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Mantrap access control for data centre in Qatar

Ooredoo is a leading international communications company with a customer base of more than one million across the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. It is the leading communication company in Qatar and its Qatar Data Centre is a sophisticated and advanced compliant data centre, and a leader in the region.

The facility has been designed to comply with world-class carrier standards and provides local and regional organisations with a range of services that include hosting and co-location, web content delivery, data backup and restoration, business continuity and disaster recovery, Internet and network connectivity, reporting services, infrastructure monitoring and management, as well as IT security. In 2014 the Ooredoo Data Centre received the prestigious ISO 22301 Certification – Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) certificate at QITCOM.

Handling such high volumes of sensitive client data means that access into the data centre needs to be carefully controlled and monitored. Not only does the facility employ hundreds of people, but it also hosts numerous visitors who come to the centre daily to discuss fit-for-purpose data solutions for their businesses.

Turnstar supplied six automatic mantrap cubicles to allow Ooredoo to control the entry of people into the data centre in a way that maximises security while concurrently minimising inconvenience to the employee or visitor.

“Because the mantrap cubicle has two interlocking doors that can never be opened simultaneously, there is no chance that criminals can leave this facility if an alarm has sounded. Lockdown will occur immediately. Either one of the doors can be unlocked and opened, as long as the other door is locked and closed. Furthermore, because the mantrap cubicle admits only one person at a time, it ensures that gangs of robbers are unable to enter en masse,” says Turnstar MD Craig Sacks.

Having earned a reputation as a product of choice in the sensitive banking environment, as well as in retail stores, tertiary education facilities, office blocks and commercial buildings, the Turnstar mantrap cubicle is ideally suited to applications such as the data centre where it is critical to separate a non-secured area from a secured area.

The mantrap cubicles are designed with reliability and durability in mind. The direct pivot design ensures that the door is precisely aligned and eliminates the need for clumsy, noisy hinges. Similarly, the frame structure and door are manufactured from steel to prevent sagging and door warping.

The doors are motorised and open and close automatically, with a built-in safety system ensuring that people accessing them are not harmed. This is achieved by the fact that the door automatically detects the presence of an obstacle and prevents closing of the door while the obstacle is present.

The Ooredoo Data Centre mantrap cubicles are linked to a card reader access control system, which is in turn linked to the company’s time and attendance system for accurate assessment of employee hours worked and business continuation auditing.

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