Start-Up Introduces Power-Efficient Data Centre Modules

Texas-based Compass Datacenters, a start-up that came out of stealth mode in April, has given details of its modular data centre offering, which promises customers an energy-efficient facility that can be installed wherever needed, while offering greater stability and security than existing modular designs.

The Truly Modular product is aimed at a vast untapped market of customers located away from the major cities served by most data centre providers, according to Compass founder and chief executive Chris Crosby.

Location

The modular centre can be located close to corporate operations, and costs less than a custom-built facility, while being more stable than existing “makeshift” modules, according to Crosby.

Compass’ facilities are built around a central unit called CompassPod, which provides 10,000 square feet of columnless raised floor space, supported by a disaster-resistant shell, a pre-fabricated power centre, and a support unit for staff.

The facility’s power is provided by a pre-fabricated module that includes 2N UPS, 2N switch gear and N+1 mechanical equpment for 1-1.2 MW of electrical power. Crosby noted that the facility’s power centres are two independent, pre-constructed, hardened steel rooms integrated into the wider unity, unlike the power arrangements used in data centre modules based on shipping containers.

The facilities are designed to be highly efficient at low loads, offering a PUE of 1.2 to 1.5 or lower at loads as low as 25 percent, according to Crosby.

“This groundbreaking strategy flattens the PUE curve and addresses the reality that most data centers do not run at 90-100 percent load, which is what the advertised PUE of facilities from competitors is based on,” Crosby said in a statement. “At lower loads, the PUE for those competing solutions is actually much higher because they are not designed for efficiency at lower loads.”

Branding option

Compass noted that the facilities can be constructed with multiple modules for support staff, each dedicated to a single customer, as an alternative to standard colocation arrangements.

Customers have the option of branding the facility with their logo and colour scheme, Compass said. The company says a unit can be in place within 150 days from site planning to final dellivery, with the option to lease or purchase the facility and to either operate it themselves or have Compass operate it for them.

As a micro-alternative to data centre modules, Elliptical Mobile Solutions last year introduced self-contained rack-sized modules in the UK. The Raser* and Spear* units from Elliptical are self-contained modules, each built around a single rack and containing its own cooling and power management, so it can replace the infrastructure of a data centre with a unit that can be parked in any warehouse building.

The Raser unit costs $49,500 (£30,317), which includes cooling, fire suppression and secure locking. As well as offering a cheap start, because the module is classified as portable equipment, installing it does not alter the tax value of the building. The company said it is working with customers who are installing from tens to hundreds of these modules.

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