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Inside Verb DC's HP Pod data centre

Today we take a close look at the Verb DC data centre in Wyong, New South Wales, the first to deploy HP's POD infrastructure in the Asia Pacific.

on Aug 19 2010 6:49PM

The first HP pod to be deployed in the Asia Pacific by Verb DC, in Wyong, NSW.

This 20 foot container can run 3,520 compute modes and offers up to 27 kW per rack.

Pod data centre designs have become popular for speed to market (build in 14 weeks) and the sheer power a pre-fabricated pod can provide. Chris Clifford, director of Verb DC claims the pod data centre will have a PUE (power usage effectiveness) ratio of 1.25 - which means the compute cluster is using four-fifths of the total power coming into the data centre. Traditional data centres tend to have PUE ratings closer to 2. He expects this to translate to power savings of between $3000 and $4000 per rack per year.

The nine tonne pod was shipped to Port Kembla, NSW, trucked to the Central Coast and delivered using two cranes through this roller door.

The modular server room sits on a concrete plinth to handle the sheer weight of the pod.

In another adjoining room, Verb DC hosts a point of presence for fibre connectivity from Telstra and Optus. Clifford said customers will be connected on services that suffer only 24 milliseconds of latency to the Sydney metro area.

Clifford said the fibre services offered to the Central Coast today (by Telstra, Optus and soon Nextgen) - were unthinkable five years ago. He expects the rollout of a National Broadband Network would change the shape of compute services in regional hubs like the Central Coast.

The container server rooms are connected to water and fibre via these rails, provided by ADC Krone, also based on the Central Coast.

Chilled water pipes, and underneath - a built-in switchboard.

The front door...

Inside the pod.

Inside the narrow corridor of the pod.

The pod supports standard 19-inch racks, but can be customised (prior to deployment) to fit older or larger machines.

This touchscreen controls just about all functions of the plant and pod. It can also be controlled remotely.

Unused rack space is blanked out for climate control.

The density is impressive - often data centre operators will only allow a customer to squeeze one blade server chassis per rack for reasons of weight or power limitations. But the the pod can fit in 1300 kilograms per rack and up to 27 kW per rack. That equates to around 100 physical blade servers per rack.

We didn't fail to notice the Cisco Nexus switch... but hey, this is the real world... there was plenty of HP kit in there too.

We've pulled down a roof panel to reveal one of the cooling fans...

A closer look at the cooling fans...

Looking up at the fans (with the panels intact).

The pod is fitted with a series of sensors to ensure the temperature runs at around 28-30 degrees celsius.

A rear view - the back of the pod can be removed to reveal the rear of the racks. The cooling containment system has been designed such that racks can be serviced with the back of the pod open without wasting too much energy.

George Kazangi, senior architect at HP Premier partner Triforce, which assembled the pod.

Back of the racks.

The pod is more than a server room - it comes with its own power switchboard, accessible from the outside. It also comes fitted with in-built fire detection and suppression systems.

The Emergency Power Off button (EPO) - the entire facility can be shut down at the push of a button in case of emergencies such as electrocutions.

The plant (chiller, generator) sits outside the warehouse. We are assured the company is building some caging to secure it. Clifford claims the pod will only use 1-3 litres per day.

A wider shot, with chiller.

There is enough room inside the warehouse to deploy another two pods. Verb DC expects to deploy a second pod as soon as the first hits 70 percent capacity - forecast to be before the end of the year.

Verb DC has built a small NOC in the adjoining warehouse, running Kaseya service management software, security monitoring etc. One staff member at Verb DC has completed ITIL v3.0 training, whilst all staff are completing ITIL foundation courses.

This might explain Verb DC's choice of location - within 20 metres of a power substation.

The first HP pod to be deployed in the Asia Pacific by Verb DC, in Wyong, NSW.

Linked Articles

Central Coast to host HP pod data centre

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