13. November 2023

5 Min read

    Contents

      Written by Carsten Ludwig

      Market Manager Data Center

      Journey through time in the data center

      In the latest issue of our specialist magazine CONNECTIONS, we take you on a journey through time to the future of your data center. You will learn about some surprising interactions between market trends, customer projects, and the infrastructure in your computer room.

      What is clear is that customers’ IT and digitalization projects are reaching ever deeper into the processes and infrastructures of your data center.

       

      R&M offers its customers integrated DC solutions from A to Z.

       

      The example of cooling

      The challenges associated with cooling are impressive. When the computer room was first set up, all the amenities were perfectly adjusted to each other: Cold aisles and warm aisles, air flow, fans and cooling systems, operating temperature of IT equipment, etc.

      Servers with larger computing capacity are now entering the computer room because customers want to launch new, powerful digital products. The cooling system responds accordingly: Fans are operating at full speed on a permanent basis and consuming more power. The cause has to be investigated, which no doubt means maintenance work, in the worst case operational interruptions and subsequent renovation work.

       

      Blade cooling for heat loads from 4 to 42 kW

       

      If installations are equipped at maximum capacity too early, this can lead to inefficiencies and even damage to the system. Here, is a simple example: A rack was initially equipped with two blades, which together had an output of 2 kW. However, the cooling system and power supply have already been configured for 20 kW or for fully equipped rack rows.

      Excessive cooling changes the dew point. Moisture accumulates. Certain systems stop when there is too much cold or the cooling system runs at a level that is too low, resulting in constant switching on and off. This can lead to complete cooling system failure prematurely.

       

      In-row cooling

       

      Possible solutions

      One possible solution is decentralized, modular inline and side cooling units such as the BladeCooling units from R&M Tecnosteel. They can be dimensioned according to the respective computing performance.

      Here, too, an interdependency would have to be taken into account: The energy and space requirements of the inline and side cooling units must be taken into account when planning the expansion. Once again, IT equipment and operating temperatures, ventilators, cooling systems, containment, and air routing have to be coordinated with one another.

       

      BladeShelter containment

       

      Many interactions

      There are similar interactions in highly scaled connectivity in a spine-leaf architecture, in DCIM, or in the electrical equipment of the racks. For example, the sustainability manager wants to know what impact the new PDUs will have on the data center’s carbon footprint.

       

      The DCIM software inteliPhy net from R&M enables asset management of IT hardware.

       

      It is becoming clear that data center operators are increasingly dealing with multidimensional correlations. Today, it is particularly important to pay attention to integrating non-computing areas. This is crucial in order to keep the computer room running efficiently whatever the load.

      That’s why it’s important to take a holistic approach. The better the IT hardware, power supply, connectivity, cooling, and security solutions interact, the more cost-efficient, secure, and sustainable the overall performance will be. The more comprehensively the correlations are understood and the more sophisticated the integration, the more successfully data centers will be able to serve the market in the future.

       

      Three steps

      Despite the many unknowns, the increasing multidimensional correlations in the data center can be controlled. As a trusted advisor for data centers, R&M recommends a three-step process. Read more in the specialist magazine CONNECTIONS No. 65.

      As a provider of integrated infrastructure solutions, R&M provides a future-oriented portfolio for data centers. It ranges from connectivity to DCIM software. This enables R&M to supply individual modules and complete infrastructures for computer rooms that are ready for installation from a single source, as well as retrofit and scale them.