Issue 12, Oct/Nov
FOCUS DATA CENTER AUTOMATION
AUTOMATIC FOR THE DATA CENTER
Data centers are crying out for better automation tools, but for some reason vendors are not stepping up to the mark – yet. Yevgeniy Sverdlik reports
carry out their roles effectively. This has sparked a rise in the number of automation tools on the market. The one problem is that many of the products available still can’t fit the complete set of data center needs.
A
Both end users and providers of engineering services have identified a number of improvements that need to be made to automation tools to bring them up to scratch. These include areas of interoperability, automatic response to data collected through monitoring devices, the processing and representation of that data by user interfaces, and recognition of connected devices by control systems on the IT side.
CAN YOU HEAR ME?
Vendors have wanted to move towards levels of interoperability for some time, but one of the things that has held them back has been their reluctance to do away with proprietary communication protocols, which means finding favour with open ones.
Keith Lane, president and chief electrical engineer at Lane Coburn & Associates, a provider of electrical engineering services, says that in recent times he has seen a shift towards the integration of data center controls. For example, more systems are integrating monitoring and control of electrical systems into a single panel, which also communicates with the Building Management System (BMS). About two years ago, these were always separate, standalone systems.
“People have been talking for years [about using] open protocol and not proprietary systems,” Lane says. “[Some] vendors still offer proprietary systems.”
Robert Rosenberger, director of essential infrastructure at DuPont Fabros – one of the largest wholesale data center providers in the US – says that while he has seen a positive push in the direction of interoperability, there are as yet not enough solutions that offer this
s data centers grow increasingly complex, more control functions require automation so that facilities and IT managers can
to meet the full market’s needs. “There are still [a number of] proprietary protocols used,” Rosenberger says. “While many vendors have robust and reliable communications among their end devices, others are more problematic and less robust.”
One area that could make a difference, he says, would be universal time stamping, which could be used by all systems to make event reconstruction easier and more accurate.
WHEN THE SHOE DOESN’T FIT
Cooling control functions are the most commonly automated processes in data centers, according to Vali Sorell, associate partner and chief HVAC engineer for the National Critical Facilities division of Syska Hennessy Group, a large US-based engineering firm. Automation tools are used to ensure chiller-plant efficiency and optimize air flow on the computer floor.
Sorell says that while the today’s cooling control automation tools are good at measuring existing conditions, they lack in the ability to determine the appropriate action to take. Control system vendors will sell sensors, actuators, valves, dampers and other hardware components, but in most cases the end user will have to create their own strategy for controlling these devices.
Many vendors have “canned” control sequences, but these sequences are hardly guaranteed to do the job. “That’s their intelligence,” Sorell says. “It’s in there, but
they don’t customize it.” In most cases, end users have to build and integrate their own control systems that can enable their own control sequences.
Operators of a Rogers Communications data center in Canada, for example, put together a home-grown system to control their cooling infrastructure using off-the-shelf components, according to Bill Ahrens, senior manager of data center infrastructure at Rogers.
Rogers is one of Canada’s largest communications companies. Ahrens says the company could not find a solution to comprehensively address all its needs at the time.
towards levels of interoperability for some time
Vendors have wanted to move
Roger’s in-house designed system adjusts cooling load dynamically, based on both temperature and electrical load readings taken at the remote power panel (RPP) at the end of each row.
Instead of having the cooling controls system communicate with IT equipment itself, it measures electrical consumption of the IT equipment at the RPP level. Temperature and humidity readings are taken by sensors on the computer room air-conditioning (CRAC) units
www.datacenterdynamics.com 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96