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By Michael Eggebrecht
IBM has opened a state-of-the-art, 60,000 sq. ft. data center in Research Triangle Park, N.C. designed to support clients’ cloud computing needs. The data center, which will eventually reach 100,000 sq. ft., also hosts IBM’s Smart Business cloud offerings for small and medium-sized organizations.
“This new facility not only sets new standards for energy efficiency, but provides the flexible capacity that allows IBM to deliver services that enable clients to reduce costs, improve productivity and gain competitive advantage in their markets,” said Pat Kerin, general manager of IBM North America, in a statement.
According to IBM, which has invested $362 million in the project, the new facility uses only half the energy of a similarly sized data center. It also aims to reduce energy costs by as much as 15 percent using sensors that determine the temperature and humidity in the center and adjust accordingly.
IT systems are observed by more than 8,000 branch circuit monitoring points, says IBM, while 2,000 sensors gather temperature, pressure, humidity and air flow information from air conditioners, and 30,000-plus utility and environmental sensors interconnect with software tools.
IBM also claims that by offering support for cloud computing workloads, clients can eliminate the need for as much as 70 percent of hardware resources that formerly did the same task.
Currently, Big Blue’s new data facility is hosting a cloud solution with North Carolina Central University and NC State University, enabling students at Hillside New Tech High School in Durham, N.C. to gain access to educational materials and software using the Internet in their school’s computer lab – or any other networked device.
IBM says the data center is also hosting its global Web site and the IT operations of the United States Golf Association (USGA). In a statement, Alex Withers, the USGA’s managing director of digital media, said that “the migration of our USOPEN.com operations to IBM’s new data center … reduced our energy consumption by 38 percent and floor space requirements by 54 percent.”
Disruption-free scaling up of operations is another advantage of the new facility, according to IBM, which says that it can defer up to 40 percent of capital costs and 50 percent of operational costs for the facility until client demand necessitates expansion -- by adding chillers, computer room air conditioners, generators and floor space when needed.
IBM is also highlighting the green IT credentials of the facility, which it began building in August 2008:
- Its mechanical system design is 50 percent more efficient than one without heat exchangers for free-cooling or chillers, equating to a reduction of approximately 31,799 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
- A reflective roof reduces solar heat.
- Rainwater is collected for reuse.
- 95 percent of the original building structure was reused in the design.
- 92 percent of construction waste was recycled.
- 20 percent of new materials are from recycled products.
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