Green Data Centre Research Facility Opened By HP

Hewlett-Packard is opening a facility that will act as a test ground for efficient and sustainable data centre technologies.

Unveiled March 30, the site in Fort Collins, Colo., will serve multiple purposes, including being used as a data centre for internal applications run by HP as well as a test bed for green data centre operations. More than 8,000 environmental sensors throughout the 50,000 square-feet facility will monitor everything from temperature to humidity, and the facility’s central management system will use the data to adjust operations accordingly to make them as energy efficient as possible.

Promoting Converged Architecture

Designed by HP Critical Facilities Services and built in collaboration with HP Labs, the facility will help HP push forward its Converged Infrastructure architecture, which is aimed at reduce complexity and sprawl in the data centre, reduce power consumption and crank up energy efficiency. Ultimately the facility will give enterprises to the tools they need to run higher-performing, more energy-efficient data centres, a crucial issue for companies that are trying to rein in skyrocketing energy costs while creating IT infrastructures to meet their business demands.

“Our clients are seeking sustainable, affordable data centre technologies that will effectively change the energy equation,” Tom Christian, principal research scientist for HP’s Sustainable Ecosystems Research Lab, said in a statement. “The new Fort Collins research facility advances the development of solutions that address CIOs’ most pressing needs, including lowered energy consumption and reduced costs.”

The data centre will be fitted with thousands of x86-based ProLiant and Itanium-powered Integrity servers, as well as BladeSystem servers and StorageWorks disk arrays. They will be used both to run HP’s internal applications and support the sustainability research done by HP Labs, the company said. Half of the facility will be used in what HP officials call a “living laboratory” environment, where HP Labs, through its Sustainable Data Centre Project, will continue its research in reducing emissions and power consumption.

The data centre will have hot and cold aisles, and every aisle between the servers racks will have cool-air intakes and hot-air outlets, enabling constant air circulation through the racks as cool air is blown into the cold aisles from below and hot air sent out from the hot aisles overhead. It also will have both air-side and water-side economisers, which will enhance energy efficiency in the building.

HP engineers will also study how to use resources more effectively in power and cooling micro-grids which look at air and water cooling capabilities that leverage the climate of the Rocky Mountains. In addition, the building will house the HP Labs Sandbox, an research area isolated – both electronically and environmentally – from the rest of the facility. The Sandbox will be a test bed for HP Labs engineers, who will use it to test new sustainability technologies, according to the company.