Schneider Electric and the University of Birmingham Dubai build green, energy efficient data centre

Students and academics at the University of Birmingham Dubai’s new campus are set to benefit from one of the UAE’s most advanced on-site data centres - a high-performance, highly energy efficient facility reflecting the University’s sustainability aspirations.

The data centre, which will create energy savings of up to fifteen percent while operating at peak performance, is built around Schneider Electric’s technology, and implemented by system integrator CDW. It is designed to be as energy efficient as possible and includes features such as remote management and performance benchmarking against thousands of other data centres worldwide. Connected to the University of Birmingham’s UK campus, the centre will allow rapid data exchange between the two sites.

The University of Birmingham Dubai’s new facilities have been designed as a ‘Smart Campus’, with technologies that enable innovative, multidisciplinary teaching and learning. Students and academics will benefit from WiFi6, the next generation of wireless connectivity, to support learning and research across the campus and between the UAE and the UK.

The technology provided by Schneider Electric covers both hardware and software and includes Easy Metered Rack Power Distribution Units (Rack PDU) for real-time remote monitoring of power usage, as well as power management for connected loads. Uninterruptible Power Supply devices provide battery backup power in case of a sudden loss of electricity, and Easy Rack mounts simplify the data centre’s design and maintenance.

In addition, Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT software provides a host of features to enhance the data centre’s operations - its team will be able to monitor, manage and optimize energy use across servers, cooling and electrical equipment either on-site or remotely. In-built cybersecurity will reduce the risk of a security breach by running vulnerability assessments on all devices within the data centre.

Thanks to EcoStruxure IT’s cloud-based analytics, data from the data centre’s infrastructure can be anonymously compared to thousands of other data centre sites, which will help operations better understand what they can do to improve the performance, efficiency and health of the equipment.

Professor David Sadler, Provost at the University of Birmingham Dubai commented: “Our new building has been designed as an ‘Smart Campus’ - embedded with flexible, cutting-edge technology allowing innovative, multidisciplinary teaching and learning. We aim to deliver a flexible and powerful teaching environment in Dubai that students and staff will enjoy.”

“In delivering an educational experience like no other in Dubai, we wanted to create a data centre that would be future-proof - supporting our goal of a tech-smart, energy-efficient campus. This data centre’s

performance, efficiency and sustainability will create the platform upon which we will build out our IT systems. By working with CDW and Schneider Electric, our staff, students and academics can enjoy an excellent technology platform that will enhance their campus experience.”