Fujitsu Massively Expands Data Center Co-location Capacity

by Chris Preimesberger

Fujitsu’s upgraded and spacious data center sports wide aisles, 24x7x365 security, and floor and ceiling cooling apparatus, among numerous other features. All the switches for a section of server rows are housed in the rack at the right side of the photo.

This control monitor station enables an administrator to keep track of all aspects of the data center at any time of day.

This wall-mounted monitor keeps track of all operational equipment and allows an administrator to quickly find a server, switch or storage array that must be shut down for any reason.

The raised-floor venting system shoots cooled air back up into circulation. Hot air from hundreds of servers and storage arrays rises to the ceiling and is channeled outside to the always-on cooling system. Newer, cooler-running processors in data center equipment require keeping the data center temperature at a moderate 72 degrees—instead of 65 to 68 degrees required for many older data centers. Power and cooling savings over time are substantial, and carbon emissions have been reduced by about 21 percent over earlier-generation equipment.

The entire floor of the Fujitsu data center is empty and raised about a foot to improve air circulation. Each of the server racks is earthquake-proofed and anchored to the floor by four cement pilings.

All the power supplies are located above the racks for easy access, maintenance and repair. Sky vents suck hot air out of the room. All the power conduits and networking are in the ceiling. Typically, in a raised-floor scenario, the cabling is channeled through the space between the building floor and the server racks. That model generates a lot of additional heat, which rises up to the servers that are already overheated.

Fujitsu has cleared plenty of additional square footage to house more racks. Fujitsu estimates that the data center has a maximum capacity of about 7 megawatts of electricity available for use.

Fujitsu is the first company in Silicon Valley to install a hydrogen power fuel cell for a data center. This will generate about half of the power needed to cool the servers in the data centers and computer labs at the Sunnyvale campus. The company estimates that it will pay for itself in 3.5 years. It meets the most stringent air emissions standards set by the California Air Resources Board and produces 35 percent less CO2 per megawatt-hour than an average fossil fuel-based power plant.

Fujitsu has invested large sums in the data centers powerful new uninterruptible power supply shown here. If a power outage were to occur, the data center could keep right on operating as normal indefinitely, thanks to this natural-gas-powered UPS.

Fujitsu spared no expense in upgrading its cooling system. There also is an air-side economizer on the roof. Whenever the outside temperature falls below a certain level, the equipment enables purified intake of cool air and the escape of heated air, which further reduces the cost of keeping the data center cool.

This window view of the Fujitsu data center resembles a framed photograph.