Paderborn, 30 November 2020 – SPIE, the independent European market leader for multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, was engaged by the building and real estate management authority of North Rhine-Westphalia (BLB NRW) to upgrade the electrical equipment for the new NOCTUA high-performance data centre on the Paderborn University campus.
SPIE has been developing, implementing and operating products and services for data centres for over twenty years. Its expertise includes infrastructure planning, premises realisation and energy concept development all the way through to planning and setting up of all technical facilities, including maintenance and operation. This means that SPIE can be responsible for data centres throughout their life cycles. In the public tender for the NOCTUA project, SPIE won officials over with its long record of expertise, outstanding references and a competitive price. SPIE GfT, an operational unit from SPIE Deutschland & Zentraleuropa, started the electrical equipment upgrade in July 2020 and is on track to complete the new data centre for Paderborn University by mid-2021. The design of the data centre’s modular and expandable infrastructure means that it is also fit for use by future generations of supercomputers.
Redundant systems used for security
Double-secured technical systems form the basis for the high-performance data centre. SPIE is installing a 630 kVA emergency power system and multiple static and dynamic UPS systems with a combined power output of over 2,000 kVA. This solution will ensure that the energy-saving cooling system continues to work uninterrupted even if, for example, there is a sudden power outage. This ensures that the supercomputer is always working in an optimum temperature range and, even if there is another power outage, it can complete any research and calculation tasks that are ongoing first before performing a controlled shutdown. Christian Kuballa, Managing Director of SPIE GfT GmbH, said the following about the project challenges: “The special technical requirements involved in setting up the high-performance data centre called for a team that is experienced and works well together. We perform tests and give advice during the execution planning stage and carry out the implementation swiftly and faultlessly during installation.”
Expandability and modularity of the infrastructure
At the heart of the building is the 340 square-metre computer room. The installed supercomputers are used solely for calculating and not for storing data, which always ensures that the employees at the Paderborn Centre for Parallel Computing (PC 2) have sufficient computing power for their research work . This work includes areas such as the development of new equipment to produce hydrogen through photocatalysis. The university is hoping that the upgrade will allow it to play a leading role in efficient and innovative HPC (high-performance computing) systems and further enhance its profile in cutting-edge research. Working with SPIE, an experienced partner in electrical equipment upgrades for data centres, is the client’s way of ensuring that these things are possible in the future as well. A key requirement for the new data centre was the ability to use multiple generations of HPC systems and perform hot swaps while they remain in operation. “The new NOCTUA high-performance data centre at Paderborn University is a truly remarkable building that will one day house the most powerful parallel high-performance computing systems in Germany,” said BLB NRW branch manager Wolfgang Feldmann.