Data center Pfalzkom Manet from the outside

PFALZKOM | MANET

Datacenter goes Future!
References | 16.02.2017

Data Center Construction implements one of the most modern high performance data centers in Germany for the communication concern.

PFALZKOM | MANET is one of the biggest local communication providers for business clients and carrier. The company based in Ludwigshafen operates its own telecommunication network that covers the metropolitan area Rhine-Neckar, Rhineland-Palatinate as well as parts of Hesse and Saarland. 
The company planned the construction of one of the most modern high performance data centers in Germany in order to reasonably expand the existing portfolio. Its goal was to give medium-sized companies in the region the possibility to outsource their IT and offer a secure infrastructure. In order to guarantee a professional implementation, the TC provider involved Data Center Construction as an expert for infrastructures. Data Center Construction convinced with its holistic concept and was able to realize the project within a short amount of time. 

Dates and facts about the datacenter Rhine-Neckar:
•    Floor area ground floor: 1,480 m² 
•    Second floor: ca. 160 m²
•    Floor space: 1,640 m²
•    Two server rooms with ca. 420 m² area each 
•    incl. a climate clasp inside the server room (separated by a lattice wall) 
 

High Availability through Redundancies 

Analyses combined with base estimates were performed by Data Center Construction, who took a close look at the site and fully factored in the surroundings parameters. This way, the building was erected outside of flood or seismic zones due to safety reasons. As a subsidiary of Pfalzwerke Aktiengesellschaft, PFALZKOM | MANET also has ideal conditions for the energy supply, because the data center is fed by two different voltage levels right at the transformer station. On top of that, batteries and a diesel generator set are incorporated. Ideal energy reserves and the redundant dimensioning guarantee a non-disruptive operation. And last but not least, the server room contains specific firestops, fire extinguishing systems and access control.

The data center is TÜV certified, has security class 3 "high availability" and has a very high failure safety. The appealing and functional architecture, planned by expert of Data Center Construction, is extremely customer-oriented: It consists of two separate, self-sufficient server rooms with 350 m² surface each. Between the two areas is a fully equipped technology sector with redundant TC rooms, transformer cells, UPS and battery rooms, a low-voltage main distribution (LVMD), an IT-configuration room, a cooling station, a fire extinguishing system, a conference room as well as an emergency workstation. The new building has room for more than 300 server cabinets and utility space can be rented as needed. 
 

Since the matter of access and security is extremely important in this case, special measures were taken. "We wanted all of our customers to have access to their IT at any time. At the same time, a high level of security is needed. By several access levels we can guarantee that only authorized persons can access their areas", explains Uwe Burré, commercial manager at PFALZKOM | MANET. Hence, the project was quite ambitious. Additional protection within the server rooms is given by so-called cages that prevent unauthorized access and sabotage. Moreover, Data Center Construction installed devices for verification and documentation.

Technical equipment:
•    Recooling technology with 1.8 MW performance
•    Cooling units with 1.5 MW performance
•    UPS-technology with 5 modules à 400 kVa (1.6 MW performance) 
•    2 emergency power aggregate with 1.5 MW performance each
•    Optional thermal output on the server room area of 1.200 Watt/m² and additionally 300-400 Watt/m² through direct hardware cooling within the racks (corresponds to 1.6 KW/m²)
Technical setup: 
•    Feeding of electrical energy via 2 transformer stations 
•    2 transformers
•    Performance of all other equipment in an n+1 redundancy
 

Advanced Solutions Guarantee a Sustainable Operation 

Because of the customer requirements, the data center is equipped with several cooling technologies. In order to fulfill the growing demand for energy efficiency and sustainability the experts from Data Center Construction built in hybrid coolers for recooling that also allow a free cooling. These hybrid coolers use the "natural cold" from outside, in case of colder days, and are therefore environmentally friendly and can save a lot of cost. Furthermore, an autarchic cold-water service is available so that the indirect free cooling can be used without problems in the colder seasons. "It was very important to us that our data center can still be operated economically in a few years", says managing director Burré. "I think we took a step into the right direction by choosing the ideal location, redundancies as well as the latest technology."

A cold-hot-aisle arrangement for the server racks is also beneficial to the energy efficiency. In this case, the racks are arranged in a way that hot and cold hot air are strictly isolated from one another. Hence, there cannot be any air short-circuits and the cooling effect is not impaired. The airflow leads into an access floor that is 80 cm high and contains bus bars of the redundant electricity supply. Due to the prepared cooling high and very high heat loads can be specifically dissipated. Next to the modular house-in-house solution that consists of F90 fire walls and fire floors a central fire extinguishing system was integrated. It uses the gentle chemical extinguishing agent Novec 1230 that distinguishes itself by a good human and technical tolerability. 

However, it does not only protect the areas of the server rooms but also the UPS and battery room of the Datacenter Rhine-Neckar. Another valuable addition to safety is a monitoring system that immediately informs about any issues regarding UPS, ESPS, cooling systems, access control systems, burglary as well as early fire detection. One main point in constructing the Datacenter Rhine-Neckar war energy efficiency. The entire equipment is designed for an environmentally friendly operation. "This was very important to us. Data Center Construction did a very thorough consultation regarding efficiency and showed us several possibilities", explains Burré and adds: "In order to round off the ecological properties, we installed a solar power system on the flat roof."
 

Regarding Availability: Two Are Better Than One

The Datacenter Rhine-Neckar is perfectly equipped for a sudden energy outage: The emergency service works through the battery installation of the UPS, which overrides the offset of the diesel generator sets. Two ESPS systems with 2,800 kVA in total are able to provide enough power to keep all systems running in just a few seconds. A tank system with 20,000 l ensures the operation of the generator sets for a longer period of time. For safety reasons, the LVMD and the other remaining technology are situated in a separate fire area, and they are also designed for a non-disruptive operation. Data Center Construction supervised the major project from detailed planning, production site and demand analyses over architectural and technical implementation all the way to the turnkey ready handing over. 

The successful TÜV-certification shows that the implementation of the data center was done by high quality standards. In this case, PFALZKOM | MANET specifically asked for an examination by a neutral institute. Moreover, Data Center Construction developed an operation manual that serves as a golden thread for a secure and cost-optimized operation. "We are absolutely pleased with the cooperation and the way the project was handled", says Burré and stresses that the customers' needs can be more than met by one of the most modern data centers in Germany. And why did they choose Data Center Construction? "We wanted to continue our main business and were looking for an expert in IT-infrastructures that could give us an all-round carefree package including planning, analyses, architectural services and the final commissioning.

We needed a reliable partner that would basically just give us the key to a perfectly finished data center. And our expectations were absolutely fulfilled despite a very tight schedule. The general contractor Data Center Construction did not only implement the project very quickly but also convinced us with their high-quality standards. Mainly, we chose Data Center Construction because they consulted us vendor-independently and always with our project goals in mind. Hence, all our requirements were fulfilled, and our opinions were taken into account. The result is nothing to sneeze at being one of the most modern high security data centers in Germany." (Thorsten Moßmann, manager of the DCRN)
 

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