Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 14 | Page 68

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Data Centres POWERED BY First IT infrastructure testing lab created in central eastern Europe ///////////////////////////// V ertiv has announced the opening of a new testing laboratory for IT infrastructure colocated in a data centre – the first such facility in Poland and the only one in the Central and Eastern Europe region (CEE). The laboratory will serve in research and development projects and performance tests of power systems with variable load as well as tests of the information and communication technologies equipment functioning in changing data centre environmental parameters, such as air humidity and temperature. The laboratory, fully equipped by Vertiv, will be available to clients in the CEE region on the Atman data centre campus in Warsaw. According to a study conducted by Atman in cooperation with Audytel, a Polish consulting and analysis company, the cost of electricity required to power a typical 100-metre company server room over the period of 20 years is at least €2.7 million. In this situation, 68 INTELLIGENTCIO even a small increase in energy efficiency means significant savings for companies. This is one of the reasons why Atman, the operator of the largest data centre in Poland, and Vertiv, a global leader in critical infrastructure for data centres, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities, decided to undertake this venture. Testing various scenarios of IT infrastructure operation conducted in the laboratory aims to support clients in finding cost-optimal solutions in the era of changes on the electricity market. This is extremely important because over the last decade, energy prices in the European Union have risen by nearly 30% according to Eurostat. Experts predict that wholesale electricity prices will continue to grow in the upcoming years. As part of the initiative, both Atman and Vertiv have prepared a comprehensive plan of tests, including verification of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and precision cooling systems operating under various testing conditions. Data centre infrastructure management software will enable monitoring of power and cooling equipment, developing optimal infrastructure configuration in various environmental conditions and examination of the space use efficiency in the racks. Vertiv brings together hardware, software, analytics and ongoing services to ensure its customers’ critical applications run continuously, perform optimally and grow with their business needs. The company has already implemented test environments by creating customer experience centres that allow customers from around the world to learn about cooling and power technologies used in data centres, take part in witness tests and receive consultations with Vertiv engineers. The project carried out in cooperation with Atman will be the first such venture in this part of Europe. n www.intelligentcio.com