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#dcsukarticle http://www.dcsuk.info/n/phgxCONTAINER DATA CENTRES and containers in data centres are not an entirely new concept. Google installed containers in one if its data centres back in 2005 to improve the efficiency of design and operation . The Google facility featured a “container hanger” filled with 45 containers, with some housed on a second-story balcony. Each shipping container could hold up to 1,160 servers, and used 250 kW of power, giving the container a power density of more than 780 watts per square foot. Google’s design allowed the containers to operate at a temperature of 81 degrees in the cold aisle which was significantly greater than the standard at the time.

Sun, IBM and HP have also offered modular datacentres in an effort to address the continuing demands for flexibility within customer data centre deployments.

The drive toward flexibility and efficiency.
Building a traditional data centre takes time and careful planning. Building out several hundred square metres of datacentre with raised floors, cable infrastructure air conditioning and power is neither cheap nor quick. However, building a large shed that can be filled with modular data centre containers which apart from adding mains, data and water are ready to switch on within a few days of delivery does have its attractions. It gives any business the ability to respond quickly to changing demands for IT infrastructure.

Since most modular data centres are also designed to work quite happily outdoors in temperatures of -33ºC to +45ºC there may not even be the need for the shed! Equally a modular datacentre might be a solution for expanding a facility where there is simply no new space to add additional capacity or indeed as a temporary solution while a current facility is being upgraded or modified.

Fast deployment: By prefabricating in the factory the production lead time can be reduced to as little as 6- 8 weeks. On-site installation can be completed in a few days. The modular datacentre needs a suitable load bearing concrete base prepared in advance. Common sense considerations should be borne in mind when choosing the site such as crane access, drainage and utility connections. Power is a major consideration as the high power density can require power inputs of 60-150kW. Two mains feeds allow for the primary supply and secondary supply or a backup generator. On site the installation primarily consists of externally connecting mains, data and water. Internally a management server is provided for the management functions and during the installation phase needs setting up with the electronic card entry system and CCTV monitoring. The UPS and batteries also need installing but as all the power distribution to the racks is pre-installed once this is done the container is ready to be switched on and loaded with equipment.

High density: A major advantage of the modular unit is the high density of its rack deployments. By contrast to a traditional datacentre the kW per sq m density could be improved by as much as 500%.

Green credentials: The modular datacentre can achieve a PUE of as little as 1.2 with a free air cooling system but even the conventionally cooled system are rated at 1.5 PUE which remains highly efficient over some traditional data centres.

Huawei CDC
Huawei launched its first containerised data centre in 2009 for China Mobile and the second generation was launched in 2011. Utopia Technology Ltd., Huawei’s leading UK distributor has just installed the first ever unit in the UK for demonstration to potential customers.

Design considerations
Using an ISO standard shipping container albeit heavily modified has allowed Huawei engineers to design a production line solution that can be fitted together in a variety of ways to provide a highly customisable solution for customer environments.

Design configurations
Modularity and speed of deployment can clearly not be at the sacrifice of implementation flexibility. To that end Huawei have attempted to resolve this problem by creating two main Configurations, the  All-In-One and Modular containerised solutions:
The IDC All-In-One container is a fully functioning data centre in a single 20ft or 40ft container incorporating 4 to 8 42U racks with, power and cabling distribution, air conditioning, UPS, automated fire suppression and environmental monitoring. A raised floor with hot and cold isle configuration provides for all the features you would expect to see in a datacentre. Just add power, water and data connections and your new datacentre will be operational with a few days of arriving on site.
The IDC Modular container is designed for large flexible installations. It is a three container configuration with an 18 Rack IT container supported by a separate UPS and cooling container. These units can be combined to form much larger datacentres by stacking horizontally and vertically in multiple container deployments. There is also an option for fully customisable version which can include a combination of office or living space.

Security and monitoring: The Containerised Data Centre uses an independent and complete monitoring system. The monitoring system consists of a centralized management platform and multiple scattered monitoring devices.

The NetEco is a new data center management system developed by Huawei to manage the real-time data, status, and alarms for the power, environment, video, and door status sensors of data center infrastructures. Connection to the management system can be achieved over Modbus, SNMP, and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). CCTV and a key card entry system are linked to the management platform to provide access control and surveillance functions.

Total cost of ownership
If it’s clear that the modular datacentre does have significant advantages in its time to deliver and flexibility there is always the question of its economic efficiency. Huawei TCO calculations suggest there is an advantage here. Based on a 3X rack density over the traditional DC there would be a significant saving in building utilisation. Huawei have also calculated a 28% reduction
in capex cost through significant savings across, cable infrastructure, fire suppression systems, monitoring and building infrastructure.

Similarly Opex saving are calculated at 27% through power efficiency and manpower savings. In the end the actual cost efficiency will of course very much depend on the comparison to particular datacentre facilities and how modern they are but given some of the other advantages it certainly bears some scrutiny.