“There is a drive towards simplification in the data centre,” was one of the central messages by Maria de Lurdes Carvalho, vice-president for Data Centre Solutions, EMEA region, during her presentation at the recent IDC CIO Summit in Mozambique.
The main challenge numerous data centres are facing, she highlighted, was that they are running out of space. A solution to this problem by Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation, is its new prefabricated data centre solutions.
Schneider Electric has named its new solution, SmartShelter Data Hall, and it is ideally suited for service providers, cloud operators, and large enterprises where scalability, efficiency, and capital preservation are the key business drivers.
“With an estimated 25 billion devices to be connected to the network by 2015, big data is set to keep on growing and forward thinking will need to take place to keep your critical processes running,” adds De Lurdes.
Utilising a standardised approach to design, operation and management, the SmartShelter Data Hall is a multi-module, prefabricated solution that enables customers to quickly add capacity in increments of 50 to 100+ racks. This dramatically simplifies the initial development and on-site installation, whilst providing a resilient data centre solution that is more predictable in cost and performance, when compared to a traditionally built facility.
The spacious solutions are factory assembled and tested with Schneider Electric’s data centre racks, power, precision cooling, and integrated with StruxureWare Data Centre Expert DCIM software, to ensure optimal monitoring and management for maximum energy efficiency.
Key benefits include:
- Simplified installation with minimised construction complexity;
- Increased speed of deployment, allowing businesses to match capacity close to demand;
- Maximise capital investment by removing the need to construct a new space or building; and
- Decreased risk with a pre-engineered, fully managed system.
To provide choice in design, Schneider Electric offers two base designs for the SmartShelter Data Hall; one with indirect Air Economiser cooling and the other as a chilled water system. Both systems contain approximately 100 racks with a total power and cooling capacity of 500kW. Each design can be customised to meet specific project capacity and configuration requirements.
In addition to the SmartShelter Data Hall, Schneider Electric has expanded its line of prefabricated Power Skids to provide customers with a quick deployment of low voltage switchboards, UPS, and batteries in 1MW increments, which enables customers to easily add capacity in large data centre applications.
The new 1MW Power Skids have been specifically designed to meet European IEC standards and are available in two variations offering value and performance. The Power Skids complement the company’s 250kw and 500kW power modules to meet a range of prefabricated power solution sizes for any type of data centre or edge computing installation.
“It is important to remember that we need to take action now in order to live and be in business in the next decade,” concludes De Lurdes.
“The southern African market provides an ideal scenario for the adoption of prefabricated data centres, mainly due to the complex infrastructure challenges that are present in the region,” adds Bruce Grobler, vice president of the IT Business for southern Africa at Schneider Electric.
