Modular data centers: data center IaaS-provider "IT-GRAD"

/ photo by Robert CC

According to IDC, the number of data centers around the world in 2017 will reach 8.6 million, and by 2018 they will occupy an area of ​​180 million square meters. Some large corporations have to build a new data center every 3-5 years, and each of these data centers costs about $ 100 million, because the budgets for their construction and maintenance are sometimes numbers with nine zeros.
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Robert Wagner, a software developer, says a good example is Facebook, which spends $ 500 million on building a new data center, and then "gives" $ 10 million a year to service it.

In this regard, companies are looking for ways to reduce the cost of construction and maintenance of large data centers. For example, Apple is constantly seeking to reduce energy costs. According to the company's reports, since 2013, 100% of their data centers and 94% of offices operate on renewable energy sources. The data center of the company in Maiden is surrounded by solar panels occupying 400,000 square meters of space and generating 42 million kWh of electricity per year.

In the Digital Beijing data center in Beijing, LED lamps are used exclusively, consuming 60% less electricity, and a special glass wall prevents the penetration of heat into the interior, reducing cooling costs.

In order to somehow reduce the cost of building and maintaining data centers, mankind has invented modular data centers. The idea is somewhat reminiscent of conveyor technology for the production of Henry Ford cars.

A modular data center is a data center consisting of typical system elements — modules. The module itself is a mobile data center equipped with racks, uninterruptible power supplies and all sorts of accessories, including power supplies, cooling systems and fire extinguishing systems.

The modular data center can be delivered anywhere in the world at the request of the customer, since it is easy to transport it in parts and assemble it on site. However, the main advantage of the modular data center is the high speed of deployment. Creating, configuring and mounting the data center takes less than a month, since the assembly can be performed in parallel, in contrast to the traditional linear deployment.

Due to the fact that each module is a standardized element, the infrastructure is easily scaled. The only condition is the availability of free space. Thus, the organization has the ability to respond quickly to the needs of a developing business.

Modules can be carried out to the external territory, having protected the perimeter with a fence - the main thing is to have the appropriate infrastructure. Also, hardware blocks can be easily replaced with new ones if the technology is outdated or needs to be updated, and plan a budget for several years to come.

It should be noted that the operation of modular data centers is quite active. For example, two companies engaged in developing technologies for data centers - Vapor IO and BaseLayer - have joined forces to create the world's most productive data center, which could be deployed anywhere where there is a power outlet and access to the network. According to Cole Crawford, Vapor IO CEO, the new product already has at least one customer.

IBM has also added modular data centers to its portfolio of various technological options, having developed, in conjunction with iFortress, the modular data center Alliance ITX.

Jerry Lyons, President and Chief Executive Officer of iFortress, notes that it took several months of calculations to solve the element base problem, but now the company can create drawings and determine the list of necessary elements two weeks after the client provides the area data and requirements for the energy capacity of the object.

iFortress is going to release and pre-configure the solution for each order at its plant in South Carolina, and then send it to the client’s site for final assembly, where the data center is connected to communications and cooling systems.

SDN data center

It should be noted that the data center SDN, which houses the equipment of the company IT-GRAD, also uses modular technology. The total area of ​​the SDN technological premises is 6,500 square meters. At the same time, the design capacity of the data center is 1476 racks with a load of 6.3 kW per rack and a total capacity of 14 MW. All of them are located in 9 server modules.

Interest in the modular data center SDN causes used a comprehensive solution Stack.KUB. It allows you to deploy modular data center indoors and outdoors with high energy efficiency, reliability and environmental friendliness.

The technology allows launching the power of the data center into work in stages, without affecting the work of the main equipment used in the data center. All this greatly reduces the cost of construction and minimizes equipment downtime. Such a data center gradually (as needed) becomes overgrown with new modules, covering customer needs.

You can configure the modular data center as you like, based on the requirements of the organization. Suppose the old version of the infrastructure was a construction of two server cells and single cells of the power supply and air exchange system.



You can connect to it as an additional server cell ...



... as well as additional cells of power supply and air exchange systems.



The SDN uninterruptible power system uses dynamic Hitec Power Protection BV uninterruptible power supplies that differ from other solutions in reliability, environmental friendliness and relatively small size.

SDN has its own distribution substation, and the modular center is powered from two independent inputs of 10 kV. From the distribution substation, the voltage is supplied to the transformers, each of which is part of the uninterruptible power supply units.

A single module contains its own dynamic uninterruptible power supply (DIBP) and switching equipment, where mutual redundancy with N + 1 redundancy is organized. In SDN, eight DIBPs with direct diesel support of 1600 kVA each perform functions that, in the classical scheme, are assumed by surge protectors, uninterruptible power supplies with batteries, diesel generator sets, and switching devices.

The issue of cooling and venting machine rooms in SDN is decided by KyotoCooling installations. The solution used is based on the principle of rotary heat exchange, and the temperature regime for equipment is maintained in accordance with the new ASHRAE recommendations regarding the microclimate in the data center.



Cooling equipment is presented in the form of rotary heat exchangers distributed throughout the territory of the data center. Their number and location is determined according to the needs for heat removal from the existing equipment.

If additional cooling is required, for example in summer, then the possibility of using freon circuits of heat pumps is provided. This approach saves energy, which has a positive effect on the cost of services for customers.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the cooperation between IT-GRAD and SDN began with the official opening of the cloud platform and the signing of an agreement, under the terms of which the data center has been independently promoting cloud-based services for IT-GRAD for more than a year. This makes it possible to provide popular IT services for the lease of an IaaS cloud certified in accordance with the requirements of the PCI DSS standard.

PS Fresh IaaS-digest : 30 materials on the topic of cloud security.