Sleeping pods fitted at data centre for London 2012

A data centre services provider has installed sleeping pods into its London site to ensure that engineering staff can attend to any problems round the clock during the Olympic Games.

Interxion runs a carrier-neutral co-location data centre on Brick Lane in London. It built the sleeping pods at the data centre in response to predictions that the capital's traffic congestion would increase by a third during London 2012, even though transport minister Norman Baker has urged businesses to adopt remote working during the Games in a bid to reduce the expected pressures on the capital’s transport network.

The Podtime pods will allow engineers to stay at the site 24/7 to avoid difficulties commuting to the data centre.

Greg McCulloch, UK managing director at Interxion, said: "Due to the nature of our business we need to be ready for all eventualities and while we are excited to have the Olympics in London, we also need to be sure that we can continue to offer the highest level of resilience to our customers."

Customers of Interxion include NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) Euronext, which said it worked with the host company to establish data centre co-location services in the City, as part of its extended presence in London.

Photos provided by Interxion.