DATEV works with high-density racks from SCHÄFER IT-Systems

Betzdorf, 18 November 2024. One of Germany's largest providers of business software uses high-density server cabinets from the iQdata product range from SCHÄFER IT-Systems. By integrating efficient water cooling using a BackCooler, DATEV has achieved a space saving of around 60 per cent compared to conventional air cooling. This has a positive effect on the fundamental areas of energy efficiency, high availability, cost-effectiveness and regulation.

The unstoppable growth in IT performance is both a blessing and a curse for data centres. Operators have to provide more and more system performance in less and less space. The electrical energy consumed is almost completely converted into heat in the racks, which has to be dissipated. Today, only one or two modern blade servers can be installed in conventional, air-cooled server cabinets without the risk of overheating. By contrast, intelligent water cooling can more than triple the system density and reduce the burden on the environment.

The use of directly water-cooled servers and water-conditioned BackCoolers, also known as rear door coolers, reduces the cost of air-conditioning units. In addition, it is possible to utilise heat from the device, for example for the district heating network. It is particularly relevant that the rack-based overall solution from SCHÄFER IT-Systems, specialist for data centre infrastructure, data centre cooling solutions and network technology, supports compliance with the efficiency requirements in accordance with EU directives.

After a short conception and test phase, DATEV put SCHÄFER's BackCooler into productive operation in its data centre in October 2023, and has since successively expanded this infrastructure. A core element of the implementation project was the cold water infrastructure, as water in the vicinity of electronic components also poses a risk. A high degree of care is therefore required if the water-bearing systems have to be realised during operation.

"My experience at DATEV with the water-cooled server cabinets from SCHÄFER has been very positive. After a professional design and test phase, we started using the high-density cabinets and BackCoolers, and have been expanding them gradually ever since. SCHÄFER IT-Systemshas proven to be a strong, reliable system partner and will accompany us into the future," says Alexander Pusch, Product Owner Physical IT Infrastructure at DATEV.

The cold water supply to the high-density racks at DATEV is completely redundant, meaning that high availability can be guaranteed. The BackCooler is installed on the rear of the IS-1 rack as a space-saving, cold water-based cooling system. Thanks to the variably movable air bulkhead, relevant IT components can be placed in the cold rack area. The heating area is kept extremely small and therefore emits hardly any thermal energy to the installation room.

The Inside Ventilation Unit, which complements the rear door cooler, also comes from the extensive SCHÄFER iQdata Cooling portfolio. Heat build-up between the rear of the server and the BackCooler would lead to a backflow of warm air via the partitioning to the server supply air side. The Inside Ventilation Unit from SCHÄFER enables safe operation of the BackCooler even if the server-side air output is too low to overcome the pressure loss of the heat exchanger.

A bidirectional airflow sensor records the flow velocity and direction on a 1 U bulkhead panel. The control unit analyses these values and drives fans at the same speed in order to achieve an adjustable target value at the hot/cold separation point.

"Data centres require significant amounts of energy to operate and cool the IT equipment that they host. Exponential growth has become an ecological challenge. The market is expected to generate 30 times more data in the next ten years, driven by digital transformation, the introduction of the cloud and the use of artificial intelligence. We at SCHÄFER IT-Systems have adapted to this and are helping our customers to fulfil the legal requirements, such as the EU Regulation 2019/424/EU, known as the Ecodesign Directive," explains Siegfried Bachmann, Area Sales Manager at SCHÄFER IT-Systems.

For more information about iQdata Cooling, click on iQdata Cooling

For more information about the iQdata product range, click on iQdata