Intel, T-Systems Build 'Data Center 2020' Lab

dc2020

A look at part of the lab area at Data Center 2020 near Munich, a joint research project on data center efficiency from Intel and T-Systems.

Intel and T-Systems have jointly unveiled a data center efficiency lab outside Munich, Germany, which they have dubbed Data Center 2020. The lab will focus on testing various cooling and design scenarios to analyze the factors that impact the total cost of data centers and create a blueprint for building the data center of the future.

"This project is the first and only one worldwide that is devoted completely to the issue of energy efficiency in data centers," says Olaf Heyden, T-Systems director and head of ICT Operations. "Since the energy consumption of data centers worldwide is on the rise, the analysis will play a key role in minimizing CO2
emissions and lowering costs. And since environmental protection concerns all of us, we will publish the findings of our research online."

The 750 square foot test laboratory is equipped with 180 servers in racks as well as the latest tools for measuring energy and climate conditions in the data center. More than 50 sensors will measure air humidity, ambient temperature, temperature difference between inlet and exhaust air, and processor load. The laboratory is equipped with a smoke generator to visualize air flows. Intel is supplying the servers, while Deutsche Telekom is providing the infrastructure to run them.

Researchers will also test for various scenarios involving ambient temperature, air humidity, chilled water supply temperature and flow rate of the fans. In order to simulate computing centres with different room heights, the test laboratory has a lift-slab concrete floor, whose height can be variable adjusted between 3.70 meters and 2.50 meters.

T-Systems and Intel will then implement the best practicies they develop in their own data centers. One of their aims is to achieve an optimum power usage effectiveness value (PUE) of 1.3 in new data centers.