What is the CIEMAS Data Center?
Pratt Technology Services maintains a server hosting facility in the new CIEMAS Building to host the growing technical infrastructure of the Pratt School of Engineering. This facility was constructed to handle the ever growing environmental demands of the latest technology.
Specifications
The CIEMAS Data Center is a 2000 sq ft facility located in the basement of the CIEMAS building. This facility provides a robust and secure environment for the Pratt School's computing infrastructure.
200kW of electrical power is available for powering servers. Today's servers draw 300W to 500W, however the smaller size and lower cost of today's units results in many more being purchased to perform a given function. However, this current power capacity means we could theoretically house 400 to 667 servers before expansion was necessary.
1. 65kW of power is conditioned through a UPS with a minimum battery run time of 30 minutes. This allows ample time for the CIEMAS backup generator to power up and take over the load. Once our second UPS is installed (when demand dictates and finances allow), only servers and systems that perform a critical function shall be powered by this unit to ensure we have ample extended emergency power for future enterprise and critical systems. While only a few minutes of UPS run time are required to handle the generator power up, a 30 minute run time ensures any mechanical problems encountered with the generator (they happen, say during a test) won't interfere with critical functions of the school.
2. 135kW of power will be conditioned through a future UPS with a minimum of 30 minutes run time for non critical systems such a computational clusters, backup systems, etc. This ensures research jobs will not be interrupted unless an extended power outage occurs which is rare.
60 Tons of cooling are provided via two large Liebert units that are connected to Duke's chilled water system. These units can provide cooling for up to 211kW of load (minus static load for room systems, people, etc) One of the Liebert units is connected to the CIEMAS emergency generator to ensure the room has SOME cooling capacity during a power outage, so long as Duke's chilled water system is function (i.e. during a localized power outage.)
The data center is protected by a staged water sprinkler system. Due to the cost, space impact, and maintenance of a gas fire suppression system such as FM200, it was cheaper to install a water suppression system that is designed to minimize the risk of a false triggering of the system. The pipes in the room are dry during normal operation. Thus a broken vial in a sprinkler will NOT result it water release. The sprinkler pipes do not pressurize with water until highly sensitive smoke detectors sense smoke within the room or below the raised floor. The pressurization can be manually overidden by PTS staff in the case of a false smoke alarm (since there is a cost involved if the sprinkler pipes pressurize needlessly - they must be drained)
Sensor cable beneath the raised floor can sense any leaks of water that would be hidden from view. The special cable is also able to pinpoint the location of the leak on an alarm panel.
All environmental conditions within the room, including smoke, temperature, humidity, vibration, water, and door position are monitored 24x7 by an online system which can notify staff via email, page, and phone in cases of emergency.
Perimeter security for the data center if provided by DukeCard card readers. This provides an audit trail of who has accessed the facility and when. Video surveillance is not planned at this time. Only PTS and Pratt Facilities employees will be allowed access to the data center to reduce the likelyhood of untrained personnel causing an outage or damage. Systems such as remote console and power control for servers housed within the data center allows Pratt faculty and staff to have full control of their equipment without requiring physical access to the hardware.
The layout of the data center will allow for three rows of racks, numbering 13, 15, and 17 respectively. There is also a space for 5 racks of equipment near the rear Liebert unit which is intended to house the equipment which will run the CAVE located above the data center. Thus we have room for at least 50 racks of equipment. Each rack can house between 42U and 47U of equipment, depending on the size of the racks we purchase (most servers today are 1U in size). Due to the odd shape of the data center, we likely can install between 5 and 10 additional racks if demand allows. However, we will likely run out of environmental capacity before we run out of floorspace since servers are generating more heat per U each year.
The data center was designed to have a 10 year lifespan given current trends in technology, heat density, and server architecture. However, an unexpected large computational grant award or growth at the school coudl result in our capacity being used up faster than planned. We can, however, expand our capacity if necessary. Since we are connected to Duke's chilled water system via 14" mains, we should be able to add additional Liebert units if necessary. The proximity of the Data Center to the main electrical switch gear means we should be able to expand our electrical capacity as well. If we do run out of physical space, we might be able to expand into additional free space in the main telecom closet in the basement. We also have the current Hudson 139 server room at our disposal unless it is disassembled during the Hudson Hall renovations. While computers are getting smaller and smaller, they are also running a MUCH faster speeds and are generating more and more heat per unit of space.
Occupation Guidelines
The CIEMAS Data Center was constructed to ensure the faculty of the Pratt School of Engineering had adequate resources to house their growing computational research infrastructure as well as providing a secure and robust location for Pratt's growing enterprise IT infrastructure. Below are the guidelines for groups wishing to occupy space in the CIEMAS Data Center
1. The CIEMAS Data Center is available to house computing equipment for all Pratt departments, centers, and research groups. Allocations of server space may also be granted to non Pratt CIEMAS occupants (i.e. Medical Center research groups) only at the discretion of the Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering Accomodations may also be made for housing OIT owned equipment that is providing OIT services to the Pratt School of Engineering, again at the discretion of the Pratt Dean.
a. Before any Pratt equipment can be placed into the data center, the plan and type of equipment must be reviewed and approved by the Director of Information Technology to ensure minimal impact of the standard hosting environment maintained by PTS.
b. Any accomodations of equipment for non Pratt organizations shall be subject to the terms of a previously agreed to Service Level Agreement which outlines responsibilities, policies, and guidelines for all groups (i.e. PTS, DUHS IT Staff, OIT, etc)
2. To ensure a consistant and easy to administer environment, all installations of equipment will be performed and/or overseen by Pratt Technology Services staff.
3. Unless technically impossible, all equipment shall be housed in the standard rack configuration specified by PTS. All groups putting computational research proposals together for equipment that shall reside in the CIEMAS Data Center must consult with PTS to ensure all appropriate support equipment (racks, power distribution, cabling, mounting rails, etc) are included in the proposal.
4. All equipment to be housed in the Data Center should be purchased in the smallest rack mountable configuration available to conserve physical space in the computer room. In most cases, this means either 1U Server Chassis, or compact blade servers in multi U chassis. Existing systems in desktop chassis and large rack mount chassis will be grandfathered until their usable lifespan is over.
5. Physical access to the data center to non PTS staff or IT staff covered by a co-location SLA shall be restricted, unless previously approved by the Director of IT of the Pratt School of Engineering. To maintain the physical security of the space, PTS will work to ensure groups do not need physical access to their resources adn can instead manage all aspects of equipmetn operation remotely.
This document shall be expanded with more process details (documentation, disaster recovery procedures, inventroy control, etc) as PTS prepares to occupy the CIEMAS Data Center space.