Follow Us - Colo@ Datacenter Facility Construction Progress

[RyanD]

Have any of you ever wondered what goes on during construction and buildout in a datacenter? 

Follow us on facebook as we'll be posting frequent updates with the expansion activities here at our 34 Peachtree ATL01 site that includes the build out of a new 500kw power system, deployment of Liebert CRV In-Row cooling and Cold-Isle containment systems in the new area as well as retrofit into our existing deployments. 

For some of you these may be things you rarely get visibility into, feel free to ask questions

https://www.facebook.com/ColoAt

I have linked individual dates in this main post to the follow-up replies with the updates and pictures for easy 'jumping'

Of course our lobby sign! Nice cool white backlit LEDs



08/20/2013

Today we have fuel oil piping going in for our fuel risers from the existing fuel system to the new 500KW generator being installed on our 2nd floor as well as delivery of the first batch of new Liebert 42U secured cabinets.  

08/21/2013 

A ton of materials have arrived, pipe bending equipment to bend the 4" conduit for power runs, fuel-oil piping being installed and just a few pictures of the generator replacement that was previously done as well as 2 pictures of our overhead busway that is used in all our power deployments that allows flexible circuit delivery to cabinets form 10A 120v to 30A 3-Phase.

 

[MannDude]

Nice!

You mind cross posting images here via an imgur link or something, for the members who don't have Facebook or any interest in going there? Would be neat to see photos of updates.

 

[KS_Phillip]

Will the new in-row and cold aisle changes take effect for existing tenants in 34 Peachtree?

 

[Jade]

That is awesome! The datacenter looks very nice! Can't wait to see updates

 

[RyanD]

Will the new in-row and cold aisle changes take effect for existing tenants in 34 Peachtree?

Phillip,

Yes, when completed we will be placing isolation systems in all the existing areas as well as the new expansion area.

As the existing area uses legacy perimeter based CRAC cooling with overhead ducted delivery the installation of the containment systems take a bit longer for the engineering phase as it requires the coordination of our HVAC & Sheetmetal teams along with the containment vendor. We are working to complete the final engineering on the retro-fit into existing areas. 

As clients that have been on site have seen, we have had fans placed in various points around the hot isles experimenting with air flow patterns and simulating the placement of newer in-row CRV units as part of this study.

 

[RyanD]

Nice!

You mind cross posting images here via an imgur link or something, for the members who don't have Facebook or any interest in going there? Would be neat to see photos of updates.

Will certainly try, however the facebook page should be open so you can browse it even if you don't care to use FB  

 

[KS_Phillip]

Phillip,

Yes, when completed we will be placing isolation systems in all the existing areas as well as the new expansion area.

As the existing area uses legacy perimeter based CRAC cooling with overhead ducted delivery the installation of the containment systems take a bit longer for the engineering phase as it requires the coordination of our HVAC & Sheetmetal teams along with the containment vendor. We are working to complete the final engineering on the retro-fit into existing areas. 

As clients that have been on site have seen, we have had fans placed in various points around the hot isles experimenting with air flow patterns and simulating the placement of newer in-row CRV units as part of this study.

Indeed, our on-site tech commented on the fans.  Great to hear that you will be retrofitting for existing customers.

 

[EricGregory]

To go over some of our upgrades that are in the works, we have a post on our blog detailing some of what's going on.  As for today though, new cabinets are the order of the day.  

Blog post can be found here:  http://blog.coloat.com/?p=105

On to the pics...

Here are a few pics of the new cabinets as they're arriving and getting lined up in our data center:







In addition to simply adding racks, we are rolling out cold aisle containment across our entire Atlanta facility.  It's a simple concept, servers suck in cold air from a closed off aisle rather than just sucking in ambient temperature air from the rest of the data center.  Cold aisle containment increases efficiency and helps us provide more directed cooling where it's needed.

 

[BlackoutIsHere]

Have any of you ever wondered what goes on during construction and buildout in a datacenter? 

