Real-World Retrofit 1: Rear-Door Heat Exchangers

Background:

Silicon Valley-based Colovore was created specifically to meet the area’s need for data center infrastructure able to support next-generation HPC. This need evolved from the proliferation of data usage caused by IoT, AI, and other data-intensive technologies like virtual reality, autonomous cars, and big data cloud applications. These applications require significantly more power and cooling to operate efficiently, stressing legacy colocation environments. Colovore’s high-density solutions are an ideal fit for the region because they allow customers to deploy servers in a highly compact footprint that requires much less space and far fewer cabinets than traditional colocation facilities.

Critical Need:

This increase in power usage coupled with the high operating temperatures of high-density environments required Colovore to implement a robust thermal management solution that would enable compact server footprints that maximize power, cooling and operating efficiency.

Solution:

Colovore’s high-density environment needed a thermal management solution beyond typical data center cooling and the Vertiv’s Liebert® DCD™ fanless heat exchanger, which installs at the rear door of a rack, was an ideal solution and allowed for elevated heat loads. The Liebert DCD rack door cooling module allowed Colovore to provide up to 35 kW per rack across the entire data center floor. This solution enabled fully-packed, top-to-bottom rack deployments with no wasted or unusable rack unit slots and increased operating and capital efficiency due to significant reductions in required cabinets and data center floor space. Additionally, Colovore achieved lower operating costs and was able to pass the savings on to its customers.

Real-World Retrofit 2: SmartCabinet

Background:

The Space Studio fitness club was looking for a communications cabinet that could house its IT equipment. The company needed a self-contained communications cabinet that was secure, contained switches, power backup, air-conditioning, remote access and could fit within the confines of a small kitchenette located on the third level of a high-rise office building.

Critical Need:

The club had some logistical challenges in situating a communications cabinet. First, the studio is situated on the second level of the building, making it difficult to exhaust the heat away from the IT equipment. In addition, the kitchenette footprint was a tight, oddly shaped hexagon, with floor-to-ceiling external glass windows opening out to a yoga studio. But the biggest challenge was delivering a 95-degree Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) heated yoga room to members, while at the same time supplying cooler ambient temperature to the IT systems’ switches/control situated in the adjacent kitchenette.

Solution:

The Space Studio learned about the Vertiv™ SmartCabinet™ solution at a trade event and had some exploratory one-on-one meetings with Vertiv. The way in which the solution was installed went surprisingly smoothly as it allowed an installation flat against the wall, backing on to heating elements within the gyprock while still managing to install the condenser in a safe and practical location venting into the building’s HVAC system. Not only did the SmartCabinet provided the critical infrastructure support The Space Studio needed, but the solution’s footprint was perfect for the building’s small area.

Real-World Retrofit 3: SmartRow

Background:

With a network spanning more than 30 learning centers, schools, and academies in three cities, continuity was greatly important for Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD), and the focus on ensuring no interruption to operations was even more important during construction related to upgrading the district’s virtual machine (VM) environment and core network. Along with deploying in time for the new school year, the district also sought enhanced operations that would maximize its return on investment.

Critical Need:

Working with a UPS that was at least seven years old, the director of IT for MPUSD needed to upgrade his infrastructure for improved functionality and efficiency while being fiscally responsible. The upgrade needed to be completed prior to the start of the school year and with enough time to subsequently upgrade his VM environment.

Solution:

Using the Vertiv™ SmartRow™ solution with Liebert® power and cooling infrastructure, the MPUSD IT team had more control to optimize the equipment’s operation and service life. The SmartRow is specifically designed for efficient operation that reduces the wear and tear on components, which for MPUSD, meant less servicing and not having premature replacement costs. Plus, having a window into the space housing the SmartRow, meant the IT team could easily see the functional status of the system via its color indicators without even entering the data center.