Today, there are roughly 8,000 data centers in the world. While all data centers are protecting business-critical data, the data centers themselves take many forms.
Based on best practices or practicality, data centers in the physical forms can range between remote locations that resemble warehouses packed with interconnected servers, to edge sites at the top of a telco tower, and everything in between. Vertiv has the opportunity to partner with many data center operators with unique sites or serving unique applications — and sometimes challenging environments.
As part of International Data Center Day (March 22), below are five case studies that highlight fascinating data center applications and how the organizations behind them are working to enhance the public image of data centers through increased sustainability and efficiency goals.
Soccer fans get their kicks thanks to Vertiv critical infrastructure
The Columbus Crew, 2020 MLS Cup champions, play in one of the United States’ most modern and fan-friendly professional sports stadium. The gates at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., feature two options for fans entering the stadium: use a barcode on their phone to quickly pass through an unmanned turnstile or use the stadium’s facial recognition system. Mobile ordering and purchasing technologies minimize contact and eliminate long lines for concessions, so fans can spend more time in their seats. Additionally, the stadium’s vast array of scoreboards and digital displays ensure fans remain engaged and informed before, during, and after the match.
Vertiv supports the stadium’s futuristic data center with uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, power distribution units (PDUs), and data center cooling systems that ensure the availability of all these digital applications, in addition to high performance KVMs that support the broadcast booth with seamless switching of content on the scoreboard and other screens. Vertiv is the official data center equipment provider for the Columbus Crew, and together they have built a showcase data center in the stadium where both Vertiv and Crew customers can visit and learn more about the world-class stadium and the Vertiv equipment that supports it.
World’s longest cross-sea road-rail bridge relies on Vertiv integrated micro-modular solutions
The Pingtan Strait Bridge is the first cross-sea, highway-railway, dual-use bridge in China. More than 10 miles long, it is also the longest cross-sea road-rail bridge in the world. Pingtan Strait is famous for being one of the windiest areas in the world. Its waves are strong, its water is deep, the current is fast, and the sea environment is harsh. In fact, there are more than 200 days of strong winds at Pingtan Strait in a year. During the summer, there are also typhoons from time to time. Due to the environment of this unique application, and the resultant unstable power available, the customer put forward strict demands regarding the reliability of the products to be used for its data centers and mission-critical applications, and the need for expert local support.
The customer chose to deploy the Vertiv™ SmartAisle™ 2 micro-module solution, as well as installing Vertiv™ thermal management and UPS battery systems in important business units such as the land access data center of the bridge, the monitoring center, and the land vehicle channel. Vertiv was pleased to meet the stringent criteria to support this vital and unique application.
One of world’s greenest data centers bolsters efficiency with a Vertiv solution
One of the largest data center operators in the Nordics, Green Mountain is fully committed to the environment, as exemplified by its DC1-Stavanger facility that is built deep in a Norwegian mountain. The space was once used as a high-security NATO ammunition storage facility, and the data center is cooled using fjord water, which ensures a continuous water temperature of about 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 C). Green Mountain serves customers in industries such as financial services, healthcare, and government, and it is one of the world’s greenest data centers, using 100% renewable hydropower.
Not only did Green Mountain require an advanced thermal management system that could fit the space restraints of this unique application, but they also had high expectations for reliability and energy efficiency, and needed to deploy at the height of COVID activity. Green Mountain chose the energy efficient Vertiv™ Liebert® PCW chilled water perimeter units. Being third-party certified, the Liebert® PCW units comply with the latest standards. The units’ enhanced components and control strategies gave Green Mountain an extremely energy efficient solution designed for supporting modern IT applications in all data center configurations. Green Mountain expects the equipment to add to their overall energy efficiency and appreciated that Vertiv was able to complete the complex project during pandemic conditions.
Sustainability-minded university deploys Vertiv solutions to drive data center efficiency
Located in Staffordshire, England, Keele University is recognized as one of the region’s most sustainability-driven universities. The school’s students conduct critical research on important global issues, including food security, health, climate change, smart energy, and sustainable futures. As part of Keele University’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030, the university’s Information and Digital Services (IDS) Directorate team works with university colleagues to make its on-site IT infrastructure as energy efficient and low-carbon as possible. Keele operates two on-site data centers at opposite ends of the campus, which enhances resiliency and redundancy in the event of an emergency.
Besides hosting the first UK trial of hydrogen blending within a gas network and testing new smart energy technologies, the university is now producing its own renewable energy on campus. Recently commissioned solar and wind farms are now operational and feed power into a campus mini-grid. From a power distribution perspective, the campus operates like a small town. As well as hosting the traditional student accommodations, academic research facilities, and classrooms that require power, a post office, a hairdresser, gyms, grocery stores, cafés, and restaurants also make up part of the university’s power load.
The existing UPS systems were aging, so the IDS team asked Vertiv to recommend new units that would be more energy efficient, scalable, and space efficient. The local Vertiv team recommended the Vertiv™ Liebert® APM 600 with a 400 kilovolt-ampere (kVA) capacity in a N+1 configuration. The new UPS is based on a reliable, double-conversion power topology that uses an efficient transformer-free design. The new design resulted in a UPS with energy efficiency of up to 99%, and a data center supported by 100% locally generated renewable resources.
Vertiv supports Singapore’s first tropical data center testbed with cooling technology
The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University Singapore developed a state-of-the-art data center testbed facility, known as the Sustainable Tropical Data Center Testbed. The testing facility is the first of its kind in the region, and it was developed with the goal of enhancing Singapore’s competitiveness in delivering sustainable and efficient data center solutions. In this facility, innovative thermal management technologies are tested to identify potential operational risks and design de-risking measures suited for the tropical climate.
Cooling high-density compute applications, especially in hot and humid tropical climates like Singapore, can be challenging. To overcome these challenges, Vertiv provided server racks, rack power distribution (rPDU), and high-density cooling solutions to demonstrate how advanced thermal management technologies can support more efficient data centers in these locations. In fact, a program director associated with the project stated, “Working together with Vertiv has allowed us to develop an advanced chip cooling solution to support high-density servers and computing equipment.”
For this year’s International Data Center Day, go online to read more success stories from the data center industry or to find data center solutions that are right for you.
