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Intelligent industrialization of datacentres

The hugely impressive Lefdal Mine Datacentre (LMD) in Norway has an ambitious vision; it aims to be the most cost-effective, secure, flexible, and green datacentre in Europe. LMD opened on 10th May 2017, and is powered exclusively by low-cost renewable energy. Rittal is a strategic and technology partner, and has provided the datacentre with its top-of-the-range, preconfigured, modular and scalable infrastructure.

At the opening ceremony, Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler, CEO of Rittal International, said: “The on-going digital transformation will undoubtedly lead to higher demand for datacentre capacity, which wil in turn require the development of more efficient datacentre infrastructure and services, in other words - intelligent standardization. We are a strong believer in highly efficient industrialization; it has been part of the DNA of our company since 1961, the year Rittal was founded.“

Located on the west coast of Norway, the giant 120,000 metre2 datacentre operates exclusively on renewable energy and is cooled by water from the nearby fjord. The energy costs are correspondingly low, and the system achieves a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) below 1.15.

The LMD is remarkably flexible in terms of available space and different technical solutions. The mountain halls have 16 metre-high ceilings and there is 120,000 metre? of net whitespace plus 200+ MW IT capacity, delivered in container solutions or in traditional white space. The datacentre can therefore offer customers a “pay as you grow” model, and removes any risk of paying for unnecessary capacity.

Jørn Skaane, CEO at Lefdal Mine Datacentre, says: “We can accommodate any current white space requirement. Plus, our facility structure includes containers of different shapes and sizes along with customized power density, temperature and humidity control, and operational equipment.

“Our thanks must go to our technology partners Rittal and IBM for their contribution during the building of the datacentre, and for providing their global-leading solutions and services to our ecosystem.”

In what has been dubbed “the fourth industrial revolution”, companies increasingly need access to flexible IT resources. To this end, Rittal’s standardized datacentre designs and containers enable the implementation of flexible, scalable IT infrastructures within just six weeks.

“The Lefdal Mine Datacentre project is demonstrates how easy it can be to establish a secure, efficient and cost-effective datacentre in a very short time,” explained Dr Karl-Ulrich Köhler, CEO of Rittal International. “Its high degree of standardization combined with the location advantages of the western coast of Norway result in an excellent TCO analysis. Significant cost savings of up to 40% can be achieved compared to siting a cloud datacentre, for example, in Germany.”

LMD will also be one of Europe’s most secure datacentres, meeting all Tier III requirements.

Security is tight within the mountain halls, with built-in electromagnetic pulse (EMP) technology, and limited access through just two points of entry. The design and documentation of infrastructure installations are highly confidential and there are specially-trained security staff on-site 24/7.

Over the coming months, LMD will welcome its first customers. iNNOVO Cloud, a German cloud provider, will be one of its first international clients to move in with High Density IT containers.

The first installation will be up and running in September serving both Norwegian and international clients with its cloud portfolio, including HPC as a Service.

Rittal Ltd