subject: Toshiba Offers Modular Data Center Design [print this page] Toshiba Offers Modular Data Center Design
Toshiba Corporation announced this week that they have ventured into a new type of business, which is the modular data center business. They announced the completion of a prototype modular design at a display facility housed at its Fuchu Complex in western Tokyo. This is their introduction into the Japanese market. The company also said that it has major plans in store which involve vigorous marketing campaigns as the business continues to grow worldwide.
Toshiba's demonstration facility was completed in just about three months. This has been used to practical show the time- too market benefits of modular units as opposed to traditional data centers that are known to take almost an entire year to set up unlike some free website hosting providers. The model which is a first of its kind is made up of a steel casing structure which enables the modules to be stacked, increasing capacity in the existing footprint. All the server rooms have the capability to support about 200kVA of power, as well as fit nine racks of equipment with a 46U capacity.
All the modular server rooms have been fitted with an air conditioning module which uses fresh air. This is a free cooling system which does not require any power to run it. Therefore power utilization is reduced. From various estimates gotten from different units fitted in Kanto, Japan an area within Tokyo, it has been noted that the use of free cooling in non-summer months results to power cost savings of approximately 35 percent compared to a similar facility using chillers which makes it perfect for green storage and domain hosting purposes.
Before one builds a modular data center, they have to ensure that they have an average of 2,325 square feet which is equivalent to 216 square meters, noted by Toshiba. The server and power modules each measure 9.05 meters or 29.7 feet in length. On the other hand the cooling module is 4.36 meters or 14.3 feet long. Toshiba has plans to speed up its local as well as international promotions of the data center business. Toshiba has also set up an estimated target of twenty billion yen ($240 million) by the way 2015.
