PTS Newsletter Archives – September, 2012

Well, summer is over and many of us are planning and developing data center and IT budgets for 2013. With that in mind, this month’s issue focuses on data center assessments. What better way to determine budgets for 2013 than to have data center design experts apply their tried and true approach to: assessing, creating recommendations for improvement, and providing detailed line-item budgets for acquisition of equipment and implementation or commissioning.

Along with an overview of the PTS Data Center Assessment process, we are happy to present the Powertron Global™ PermaFrost NMR™ solution, a technology proven to enhance the performance for most A/C systems found in the data center.

And, as always, please think of us for your next data center project — whether it is infrastructure, facility, or IT related.

 Pete Sacco

President & Founder

PTS Data Center Solutions, Inc

Experts For Your Always Available Data Center

By going beyond the simple issues of power deficiencies and hot spots, PTS leverages our 11-step process to review all aspects of the space in terms of power, space, cooling, management, security, and many other areas.

Data center and/or computer room project assessment and cost estimating are accomplished by identifying the key design criteria for the two (2) main areas of the project focus within the overall data center infrastructure and services: the Technology Infrastructure & Services (IT) and the Support Infrastructure & Services (the Facility). The key design criteria are shown in the following table:

To learn more about these criteria critical to assessing a data center, computer room, or server room, visit here.

After identification of the key design criteria required to build the “needs” or requirements of the facility, we are ready to move forward with site surveys. Information availability is critically important and the goal of PTS’ evaluation, planning, and data center assessment services is to identify obstacles and recommend solutions for redundant and fault-tolerant network & support infrastructure for mission critical environments. Our methodology combines the business and technology expertise needed to ensure recommendations will have a major positive impact on the facility and budgets are realistic and can be implemented.

A comprehensive facility inspection to assess the ability of the space and support infrastructure to provide continuous availability and meet key design criteria includes:

• Evaluation of the site (location, access to redundant power/network connectivity)
• A site inspection
• Evaluation of the load capacity constraints
• Identification of critical deficiencies and potential downtime risks
• Assessment of the concurrent maintenance capacity of the site

Recommendations for improvements and a comparison to the identified business objectives are then created. Finally, a cost estimate is generated based on the retrofits as required to meet the business objectives.

PTS Assessment Reports are available at three different detail levels: comprehensive, standard, and lite. Each provides a written report of findings and recommendations for improvement.

Extensions of our base Data Center Assessment Services include:Data Center Availability and Risk Assessments, Data Center Energy Usage Assessments, Data Center Energy Efficiency Assessments, Data Center Thermography Assessments, and various IT-related assessment services.

Contact PTS for additional information or to access our Site Assessment Services brochures.

PermaFrost NMR has been deployed for clients to improve energy efficiency in a 16-ton Liebert Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) unit supporting mission critical data center operations.

For one such deployment, the improved/restored efficiency attributable to PermaFrost NMR was substantial. Overall efficiency improved by 13.5% and the EER improved by 20.4%. There was an increase in coil capacity of 25,920 in Btuh which equates to gaining more than 2-tons of capacity or 15.7%. There is also an improvement of 2.1 degrees F in Delta T (difference between supply and return air) and an overall reduction in kWh and Watts per ton of 16.9%.

The PermaFrost solutions are designed to remove heat from the metal surface, accelerate refrigerant flow, increase thermo-conductivity and transfer heat more efficiently throughout the equipment. PermaFrost’s NMR sophisticated molecular composition passivates and stabilizes all metal components throughout the system, allowing the refrigerant to absorb and dissipate heat at an accelerated rate.

PermaFrost NMR allows the unit to achieve set temperatures faster while drawing less energy, allowing the compressor, condenser and evaporator to perform at their utmost design efficiency. Installation does not require any down time of the HVAC equipment.

For data center use, PermaFrost NMR is available for Direct Exchange (DX) and Chiller units.

Learn more about the PermaFrost NMR

Contact PTS

Ten Cooling Solutions to Support High-Density Server Deployment by APC

 High-density servers offer a significant performance per watt benefit. However, depending on the deployment, they can present a significant cooling challenge. Vendors are now designing servers that can demand over 40 kW of cooling per rack. With most data centers designed to cool an average of no more than 2 kW per rack, innovative strategies must be used for proper cooling of high-density equipment. This paper provides ten approaches for increasing cooling efficiency, cooling capacity, and power density in existing data centers. Download

Determining Total Cost of Ownership for Data Center and Network Room Infrastructure by APC

 An improved method for measuring Total Cost of Ownership of data center and network room physical infrastructure and relating these costs to the overall Information Technology infrastructure is described, with examples. The cost drivers of TCO are quantified. The largest cost driver is shown to be unnecessary unabsorbed costs resulting from the oversizing of the infrastructure. Download

Modernizing Vintage Data Centers by Eaton

Most companies hope to get as much as 20 years of dependable service from their data centers. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to achieving that length of service. In particular, some of the key mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) components that data centers rely on are not designed to last that long. In addition, rapidly changing data processing requirements demand that data centers remain flexible and support greater rack densities. Download

Orchestrating your Disaster Recovery with Quorum onQ by Quorum

Chances are that you are dissatisfied with your current backup solution, as half of those surveyed by NetApp have stated. You probably have a pile of tapes or disks that represent you faithfully copying your files using a traditional backup software utility. But when disaster strikes and an entire server goes south, getting a working server online quickly and without a lot of running around isn’t going to happen. And chances are that the recovery process is so tortured and involved that you are lucky if you can do a full recovery test procedure once a year. Download

Global Corporate Xpansion (GCX) Magazine, Fall 2012, Data Center

Larry Davis, Vice President and Director of Marketing for PTS Data Center Solutions, Inc., has authored an article on modularity, an emerging trend in data center design. Modularity provides cost effective, energy efficient data center space with a rapid deployment timeframe. Is A Modular Data Center Design Right For You? Read more to find the answer.

 No Limits Software to Extend Virtualized Server Support in Their RaMP DCIM Solution through the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) Program 

No Limits Software Article, September 5, 2012

No Limits Software has joined the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) Program in order to extend their support for monitoring and management of virtualized servers through their RaMP DCIM solution.

Read the Full Article

Read All PTS ‘In the News’ Activities Here

Founded in 1998, PTS Data Center Solutions is a premier data center design firm and turnkey solutions provider, offering a broad range of project experience, specializing in designing data centers, computer rooms and technical spaces that integrate “best-of-breed”, critical infrastructure technologies and result in continuously available, scalable, redundant, fault-tolerant, manageable, and maintainable mission critical environments.