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Workspace Technology Ltd in partnership with Integral UK Ltd undertakes an £8m data centre refurbishment project for the MoD. Working closely with both the MoD and Integral teams Workspace Technology designed an energy efficient data centre infrastructure capable of supporting a mix of medium and high density rack applications.
APC InfraStruXure™
Whilst traditional options were initially discussed it became clear at an early stage that the installation of APC’s modular range of InfraStruxure™ technology would best support the technical demands of the refurbished data centre.
APC InfraStruxure™ flexible architecture is based on efficient and reliable components designed to deliver exceptional performance for data centre installations. Workspace Technology’s Data Centre Solutions team was able to quickly develop a design which supported the MoD’s preference for efficiency, agility, availability and mix of equipment densities.
Equipment Racks
The APC InfraStruxure™ solution consisted of over 120 NetShelter SX multi-functional rack enclosures. With a strong focus on cooling, power distribution, cable management and environmental monitoring, the NetShelter rack enclosure provides a reliable rack-mounting environment for mission-critical equipment.
Cooling
The NetShelter equipment racks were combined with a mix of 300mm and 600mm APC In-Row RC cooling units. Based on the principle of moving the cooling unit closer to the source of heat generation, In Row RC cooling technology provides an excellent solution for point cooling. This design helps eliminate air mixing and provides a predictable cooling architecture. When combined with hot aisle containment systems, APC In-Row cooling units will ensure that an effective and efficient cooling solution is delivered for the MoD. A total of 4 medium and 2 high density hot aisle containment (HAC) systems will be deployed within the data centre.
Workspace Technology will deliver a complete turnkey mechanical installation for the MoD including 3 x 600kW energy efficiency chillers combined with free cooling units, chilled water distribution pipework and associated mechanical services. Workspace Technology will deploy its dynamic control systems enabling maximum freecooling to be obtained. Chilled water temperatures will be automatically adjusted based on the actual critical equipment load.
Modular Power Distribution
Each HAC will be configured with 2 x A and 2 x B InfraStruXure In-Row PDUs providing a 2N levels of resilience. The system allows local 32A power distribution to each rack via the dedicated power troughs positioned on top of equipment racks. As with all other APC InfraStruXure components they support centralised management via the APC InfraStruXure® Central.
Each rack will also be configured with APC Metered Rack Power Distribution Units (PDUs) which provide active metering to enable energy optimisation and circuit protection. User-defined alarm thresholds mitigate risk with real-time local and remote alerts to warn of potential circuit overloads. Metered Rack PDUs will provide power utilisation data to allow the Data Centre Manager to make informed decisions.
Data Centre Infrastructure Management & Environmental Monitoring
The complete system will be supported by a combination of APC’s industry leading Netbotz environmental monitoring technology, InfraStruXure® Central, management platform and APC’s InfraStruxure Data Centre Infrastructure Management DCIM vendor neutral software suite. The DCIM provides a unified view of the data centre infrastructure and communicates with building, enterprise and network management systems to ensure quality, energy and cost efficiencies and aid in short and long term planning and provisioning of data centre equipment resources.
Complete Infrastructure
As part of the installation Workspace Technology’s Interiors team will be installing the computer grade raised access floor and associated sub structures required to support military standard installations.
Elite Data Centre Partner
Workspace Technology is a leading participant in “Next Generation” APC’s Elite Partner programme. Workspace Technology, provide exceptional levels of service and expertise helping clients to resolve wiring closet, server room and data centre design requirements and challenges across a broad spectrum of infrastructure technology including – power, cooling and management.
Managing Director Roy Griffiths commented “This project consolidates our position as the UK’s leading APC Elite data centre partner. Our team have set an exceptionally high bench mark for quality and professionalism exceeding all industry expectations. Workspace Technology is the Elite partner of choice for a growing number of organisations who recognise the ability of Workspace Technology to provide qualified and dedicated solution engineers, on-going support, technical information and visibility to the new and fast moving developments within the data centre infrastructure environment”.