The largest modular CPD in Spain. This is what we had the opportunity to visit yesterday in Cerdanyola del Vallés. Eight years after its construction, Vertiv and T-Systems open the doors to one of the most interesting CPDs that have been built in our country in recent years and explained to us the beginnings of this collaboration. They also elaborated on the importance that the design of modular data centers has today, a commitment that allows delivery times to be greatly accelerated and that facilitates the construction of infrastructures as critical as this one.
The partnership between Vertiv and T-Systems began in 2015 and culminated in the first T-Systems modular data center in the world. This approach tells us Enrique Jaureguialzo, Solutions Architect at Vertiv, is what allows us to achieve a considerable reduction in operating costs and 30% savings in construction time, thus breaking the record of deploying a modular CPD in just 9 months. In total, the CPD has an area of 2,400 square meters and houses 290 racks, of which 40 are high density.
This milestone has earned it recognition from the Uptime Institute, the entity responsible for creating and managing the Tier Standard known and recognized worldwide that certifies data centers according to their risk level, for achieving an availability level greater than 99.98. %. This figure is achieved, among other things, by having generator sets designed to keep the center in operation for up to 72 hours uninterrupted in the event of a power outage.
A challenge that required great technical synergy
In 2015, T-Systems needed to realize its new strategic vision, which, in part, consisted of consolidating its more than 80 data centers around the world and providing cloud services. The Cerdanyola data center was key to continuing to advance this objective, and to guarantee the success of the project, Vertiv’s experience in critical infrastructures was combined to offer cutting-edge comprehensive solutions with the expertise of T-Systems.
Meeting T-Systems’ business needs required a combination of infrastructure availability, reliability, security, scalability, transparency, performance, sustainability, and rapid deployment. These requirements were key when selecting Vertiv to develop this state-of-the-art TIER III certified, mission-critical modular data center.
Once the partner was chosen, Vertiv had a significant challenge ahead, since building a conventional data center in such a short period of time posed a considerable challenge and demanded a notable amount of resources. After conducting an extensive analysis, Vertiv and T-Systems decided that the solution that best fit their needs was a modular containerized deployment. This choice made it possible to achieve rapid availability and notable scalability, which could also facilitate new phases of expansion.
“The CPD of Cerdanyola del Vallés has been a benchmark since its construction due to its dimensions and its capacity to continue growing. Currently clients from all over the world receive support in infrastructure services from this center that continues to be updated to meet the challenges of today’s world by reducing their energy consumption and powered only by green energy.” stated David Mañas, VP of Cloud & Cybersecurity at T-Systems Iberia.
Effectiveness and sustainability
Two of the main values that Vertiv and T-Systems share are sustainability and responsibility with the environment, and, on the other hand, energy efficiency, a crucial factor to offset the environmental impact of growing digitalization.
Precisely for this reason, a high-efficiency design of the new facility was essential, resulting in an energy use effectiveness (PUE) index of 1.3, allowing T-Systems to reduce its total electricity consumption by 30%. T-Systems continues to work and improve the infrastructure of this CPD and plans to continue expanding the use of solar energy as a power source for the center. A practice that in 2021 led it to reduce the emissions of its operating building by 90% through the installation of solar panels. To reduce its water consumption, the CPD also has a large cistern (it has a capacity of 30,000 liters) that collects and treats rainwater. In addition, intelligent algorithms are used capable of prioritizing calculation-intensive tasks (and which therefore have greater energy consumption) in periods in which the price of the electricity rate is more favorable. The ultimate goal is for the data center to reach zero emissions by January 2025.
“Its innovative design and the Vertiv technology implemented in the installation facilitates energy efficiency. It has indirect freecooling technology, which allows you to save on chilled water production and achieve an optimal air conditioning temperature thanks to its confined cold corridors and cooling by districooling,” confirmed José Alfonso Gil, Director of Service Sales for Southern Europe at Vertiv.
