Equinix updates its data center design
The blue light in the corridor of Equinix's hosting data center gives it a new look. In order to further improve energy efficiency, Equinix has adopted a new data center design and revamped its cooling system.
The new design adopted by Equinix's data center project includes cooling channel containment and the latest advanced cooling technology, which will be put into operation in 2017. The company expects that these new facilities will be more efficient and energy efficient, while providing customers with a consistent experience.
Equinix DC11 Ashburn, VA Data Center Shines Blue
Through the efforts of the hosting industry, this new design may better manage the utilization of power and water in the data center. With the transformation of the economy into a digital delivery model, the data center is becoming an important engine of the global economy.
This is especially true for Equinix, which is the world's largest provider of data center hosting services. The company operates 10 million square feet of data center space, with 145 data centers in 40 countries.
In the past year, the company has focused on the sustainability of its business and committed to using renewable energy on its global data center platform. At the same time, the company has developed a more energy-efficient data center design plan.
Improve efficiency to a new level
Equinix's data center redesign project has two goals: one is to improve energy efficiency, and the other is to maintain excellent reliability.
"These two priorities are the core of everything for Equinix." Rauf? Abdul said, "We are always evaluating new technologies and new opportunities.
"In our design, we always seek to be more efficient," Abdul said. "We should always promote the operational efficiency of the data center, and we don't want anything to affect the reliability of the data center. This is what customers expect of us."
Equinix's NY4 data center in New Jersey eliminates indirect cooling ducts in its new design
Equinix's design is called the floor on the roof, which introduces cold air into the overhead pipeline rather than through the elevated floor into the data hall. The elevated floor slab remains, but the new design introduces some significant changes.
Equinix's new data center design will optimize the cooling system that surrounds the entire building. The design will adopt indirect evaporative cooling method, using cool external temperature to support the cooling system, but not directly introducing fresh air into the data hall.
Abdullah said that the indirect evaporative cooling technology is very efficient and energy-saving. It performs well in warm climates and under low load conditions. This technology uses much less water than the traditional data center design using coolers, and can avoid the risk of external pollution entering the server.
Abdul said: "We have reviewed and analyzed this type of design, which is just used in some data center facilities. We have observed this for a while, and hope that this design can be more applied in market countries."
Build a two-layer high custody data center
Its design template is a two storey rectangular structure building with an area of 200000 square feet. In order to obtain perfect air flow, its size has been carefully calculated. IDECs (indirect evaporative cooling units) are arranged around one side of the building and the emergency standby generator on the other side. The IDECs unit pumps cold air into the internal ventilation system through a large opening in the wall.
Abdul hinted that in a recent blog post, the redesign of the fan wall was discussed. He believed that the term had caused some confusion. The vertical air chamber wall was lined with louvers, which could regulate and control the airflow into the data hall.
Equinix's SV5 Hosting Data Center in Ashan Jose, California
The design uses hot channel containment, which is a new function of Equinix. Exhaust the hot air at the rear of the server, rise through the chimney system and enter the overhead ventilation duct, and return it to the IDEC unit.
"This is a very effective design in many aspects," Abdullah said. "The whole building is designed as an integrated design. The space is used very effectively. We do not use cooling devices that occupy any building area, which is valuable for buildings with high land costs. In addition, the cooling system is a low-pressure system, which has the advantage of super quiet".
This will be a welcome change for the data hall with noisy wind tunnels. Air pressure will direct the air flow to the data hall, and cold air to all rack entrances is the key factor.
Equinix uses computational fluid dynamics software to guide its pressure and airflow assumptions. "We have done a lot of airflow modeling using computational fluid dynamics," Abdul said.
To be completed in 2017
The new building will have two floors of data hall, and adopt multi-level dedicated cooling and return air pressure ventilation system. In order to cool the upper floor, Equinix deployed the IDEC unit outside the building. Since there is no heavy equipment on the roof of the building, the risk of roof leakage is eliminated.
"This is actually a very important issue for data centers, especially in environments with very different weather," Abdul said.
The new design will be implemented in multiple data center projects. This year, the ground will be broken and the construction will be completed in 2107. The company has not yet announced the location of the data center, but Abdul pointed out that the indirect cooling system can work in many climatic conditions. In order to provide cooling capacity of equipment in warm climate, IDEC unit includes DX cooling capacity, and refrigerant can be used to provide cooling.
The PUE value of the design effect of the data center will be in the range of 1.2 to 1.3, which is lower than the PUE value of Equinix's current data center of 1.4 to 1.6. "We have been working hard to reduce the PUE value in our design," Abdullah said, adding that the new design has reached a new level of efficiency.
The way forward
The data center will be redesigned and optimized in the construction project of "urban suburban green space", but will not be applied to the construction of a new data center in the urban commercial center. Equinix has no plans to transform the existing data center facilities.
Abdul said that Equinix will work closely with 6250 customers to help them adapt to the new design. This is part of an ongoing effort to help customers understand the importance of efficiency. Many customers of Equinix have complex data center businesses. However, in some cases, the company has to emphasize the importance of its deployment best practices, such as the correct positioning of servers and storage using cold and hot channels in maintenance facilities.
Abdul said Equinix will work closely with 6250 customers to help them adapt to the new design. This is an ongoing effort that will help customers understand the importance of efficiency. Many of Equinix's customers have complex data center businesses, but in some cases, the company has to emphasize the importance of its deployment best practices, such as the correct positioning of servers and storage that use cold and hot channels for maintenance facilities.
Equinix Fiber Optic Cable Inside Ashburn Data Center, VA
Abdul said, "We have adopted the design of this technology for five years, and we communicate with customers through education and practice. Now because of the increased rack density, cold and hot channel containment has become an essential technology. Although the design has caused some inconvenience, we have realized that it has achieved good results in the past few years of operation."
Equinix is not the first multi tenant data center provider to adopt this technology. Last year, DuPont Fabros Technology introduced a hot channel airflow containment system in its new design, and promised to smooth the transition for customers.
Abdullah said that the most important thing is that the new design will mean that the reliability of the data center has not changed. Equinix achieved "six nines" (99.9999%) of uptime in 2014.
Abdul said: "This design really will not bring any significant changes to the customer's space and materials, but its cooling efficiency has been significantly improved. It looks more similar to Equinix's data center."
