Infinity SDC provides a unique, outsourced data centre design, build and operations service. On a day to day basis the company has a wide range of data centre concerns; from site selection to planning applications, power provision to connectivity and construction to operations.

Working in partnership with organisations in the public and private sectors, Infinity SDC facilitates 21st century data centre ownership out of operating expense.

In today’s capitally constrained markets, this means that organisations of all sizes and types can advantage the financial and energy efficiencies which newer data centres bring.

“Legacy data centres can severely restrict corporate growth by limiting the capability to deploy new technologies which have proven cost and efficiency benefits; for example blade servers and virtualisation,” says Andy Catton, Engineering Delivery Director at Infinity SDC.
He would know; with over 25 years experience in design, build and operations, Catton’s list of achievements includes 40 high resilience data centres across the UK and Europe.
By working with Infinity SDC, customers are able to short-circuit time consuming processes such as locating a site, submitting planning applications and arranging power and connectivity. For example, at the Infinity TWO data centre in East London, the company has secured a 38MW power supply for over 100,000 square feet of white space to accommodate servers and other IT equipment. However, other than stipulating high efficiency solutions, Infinity gives its customers a large amount of control over the design of the space, providing professional guidance when requested.

“The idea is that we build the data centre that the customer would build for him or herself. We just take away a lot of pain and reduce the time cycle between identifying the need for a data centre and commissioning the facility” continues Catton. “We each stick to what we know best; Infinity provides the infrastructure and the customer builds out to suit the needs of the business.”

Meeting Customer Requirements

When Infinity was contracted by a major UK business to construct a data centre which was to become a key building block for its future growth in managed services, it was agreed that the resultant facility should be clearly differentiated from the majority of existing data centre stock. Recognising the need for assured operation of end-customers’ IT services, it was decided that the new data centre should be built to a Tier IV design and approved by the Uptime Institute.

“The Uptime Institute provides clear direction about what constitutes a Tier IV facility. The Tier system of classifications has been widely adopted as shorthand for describing the resiliency of data centres, but usually classifications are applied without any reference to Uptime. We therefore sought independent validation of our design to set a clear level of expectation about the service continuity available from Infinity TWO, and to set it apart from facilities which are not compliant. The new data centre at Infinity TWO is, in fact, the first Uptime Institute accredited Tier IV design in Europe. This essential difference builds confidence for customers who cannot afford downtime.” continues Andy Catton.

Designed for No-Break Operations

The data centre design was created by Red Engineering Design (RED), an award winning consultancy which has built its reputation by supplying low carbon MEP systems for leading buildings around the World. These include super-luxury hotels, ‘green’ supermarkets and data centres, and AAA class offices. Ian Whitfield, director at RED, is an Accredited Tier Designer by Uptime Institute Professional Services, making him a member of an exclusive band of 40 data centre design professionals worldwide.

The Tier IV project covered 7,500 square feet of technical space, divided into two data halls of 3,000 sq ft (Data Hall 1) and 4,500 sq ft (Data Hall 2), incorporating Power Distribution Units (PDUs) and Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units. The design specification for both Data Halls is 2.5kW power and cooling per rack position; room capacities are 132 cabinets and 200 cabinets respectively. Both Data Halls are 2N on electrical systems and N+1 mechanical or greater.

“To meet the Client’s requirement for the highest levels of reliability and continuity of service, not only did we need to provide a concurrently maintainable system which is almost the de facto minimum standard these days, but we also had to deliver a fault tolerant design which reacts autonomously whilst supporting the critical load,” said Ian Whitfield of RED. “Tier IV requirements not only consider the electrical and mechanical faults within the systems design but also the physical environments in which they are located. The space at Infinity TWO gave us the opportunity to plan very logical plant compartments with good access for maintenance and operation.”

The work carried out by RED also included HV services to provide connections from two incoming 11kV power supplies to separate new HV switchboards, plus the cooling system for Data Hall 1 including their complete fire separation from end to end. To maintain the IT load within temperature limits for assured operation, eight (8) close control CRAC units are located within the technical hall to provide N+3 system redundancy. This level of redundancy was selected due to the arrangement of heat rejection plant in which any
3 units can be affected by a single event without impact to the critical environment. Furthermore, Class A continuous cooling is provided whereby the entire cooling plant is UPS supported.

