University of Cambridge implements dynamic data centre solutions

Emerson Network Power has been selected to help drive operational efficiencies in December 2013 by the University of Cambridge, one of the UK’s largest and most prestigious universities.

Due to the fragmented nature of its campus system, the University uses more than 200 independently managed server rooms across 120 departments to cope with staff and student data - resulting in inefficient energy usage. With large quantities of data, including sensitive research material, internal records and financial information, advanced data storage capabilities are critical.

“By upgrading our data centre infrastructure, we expect to reduce our carbon footprint by 30 percent and our IT energy costs by as much as 40 percent,” said Ian Tasker, data centre manager, University of Cambridge. “This equates to a considerable reduction in our Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), which currently spans from 1.7 to 3, lowering it to 1.2 and below.”

The University’s research teams also have a growing need for high-performance computing, which requires vast quantities of power to process data at high speed. To address these challenges, the University of Cambridge wanted to rationalise its server rooms by building a coexisting 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 provide the ability to manage them holistically.

After assessing a variety of options, the University selected a range of Emerson Network Power solutions, including high power modular Trinergy™ uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), coupled with a Premier Warranty service contract and LIFE™ remote diagnostic and preventive monitoring services, as well as racks, MPH2 rack power distribution units (PDU), and Emerson’s world-class data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) system, the Trellis™ platform. By deploying the Trellis platform, the University of Cambridge will gain real-time insights into power, thermal management and IT equipment to help them 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. Our leading-edge products and services, combined with the insights and analytics from the Trellis platform, will also enhance the system’s availability while significantly reducing energy consumption.”