Follow us on facebook as we'll be posting frequent updates with the expansion activities here at our 34 Peachtree ATL01 site that includes the build out of a new 500kw power system, deployment of Liebert CRV In-Row cooling and Cold-Isle containment systems in the new area as well as retrofit into our existing deployments. 

For some of you these may be things you rarely get visibility into, feel free to ask questions

https://www.facebook.com/ColoAt

Today we have fuel oil piping going in for our fuel risers from the existing fuel system to the new 500KW generator being installed on our 2nd floor as well as delivery of the first batch of new Liebert 42U secured cabinets.  

Do you guys give tours to students who can't afford colo? Really epic stuff!

 

[RyanD]

Do you guys give tours to students who can't afford colo? Really epic stuff!

Where are you located? 

 

[drmike]

I like the sharing, even if I ventured into Facecrook land to peek.

How much floor space does Colo@ have there in Atlanta?

Love the big gen sets and lifting them sky high.  Crazy work some of those guys do. 

 

[BlackoutIsHere]

Where are you located? 

Northeast of ATL. Typically less then an hour from downtown. (But you know traffic around ATL... )

 

[VPSCorey]

Cold isle containment also buys you time if the HVAC goes out since the cold air is trapped.  It's also great if you're Google or Facebook since they buy these special servers where you can maintain them from the hot isles.  You get to wear shorts instead of a parka doing maint. They're just basically trays with the MB/CPU onboard.

 

[KuJoe]

We opted for hot aisle containment where I work mainly because we use the heat from the servers to heat the office space during the winter.

 

[WebSearchingPro]

Awesome! Thanks for posting images here - wouldn't touch Facebook with a 10 foot pole.

@KuJoe - Thanks for being environmentally responsible That's a really cool idea that many companies should take part in.

 

[drmike]

I like this thread and hearing about the various approaches implemented by folks we know in the community.

Anyone know/care to speak about how much overall the aisle containments ads to the overall project costs as a percentage?

 

[RyanD]

Cold isle containment also buys you time if the HVAC goes out since the cold air is trapped.  It's also great if you're Google or Facebook since they buy these special servers where you can maintain them from the hot isles.  You get to wear shorts instead of a parka doing maint. They're just basically trays with the MB/CPU onboard.

We are actually working on some designs ala OVH and Facebook / Google for use in our dedicated servers, it makes no sense, operationally, to be wasting large sums of money on what are essentially shelves  

 

[RyanD]

We opted for hot aisle containment where I work mainly because we use the heat from the servers to heat the office space during the winter.

Each method has it's individual advantages and disadvantages. For us, due to the physical layout of our facility, cold isle containment is optimal from an installation perspective. 

The key concept is you need to maintain the separation of your hot and cold to prevent intermixing of your return and already cooled air. Doing so raises the efficiency of your cooling systems, thereby reducing the amount of electricity required to cool the same heat load.

 

[drmike]

We are actually working on some designs ala OVH and Facebook / Google for use in our dedicated servers, it makes no sense, operationally, to be wasting large sums of money on what are essentially shelves

Well server cases in general are a pretty big waste of cash.  Treating servers as slabs and modules with minimal casing would save a ton.

Eliminating the PSU per server would where appropriate also save potentially and allow you to move that bulky part to a designated zone.

I think it's wonderful some of the totally different designs that have been implemented.

 

[RyanD]

I like this thread and hearing about the various approaches implemented by folks we know in the community.

Anyone know/care to speak about how much overall the aisle containments ads to the overall project costs as a percentage?

In the grand scheme, containment is a minor cost. We have opted to go with a 'hard' containment solution. There are much more economical solutions based upon 'strip' door style containment. For example, Savvis, uses this heavily in all of their facilities, from the same vendor we are using. It works fine, it just isn't as pleasing to the eye.  Also, in our particular deployment because of all of our overhead delivery and equipment, these hung strip systems would not provide enough of a 'seal' allowing too much mixing of hot/cold.