Network Communications News (NCN) August 2016 | Page 23

ultra high performance data centres

F E AT U R E

machine as the cabling is, the power
units, the cooling system or the server
racks. And this allows for the full preintegration and testing of all systems in
a clean factory environment, with the
result that you can be sure your data
centre is fully operational and optimised
for performance before it ever reaches
the site for final construction.
This pre-integration also has
the added benefit that it is typically
conducted end-to-end by a single
supplier. This allows for the streamlining
of component sourcing and the delivery
of a turnkey solution with far less
inherent risk than bringing multiple
system vendors to site and hoping that
they can work together without issue.

Ultimate flexibility
To be clear, prefabricated data centres
are not built with ISO containers. They
are constructed with purpose designed
modules that can be configured for
fully optimised open white space. This
can include:
High ceilings to accommodate higher
raised floors, higher racks, higher
power density, false ceilings for hot air
containment, multiple cable layers, etc.
Flexibility in floor dimensions with
larger roof-spans (no pillars), caging
possibilities and scalability in room size.
Flexibility in floor utilisation, providing
the freedom to decide how to best
place the racks in the available space.
Different wall sizes and materials
for placement outside or within an
additional shell, different fire classes,
different weather conditions and even
to meet military requirements.
Like traditional buildings,
prefabricated data centres can be
designed to meet an operator’s precise
layout and functionality requirements
at day one. But unlike their bricks and
mortar counterparts, prefabricated
facilities also have near limitless future
flexibility. Just as power or cooling units
are standardised blocks, modular data
centre systems have also evolved into
standardised white space units that can
be added to a data centre as needed

The technology of prefabricating entire buildings has already evolved to the point that it is now a mainstream product.

over time, without interrupting ongoing
operations in a live environment. So
the initial build can be right-sized
from the start and grown as and when
necessary. And an added benefit of
this modular approach is that matching
specific cooling units to specific white
space modules for specific data centre
utilisation can achieve extremely low
power usage effectiveness.

Speed to operations
The continuing global data boom is
putting networks under enormous strain
and capacity increases are often needed
yesterday. We’ve already talked about
traditional bricks and mortar construction
being an inherently slow sequential
process. On the contrary, prefabricating
a data centre in a factory environment
allows most of the high tech fit-out to
take place in parallel with the site based
civil works elements, thus delivering a
significantly shorter overall project time.
And with construction skills and materials
often being in relatively short supply
in many parts of the developing world,
the shipping in of a fully prefabricated
building is typically the only way to ensure
the fastest possible deployment of a
facility of the highest possible quality.

Cost containment
The final nail in bricks and mortar’s coffin
is that of cost. The overall cost of many
traditional building projects can often
be excessively high both in terms of
upfront capex justification and ongoing
opex planning. A prefabricated modular
approach on the other hand allows for

optimised short and long term financial
planning and lower total cost of ownership.

The future is clear
The technology of prefabricating entire
buildings has already evolved to the
point that it is now a mainstream product
and clearly the future of data centre
design worldwide. Prefabricated facilities
combine the advantages of a traditional
build without any of its pitfalls, while also
ensuring controlled delivery, quality and
overall project cost.
They can be custom designed to a
customer’s specific requirements; can
scale horizontally or vertically as dictated
by the site and by the operator’s capacity
needs; can be designed to accommodate
and fully interoperate with the latest data
centre technologies and systems; and are
fully pre-integrated in a controlled factory
environment. They can even be finished
with façade cladding in any material to
give them a hi-tech look, a traditional
look, or simply to better integrate them
into their surrounding environment.
And most crucially, prefabricated
construction enables the ultra fine tuning
of a data centre’s performance such that
the new norm really is the new norm.

Jos Baart is vice president sales & marketing at
Flexenclosure, a designer and manufacturer of
prefabricated data centre buildings and intelligent power
management systems for the ICT industry. Joe has over 20
years’ experience in the global ICT industry. His previous
roles include senior strategic business development,
product marketing, sales and sales support positions at
Ericsson (both country and group level) and at Lavastorm
Analytics where he led the EMEA sales function.

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