Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Networking
    • Servers

    AMD’s New Atlanta Data Center Showcases Chip Maker’s Technology

    By
    Jeff Burt
    -
    March 24, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      PrevNext

      1AMD’s New Atlanta Data Center Showcases Chip Maker’s Technology

      1 -AMD's New Atlanta Data Center Showcases Chip Maker's Technology

      by Jeffrey Burt

      2In Charge of AMD’s Consolidation Effort

      2 - In Charge of AMD's Consolidation Effort

      Overseeing the massive undertaking are Andy Bynum, corporate vice president of global infrastructure and operations at AMD, left, and Jake Dominquez, the company’s corporate vice president and CIO.

      3AMD Data Center From the Outside

      3 - AMD Data Center From the Outside

      The facility doesn’t look like much from the outside, where it’s distinguished from other nearby buildings by the address on the front of the building. However, once it’s fully stocked next year, it will run AMD’s entire North American operations—from its business units to its engineering efforts.

      4At the Controls

      4 - At the Controls

      Lamar Washington, critical environment manager for AMD at the Georgia data center, talks about the building management system that enables administrators to keep track of everything going on in the facility, from the health of the servers to the amount of power being used. AMD employs 21 people to keep the data center up and running.

      5Getting Systems Ready for Use

      5 - Getting Systems Ready for Use

      In the center’s staging room, engineers test systems before they are used in the facility’s data halls. These servers are from AMD’s Austin facility.

      6AMD’s Diamond Data Hall

      6 - AMD's Diamond Data Hall

      The Suwanee data center, which is being built in a modular fashion, has room for up to 10 data halls. Currently, two are up and running, including the Diamond Data Hall, which is pictured here. Each data hall is 1,500 square feet, and runs servers from Hewlett-Packard and Dell, as well as AMD’s own ServerMicro business.

      7Powering AMD’s Business

      7 - Powering AMD's Business

      These HP servers, housed in the Citrine Data Hall, are among those being used by AMD to run its business and engineering operations. The two data halls house 204 racks of computing equipment. By virtualizing more than 90 percent of its servers, AMD was able to decommission 76 percent of the physical systems and 72 percent of the virtual machines used in Austin. The company also compressed rack space by 45 percent.

      8Keeping the Hot Aisles Hot

      8 - Keeping the Hot Aisles Hot

      A key part of the data center’s efficiency is keeping the hot aisles between racks as hot as possible, according to AMD’s Washington. Plastic flaps at the entrances to the aisles are used to keep the hot air contained.

      9The Cycle of Data Center Air

      9 - The Cycle of Data Center Air

      Cold air is pumped from the floor into the cold aisles, then sucked in through the front of the racks to cool the equipment. The hot air is discharged out the back of the racks into the hot aisles, where the air is moved through vents in the ceiling and into these cooling units, where the air is cooled and sent back into the data center. Nine cooling units are used for each data hall.

      10Powering the Data Halls

      10 - Powering the Data Halls

      Each data hall has a room that houses the generators that keep the systems running as well as the UPS backup systems to ensure there’s no downtime if a generator fails.

      11Storage for Tape Storage

      11 - Storage for Tape Storage

      AMD uses this room to store tapes that each hold up to 1,600 gigabits of data.

      12Looking Into the Future

      12 - Looking Into the Future

      The Diamond and Citrine data halls constitute only two of 10 that can fit into the center. The massive space shown here can house up to six more data halls, according to AMD executives.

      13Even More Computing Space

      13 - Even More Computing Space

      Two other data halls will be housed in this space in the facility.

      14Laying the Groundwork

      14 - Laying the Groundwork

      AMD engineers have begun getting this part of the data center ready for another data hall, putting in such basics as the pipes for the chilled water that will help keep the data hall cool.

      15The Fresh Georgia Air

      15 - The Fresh Georgia Air

      Given its Southern location, AMD doesn’t use outside “free” air much to help cool the Suwanee facility. However, there are times when it’s cold enough outside—like around 45 degrees or lower—that the air can be used, Washington said. The orange pipes pictured here help bring in air from the outside.

      16Keeping the Air Safe

      16 - Keeping the Air Safe

      The AMD facility has a system that analyzes the air in the data center for any problems or smoke. The orange pipes here “sniff” the air and feed it into the system.

      17Cooling the Data Center

      17 -  Cooling the Data Center

      The pipes in this part of the facility chill and pump cold water throughout the data center. The system runs 752 gallons of water each minute. The chains with the green tags enable administrators to isolate water valves as needed.

      18Keeping the Water Cool

      18 - Keeping the Water Cool

      Outside the chiller room are the units that make sure the water is cooled before it’s pumped through the data center.

      19In Case of Water Emergency

      19 - In Case of Water Emergency

      Should anything disrupt the main water supply, data center administrators can tap the water in this 60,000-gallon storage tank, which AMD’s Washington said would give the facility about 36 minutes of water.

      PrevNext

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×