Atman and Vertiv create the first IT infrastructure testing laboratory in Poland

01.10.2018
Company news

One of the goals is research into reducing the consumption of electricity

The first in Poland and the only one in the Central and Eastern Europe region testing laboratory of IT infrastructure colocated in the data center is to assist in R&D projects and performance tests of power systems with variable load. Moreover, tests of the functioning of ICT equipment in changing data center environmental parameters, such as air humidity and temperature, are to be tested. The laboratory equipped by Vertiv will be available to clients in the Atman data center campus in Warsaw.

PLN 11.7 million – at least this is the cost of electricity required to power a typical 100-meter company server room over the period of 20 years, according to a study conducted by Atman in cooperation with Audytel. In this situation, 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 center in Poland, in cooperation with Vertiv, a global producer of critical infrastructure for server rooms and data centers, decided to undertake this venture.

Testing various scenarios of operation of IT infrastructure conducted in the laboratory is to help clients find cost-optimal solutions in the era of changes in the electricity market. This is important because over the last year energy prices on the Polish Power Exchange have risen by 60% (price fluctuations have even oscillated around 80%). Experts predict that wholesale electricity prices will continue to grow in the years to come.

As part of the cooperation, both companies have prepared a comprehensive test plan, including verification of UPS and air conditioning systems operation both under normal conditions and in an emergency situation. The program layer will enable monitoring of power and cooling equipment, development of optimal equipment configuration in various environmental conditions and examination of the space efficiency in the racks. The creators of the laboratory assume that it will also be used to implement R&D projects.

Measurable benefits for the end user

Vertiv (formerly known as Emerson Network Power) is a supplier of comprehensive solutions in the field of power, thermal and infrastructure management, used by data centers, telecommunications companies, commercial and industrial facilities around the world, including Atman data centers. The company has already implemented test environments by creating Customer Experience Center facilities that allow customers from around the world to learn about cooling (Padua – Italy) and power (Bologna – Italy) technologies used in data centers, take part in witness tests and consultations with Vertiv engineers. The project, carried out in cooperation with Atman, will be the first such venture in this part of Europe.

“There are a lot of variables that affect the energy consumption in data centers and which cannot be tested ‘on the living organism’ without the risk of interruption of access to data. By creating a test environment on the DC campus, it will be possible to safely check and provide clients with different settings of individual parameters and their impact on energy efficiency. They will also be able to use the laboratory for independent infrastructure tests,” says Bartłomiej Raab, Vertiv Country Manager for Poland and the Baltic States.

Pioneer from Poland

While the laboratories that allow cross-sectional testing of various scenarios in the area of IT infrastructure successfully work, among others, in Western Europe or the United States (T2 Tech Group has recently announced a similar idea), in Poland it is a pioneering initiative. “During the tests, it is possible to check the results of various scenarios and thus effectively optimize IT costs, minimizing the need to introduce changes in the infrastructure even in the long-term perspective. The launch of the laboratory gives clients real impact on the conditions under which their digital resources will be stored and processed,” notes Adam Dzielnicki, Product Manager and project manager for the construction of the test laboratory at Atman.

The creators of the laboratory also encourage universities to cooperate, which will give them an opportunity to test their own projects in the shared environment.

Both Vertiv and Atman actively participate in the European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Center program aimed to educate and stimulate enterprises to reduce energy consumption.

 

About Vertiv

Vertiv brings together hardware, software, analytics and ongoing services to ensure its customers’ vital applications run continuously, perform optimally and grow with their business needs. Vertiv solves the most important challenges facing today’s data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities with a portfolio of power, cooling and IT infrastructure solutions and services that extends from the cloud to the edge of the network. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, USA, Vertiv employs around 20,000 people and does business in more than 130 countries. For more information, and for the latest news and content from Vertiv, visit VertivCo.eu.

About Atman

Atman is a trade brand of ATM S.A., the leader of the Polish market of data centers and an expert in the field of data transmission and processing security that is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Atman provides colocation and hosting services as well as cloud services in its own data centers with a total area of over 13,000 sq m. Using its foreign links and fiber-optic networks in major Polish cities, Atman offers broadband services, including Internet access and data transmission. The main recipients of services are telecommunications operators, traditional media and online portals as well as companies from the financial, commercial and industrial sectors. For more information, please visit atman.pl.