modular systems
Combining modular with standard infrastructure in Europe ’ s largest data centre
The Lefdal Mine Datacenter ( LMD ) is a vast 120,000m 2 , multi-level installation currently under construction near Måløy on Norway ’ s west coast . Once complete , it will be Europe ’ s largest data centre , producing a capacity of 100MW . However , LMD ’ s ambitions extend far beyond simply size and scale . Its stated aim is to become the number one data centre in Europe in terms of cost efficiency , security , flexibility and sustainability .
The LMD team wanted an enclosure system that combined flexibility with the benefits of standardisation . Their preference was for a preassembled data centre that could be shipped within a relatively short time period but which was based on the tested , pre-certified components achieved by volume production . The team selected a standardised data centre infrastructure based on Rittal ’ s modular and standardised RiMatrix S data centre portfolio . centre building , nor does switching to this type of innovative solution have to cause significant physical disruption .
There are some systems , such as Rittal RiMatrix S , which have been designed to help data centre planning . Their planned and precertified modules mean that users can plan ahead more reliably and integrate the new system into an existing installation with relative ease .
Modular products can be deployed or assembled on a customer site for external use , or supplied as building-block style designs for use within data centre buildings .
Modular suits a range of workloads Modular data centre solutions can be deployed for various reasons .
There is the small disaster recovery site for medium-sized IT services companies which prefer traditional data centres and choose modular solutions because they are less expensive to set up and manage . There are financial institutions that want to run extensive Big Data analytics which would not be viable if a traditional data centre had to be built .
Modular , high security , steel room data centres may start small and then expand gradually as data volumes increase .
Or , a global cloud provider might buy an abandoned factory building and set up an indoor modular data centre based on steel rooms within the protective building structure .
Whatever the reason , the advantages they all enjoy are lower design , construction and operating costs , rapid deployment , quick and flexible scalability , sufficient robustness and security levels provided by modular design . However , what many organisations have not yet grasped is the considerable value in using modular data centres for small , disaster recovery sites or for high density HPC workloads . But the fact remains that there are viable solutions for just such eventualities .
A modern solution for greater business agility As the speed of global innovation increases and development cycles
contract , greater agility is needed by all businesses to achieve successful product launches , service improvements , or marketing campaigns , as well as dealing with occasional peaks in demand and striving for improved communication with customers .
Companies now rarely have the luxury of planning for any of these events years ahead , and that applies equally well to building new bricks and mortar data centre facilities to cope with expansion . Clearly , this is where cloud or modular resources come into their own .
The need to be nimble footed to adjust to changes in the market or consumer behaviour extends beyond simply product or service innovation – it is crucial to be able to adjust IT resources accordingly .
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