The Data Hall airflow arrangement is fairly traditional with downflow units supplying air into a pressurised floor void of 1,000mm deep, but cold and hot air separation is provided via a cold aisle containment system giving the Client good flexibility in the load distribution.

The heat rejection plant for both Data Halls is located in a specially constructed roof plant well which has been compartmentalised in line with the redundancy requirements. The well also incorporates good acoustic properties supporting continuous operation. All elements of the cooling system are supported with dual power feeds which automatically switch-over under loss of supply.

With both the IT load and the cooling plant requiring UPS support, this is delivered effectively via a 2N diesel rotary UPS system (DRUPS). Each DRUPS is located in a separate fire compartment, both Data Halls can be fully supported by either of the machines. Furthermore, both the IT load and the CRAC units are protected by the DRUPS, each rated at 1850 kVA no-break and 450kVA short-break (total 2,300 kVA). These provide 2N system redundancy, with sufficient capacity to support both critical and non-critical loads if one DRUPS is shut down or offline. Each DRUPS has its own fuel tank enabling it to run for 48 hours at full capacity in the event of an outage.

“The UPS component is a critical and expensive part of the infrastructure. Its selection, from a technology point of view, can be influenced by the business objectives of the customer; whether they are looking to reduce their energy consumption and therefore cost, reduce maintenance and service costs or reduce their capex requirements. It’s important to realise that one size does not fit all the requirements of the business. As far as RED is concerned, we have equal experience and expertise in a wide range of critical power solutions to try and ensure an objective approach to solving customer needs,” said Ian Whitfield.

“Infinity TWO offers dedicated plant and technical areas to each customer, with the ability to select from a variety of standard designs or to work with our designers to deliver a bespoke solution,” said Andy Catton. “Therefore our customers have the option to use other UPS solutions if they wish, and the Infinity TWO facility has the flexibility to accommodate those preferences. The objective is to deliver a standalone data centre within a multi-tenanted building, free from interaction and the effects of other occupier activity.”

Living with the neighbours

Infinity TWO is located in an urban environment within 15 minutes of Liverpool Street Station. As a result the acoustic properties of all plant must be carefully managed, with noise levels suitably suppressed when measured at the site boundaries. It was therefore necessary to attenuate the discharge side of the condensers along with the roof well in which they are located. This attenuation was arranged to reduce any potential for discharged hot air to be re-circulated back into the condenser air intake and so reduce the effect of heat on the unit’s capacity. It was achieved by fitting each condenser unit with a 4m high casing constructed from galvanised steel and lined with acoustically absorbent foam.

Keeping an eye on things

Power use is monitored throughout the electrical distribution system allowing load use evaluation and management. A Trend building management system has been provided, managing data on alarms and status of the various plant installations.

Power is monitored at the main incoming breaker on each of the LV switchboards serving the Data Halls, as well other supplies required by Part ‘L’ of the Building Regulations, the main input breaker and all main HV, MV and LV switchboards with outputs supplied to the building management system. In addition, a high level interface is provided to the DRUPS integral controllers and switchboards for alarm and status reporting.

Security on the site includes intruder detection, access control (including biometric controls in certain zones) and CCTV throughout. The Data Halls are protected with high sensitivity smoke detection (HSSD) fitted in the return air paths of all CRAC units and FM200 fire suppression.

Coming of Age

At a time when there is uncertainty about future data centre requirements and security of energy supply, the Infinity TWO Tier IV data centre provides the ‘always on’ promise which is the first priority for IT-dependant businesses. The recent announcement of Europe’s second Tier IV design demonstrates that in an age dominated by the call to energy efficiency, the need for assured uptime continues to have a strong voice, especially amongst those for whom the data centre continues to be absolutely mission critical. At the same time, Infinity’s modus operandi answers the need for affordability through opex-based finance as well as customer autonomy over design requirements. 

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Tags: Design & Facilities Management, Virtualization, Applications

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