University of Cambridge completes major data centre overhaul
University was running 200 independently managed server rooms across 120 departments, and needed to rationalise and develop high performance computing capabilities
The University of Cambridge has completed a major data centre overhaul tackling energy consumption, introducing high performance computing capabilities, and enhancing its data storage and management systems.
This work was part of a project that began in December 2013 when the university selected various data centre solutions from Emerson Network Power in a bid to drive operational efficiencies.
Due to the university's fragmented college-based structure it previously operated more than 200 independently managed server rooms across 120 departments to manage staff and student data - which resulted in inefficient power usage.
"By upgrading our data centre infrastructure, we expect to reduce our carbon footprint by 30 per cent and our IT energy costs by as much as 40 per cent," said Ian Tasker, data centre manager, University of Cambridge. "This equates to a considerable reduction in our power usage effectiveness (PUE) score, which currently spans from 1.7 to 3, lowering it to 1.2 and below."
The university processes and stores large volumes of data, much of it sensitive such as research material, internal records and financial information. For this reason it sees advanced data storage capabilities as mission critical.
The university's research teams also have a increasing need for high-performance computing in order to process data at speed, which comes with large power requirements. To solve this issue, the university decided to rationalise its server rooms by building a central data storage hub to improve service efficiency and tackle its high energy consumption. It also wanted visibility into IT and infrastructure processes, which would better enable it to manage its systems.
After assessing a variety of options from several providers, the university selected a range of solutions from Emerson Network Power, including high-power modular uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), coupled with remote diagnostic and preventive monitoring services, as well as racks, rack power distribution units, and Emerson's data centre infrastructure management system, the Trellis platform.
By deploying the Trellis platform, the University of Cambridge hopes to gain real-time insights into power, thermal management and IT equipment to help it to manage capacity and increase efficiencies. The new data centre hub is split into three separate halls, allowing space for approximately 300 racks, supported by both redundant UPS and generators.
"As data volumes increase across the world, data centre managers need to adapt their facilities to stay competitive, and for the University of Cambridge, this was no exception," said Lal Karsanbhai, president, Emerson Network Power Europe. "We tailored our approach to fit Cambridge's changing IT infrastructure needs and implemented a solution that could be installed directly into the university's existing data centre ecosystem.
"This will allow the university to reduce its number of server rooms and improve visibility across its operations," he added.