Kathy Gibson reports from Zagreb, Croatia – Croatia may be best known for its beaches and scenery but, in fact, it’s also the home of a number of significant scientific and technological inventions.
Viktor Petik, vice-president: integrated modular solutions for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Vertiv, points out that it is not only the birthplace of AC electrical current inventor Nikola Tesla, but also the origin of the parachute, the ballpoint pen, the necktie, the torpedo and the MP3 player.
And now it is leading in the manufacture of prefabricated modular data centres.
The innovative solutions drive optimisation by offering rapid design and deployment, high-quality factory integration, simplified and scalable assembly, and risk reduction with cost certainty.
Petik points out that the Vertiv portfolio consists of standardised and customised solutions covering the full spectrum of data centre requirements.
Standardised solutions include the SmartMod and SmartMod Max all-in-one data centres that include Vertiv power, cooling and racks – up to 26 racks or 210 kW.
Also in the standardised range is the SmartMod Combo, which includes SmartMod Max and Power Module scalable solutions, with up to 104 racks or 600 kW.
Prefabricated modular solutions enable scalable design of up to 2MW scalable IT blocks, with up to 200 to 300 racks. Deployment time frames are around 14 months.
The Vertiv MegaMod is a scalable and standardised multi-module data centre offering up to 128 racks and 0,5MW, or 256 racks and 1 MW per block.
Customers could also opt for a hybrid system that brings together prefabricated critical components like Power Modules, Cooling Modules and IT Modules within a traditional constructed building. These systems can have a scalable design of up to 40MW of IT capacity housed in 450 to 1 500 racks. Deployment would typically take between 12 and 18 months.
Building blocks for the prefabricated modular solutions include power equipment, the IT hall, cooling, and auxiliary modules.
Petik explains they are put together in Vertiv’s PFM facilities in Ireland, Croatia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Importantly, although they are modular, these systems can be designed and configured for users’ exact requirements. “We follow the customer throughout the journey,” Petik says.
The main benefit of using prefabricated modular solutions is that customers are assured of consistent service delivery and offerings, with diversity built in, and offering a breadth of technologies, Petik points out.
Reliability is guaranteed because there is a single service partner and system level expert. Vertiv comes to the party with a wide breadth of knowledge, reputation and experience, great investment in R&D, deep field knowledge, and digital delivery tools.
This is all delivered via a truly global geographical coverage with wide capacity, direct service centres and a strong engineering workforce, Petik adds,
When it comes to prefabricated modular data centres, Vertiv offers great product design with serviceability, service enablement equipment/system lifecycle warranty and maintenance programmes, digital services and remote monitoring, together with repairs and parts performance optimization – and even decommissioning recycling.
The Vertiv MegaMod is a pre-engineered solution with flexibility to adapt to specific customer requirements. It is a scalable prefabricated data centre that is expandable in 0,5MW or 1MW blocks, with between 64 and 128 racks per 500kW block. Because there is an average rack density of 4kW to 8 kW per rack, the IT/cooling area is separate from the power rooms.
Its time to market is a lot shorter when compared to traditional data centres and custom solutions, with it also offering environmental sustainability. Among the issues data centre owners face is scalability, which Vertiv addresses with a flexible pay-as-you-grow data centre model that is factory built.
The MegaMod also includes the Vertiv Power Train monitoring system, as well as an innovative design with close-coupled power module subsystems.
The Vertiv Power Train is a single-sourced complex power infrastructure solution. Features and benefits include a single-sourced complex power infrastructure solution, faster on-site deployment and commissioning, reduced footprint, high system reliability, reduced transportation and shipping costs, and on-site installation material reduction.
Vertiv Power Module H2 is a Scalable power supply solution that helps to merge UPS and hydrogen fuel cell technology into a single solution, extending the application of reliable UPS backed-up power.
The Power Module H2 is a prime power supply with zero emissions and low CO2 footprint Vertiv Power Module H2.
Vertiv has also launched high-capacity prefabricate modular solutions including the Vertiv SmartMod HDX that includes a power module and IT hall, with a chiller skid.