NTT's Frankfurt 4 data centre campus has installed mantrap security entrances from Boon Edam. The same technology is also being deployed in Australian data and financial services facilities.
The Hattersheim site, west of Frankfurt, is being developed as an 80MW-plus campus with more than 32,900 square metres of IT space planned across multiple buildings when fully completed. The facility uses layered physical security from the site perimeter to the data racks inside.
At the centre of the installation are twin Circlelock Solo portals designed to prevent tailgating and unauthorised entry. They were installed as part of an integrated access system developed for the campus by system integrator e-shelter security.
Users present credentials at a card reader before entering the cylindrical compartment. A 3D sensor camera mounted in the ceiling then checks that only one person is inside before the internal door opens to the secured area.
If the system detects more than one person, a voice message instructs users to leave the portal and enter one at a time, and an alarm sounds. The same monitoring process applies when people exit the secured side of the site.
Frankfurt is one of Europe's main internet traffic hubs. Data centres in the city handle about 90 per cent of domestic German internet traffic and roughly 35 per cent of European internet traffic. That gives added importance to the physical safeguards used at facilities linked to the market.
Australian use
Boon Edam Australia said the same mantrap approach is being used locally as Australia expands its data centre footprint and in-house processing facilities. The systems are also used in banking, government, telecommunications and other security-sensitive sites.
Mike Fisher, managing director of Boon Edam Australia, described such systems as the top layer in broader access control arrangements for high-traffic facilities. Those arrangements can include revolving entrances, internal speed gates, surveillance systems, biometric checks, smart-card access and multi-factor identification.
The Frankfurt installation uses two portals side by side so one can continue operating if the other is undergoing maintenance. The setup is intended to support round-the-clock operation, a basic requirement for data centres where interruptions can cause operational and financial disruption.
Each portal allows bi-directional traffic, but only one person can pass at a time. Boon Edam said five to six people a minute can move through the entrances in sequence, with LED traffic lights showing whether the passage is free or blocked.
Emergency setup
The units also include a backup power system to keep the moving portal wings operating for a limited period during a power failure. Once the battery pack is exhausted, the wing on the non-secured side opens while the wing on the secured side remains locked.
The entrance can also be used alongside a certified escape and rescue route. The Frankfurt 4 installation includes a floor-integrated mat frame to allow seamless passage through the entrance.
The portals installed at the campus have an inner diameter of 1,000mm, an outer diameter of 1,077mm, a clearance height of 2,300mm and a total height of 2,800mm. Visible metallic surfaces, including the curved wall and door profiles, canopy and underside of the ceiling, have a dark powder coating.
NTT operates in Australia through NTT DATA and NTT Ltd, providing IT and digital infrastructure services to businesses and government agencies. Its activities in the country include enterprise data centres as well as cybersecurity, cloud hosting, managed networks and research partnerships.
"High security entrance systems such as Circlelock are often the pinnacle of layered security entrance installations in sensitive and high-traffic facilities across Australia," said Mike Fisher, managing director of Boon Edam Australia.