Intelligent Data Centres Issue 09 | Page 48

END USER INSIGHT High-performance computers are predominantly used at the EPFL to provide the capacity required for scientific calculations. future, enabling them to produce creative approaches to many current challenges, in areas such as mobility, urban planning, technology and science etc. While the EPFL’s budget for new high- performance computers has remained the same over recent years, providers have nevertheless increased the capacity of their products in the data centre. Students not only acquire new knowledge but also manage their own projects together with the professors. Measurements, evaluations and findings – all of this data has to be stored, processed and retained. As a result, the power density per square metre has risen and the existing ventilation-cooling systems have not been able to keep pace with this growth. Applications, programs and databases enrich and simplify the work of students and professors but at the same time means greater complexity for IT. A new, intelligent solution capable of adequately cooling the eight-point grid systems was therefore required. The upshot is a massive amount of data which lays the foundation for new discoveries. The EPFL operates its own data centres to meet the growing requirements. Challenges and objectives Increasing data and computation capacities require higher power density of high-performance computers, greater energy efficiency and cooling solutions that occupy less space. The EPFL’s image is one of a university that educates the brightest minds of the 48 Issue 09 of which is used for the processing and storage of data and the other as back-up. He had previously relied on a circulation cooling system. Water from Lake Geneva was used to cool down the air which in turn cooled the racks. However, this solution only produced eight to ten kW per rack whereas 30 kW per rack was required for high-performance computers. This system also took up too much space at the data centre. Boisseau contacted the experts at Vertiv – which was called Knürr at the time – about the new racks to be integrated into the new data centre. The cooling options were also discussed. It soon became apparent that Vertiv’s racks could provide a space-saving cooling solution with the cooling output required. The server capacity of the two existing data centres has been increasingly expanded over recent years which eventually placed too much strain on the cooling solutions. The concept: Water cooling of the racks with the Knürr DCD air- water cooling doors from Vertiv In 2011, the EPFL decided to build another data centre to keep pace with the increasing volumes of data. Boisseau began to look for a new cooling solution for the two existing data centres, one Boisseau initially thought that two different solutions would be needed to meet the individual power density requirements in the racks. This is because, www.intelligentdatacentres.com