WATERKOTTE is an expanding manufacturer of innovative heat pump system solutions and automation. The field of activity, the production and use of renewable energies, has a future. WATTERKOTTE GmbH emerged from the pioneering work of its founder, Klemens Oskar WATERKOTTE, who developed the hitherto unknown heat pump heating technology in 1968. WATERKOTTE employs around 160 people and manufactures heat pumps in the power range from 1 to 1000 kW at its Herne site.
WATERKOTTE was looking for a particularly operationally secure solution that provided fire and burglary protection. Previously, the IT infrastructure consisted of leased hardware. Initial contact was made via Data Center Group website and agreement was then quickly reached on the appropriate solution.
After the offer was accepted at the beginning of 2022 and the order was placed in April, the installation and commissioning of the new IT environment took place as early as June - despite supply bottlenecks due to the global political situation at the time.
Special features of the project arose due to the existing, compact infrastructure. Issues such as electrical engineering and overhead and undersupply had to be planned in detail. Since no structural measures were to be created and a compact and flexible solution was sought, the decision was made to use a micro data centre, the DC IT Safe.
"We felt that with the issues of technical development and service availability and the prioritisation on the issue of IT security, the Data Center Group was able to deliver the best overall package," explains Andreas Jung, Managing Director Technology
A highly available and highly secure IT infrastructure is essential for WATERKOTTE, as an IT failure would have serious and existential consequences. Almost all of WATERKOTTE's business processes are carried out online. The new solution now offers the company "life insurance for IT".
The summary is exceptionally positive: "The project went perfectly from the initial contact and contact with Florian Hammer (Area Sales Manager West/Central) to the offer, the professional handling and the finished solutions. I would definitely recommend the product as well. If there is a move of the IT, you can simply take the DC IT Safe with you. The perfect solution for medium-sized companies," Andreas Jung sums up.
Key facts about the project:
- Product: DC IT Safe Single (2185 x 1450 x 1470 mm)
- Redundant rack inverter cooling system 1.6-4.5 kW
- NOVEC1230 fire extinguishing and fire alarm system
- DCM Agent 32DI monitoring system
- 19-inch UPS system 4.0 kVA/3.6 kW with degassing function
- Project management: Peter Gerhardus
- Project period from commissioning to handover: April-June 2022
Heat pumps as the future of the energy transition
Heat pumps are one of the key technologies for the energy transition. They will be the dominant heating technology in the energy system of the future. Scientific studies show that they have a key role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector. Heat pumps are already in use in many types of buildings. They can also be used to process heat from data centres so that this heat can be used to heat residential or public buildings.
