each asset was recorded alongside its rack position, power configuration and connection paths. End to end cable tracing was completed across a two-hop architecture, allowing every dependency to be mapped with confidence.
The output was consolidated into a single Infrastructure Planner, providing a consistent and trusted view of the estate. For the first time, all assets, cabling and physical relationships were captured in one place.
This phase also highlighted inconsistencies and risks that would have otherwise surfaced during the migration itself, allowing them to be addressed in advance.
Design and planning
Using the audit data, the target environment was designed in detail. Rather than replicating the existing layout, the design focused on improving structure and usability. Rack elevations were reworked to support clearer equipment grouping, cabling was rationalised, and power distribution was aligned more cleanly across the environment.
Detailed patching schedules were created to account for every connection in the environment, ensuring that the complexity identified during the audit was fully controlled before any physical work began.
Site preparation
All racks were configured in advance, with power, copper and fibre cabling installed and labelled in line with the final design. This pre-cabling approach ensured that the environment was effectively ready to receive equipment, rather than being built in parallel with the migration.
Migration execution
The physical relocation was carried out during an out-of-hours window to minimise impact on live services.
Equipment was de-racked in a controlled sequence, securely packed and transported using specialist vehicles. At the destination site, assets were installed in line with predefined rack layouts and reconnected according to the established patching schedules.
Engineering teams operated across both locations to maintain continuity and resolve any issues in real time, ensuring the migration progressed in a controlled and predictable manner.
OUTCOMES
The migration was delivered within the planned window, with no unplanned disruption to critical services.
The organisation moved from a fragmented and partially understood environment to one underpinned by accurate, centralised data. The new data centre layout improved clarity at both a physical and operational level, with cabling and defined rack configurations replacing legacy complexity.
DISCOVER HOW WE CAN SUPPORT YOU
Sunspeed has been providing IT services for over 30 years. We are industry leaders in transformation projects such as Data Centre Relocations, and provide a comprehensive package of services to deliver you control of your physical IT infrastructure. Reach out today to discover how we can support you:
