Emerson Previews State-of-the-Art, Energy-Efficient Data Center

by Chris PreimesbergerPhotos by Mark Berry

The started-from-scratch data center is located in the suburbs of St. Louis, Mo. When it opens on July 27, the data center will feature 6,000 square feet of raised floor, with capacity for 12,000—and ultimately 5,000—servers. The facility was designed to use only as much space as needed, with provisions in place for easy expansion.

Liebert FDC power distribution cabinets from Emerson Network Power stand at the end of the rows of racks on the data center’s raised floor. The data center utilizes servers with Dell Halo processors with Intel multicore chips. Those processors feature hardware virtualization support, facilitating widespread virtualization within the data center and helping reduce the number of servers by a count of 18-1.

A Liebert Services representative explains the Emerson Network Power switchgear to a data center visitor. Factoid: Redundant dual-bus power capacity starting at 1,350 kW and ultimate UPS systems scalability up to 4,050 kW across dual paths allow power usage to be scaled to meet the facility’s highest demands without sacrificing efficiency.

ASCO Services technicians inspect ASCO generator-paralleling control switchgear from Emerson Network Power. Emerson anticipates the data center will have 99.982 percent uptime, with an average of only 1.6 hours per year of unplanned downtime.

By locating heat-exchange units (“chillers”) on the roof rather than on the property adjacent to the center, Emerson saved more than 2.5 miles of copper piping and created a more scalable cooling infrastructure.

Liebert XD systems from Emerson Network Power provide energy-efficient and flexible high heat density cooling to the data center.

Emerson Network Power’s Alber battery diagnostic system is at the center of the data center’s battery monitoring room.

Emerson Network Power’s Liebert NX UPS with Softscale technology is a true online, double conversion, three-phase UPS system providing reliable power protection for the data center.

The solar array on the roof looms over the chillers and provides power to the data center. Factoid: The 7,800-square-foot rooftop solar array containing more than 550 solar panels is the largest in Missouri and is capable of generating 100 kW of power.