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One-hundred percent uptime
Safety and security are one
aspect of operating a data
center. The other is uptime.
“Our internal goal is 100
percent uptime. In the five
years the EAGLE DataCenter in
Munich has been open, we’ve
achieved that,” says Kohler.
Here, redundancy is the
watchword, and it applies to
systems ranging from
air-conditioning components to
those managing the facility’s
power supply. For example, if the facility’s
electricity were to be cut off, a diesel
engine would spring to life to supply the
necessary power. The data center can
operate for 48 hours on a tank of fuel.
Always up means electricity is constantly
flowing into the data center. In fact,
worldwide, data centers are responsible
for 1.5 to 2 percent of all energy demand.
But the Munich site is an exception, as its
power comes from renewable sources and
built-in efficiency. For instance, waste
heat from the servers contributes to
heating the building in the winter.
The building itself was built to use as little
energy as possible; for instance, it is
equipped with a raised floor in the server
rooms, which facilitates low-energy
air-conditioning equipment. The servers
are also configured so that energy
consumption is as low as possible. These
efforts have helped contribute to the data
center’s internationally recognized LEED
Gold certification, which is issued by the
U.S Green Building Council.
Guardians of highly classified data: Christian Böhm (left) and Uli Kohler from the EAGLE DataCenter
Model of excellence
“The EAGLE facility is Siemens
Building Technologies’ top
reference site for its data center
expertise,” comments Kohler.
Wherever possible, Siemens
technologies were installed.
The result is a living example of
what Siemens is capable of –
from state-of-the-art security to
high uptime and energy
efficiency.
To safeguard its flagship status,
the facility is continuously
evolving. “We do everything
possible to keep our power consumption
as low as possible. We therefore trace our
power usage effectiveness (PUE) to ensure
that our supporting systems are efficient.
That means that when it is commercially
reasonable to do so, we replace hardware
with more energy efficient systems,” says
Kohler. The team also employs high
virtualization rates to make the most of
existing servers.
Everyday, new data is added to Siemens’
treasure trove – data that is essential to
the company’s operations as well as those
of its customers. Today, all of Siemens’
EAGLE DataCenters collectively hold 8
Petabytes of data – that’s 8,000 Terabytes.
The majority of the data is in the Munich
facility, which now holds around 6
Petabytes. When it can hold no more,
there’s room to construct a twin facility at
the site. That will provide more space for
one of the prized possessions of the 21st
century: data.
• Alexander Chavez
Taken from Pictures of the Future, the Siemens
Magazine for Research and Innovation
For more information,
write to insight.in@siemens.com
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