The Vegas SuperNAP

Robert Kloosterhuis — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:49:24 GMT

Datacenter Knowledge has 2 posts up about Switch Communications new datacenter in Las Vegas, which they are claiming is the highest-density datacenter in the world.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/May/27/the_vegas_supernap_a_data_center_revolution.html

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/May/27/1500_watts_a_square_foot_a_look_at_tscif.html

Switch Communications says it is successfully cooling a section of its Las Vegas data center running at nearly 1,500 watts per square foot using air cooling. How are they accomplishing this?

The key to Switch's high-density cooling is a design known as Thermal Separate Compartment in Facility (TSCIF), according to company co-founder Rob Roy. The ingredients in this approach include high-capacity AC units placed outside the data center area, and a tightly integrated hot aisle containment system for the racks. Here's an overview:

* The cabinets are set on a slab, with no raised floor.

* Chilled air is delivered into the cold aisle near the ceiling rather than through the floor, and enters the cabinets through the front.

* Each cabinet fits into a slot in the TSCIF unit, which encapsulates the rear and sides of each cabinet, while the open front extends beyond the enclosure.

* The hot aisle containment system delivers waste heat back into the ceiling plenum, where it can be returned to the chiller.

Very cool video of the SuperNAP setup:

http://www.switchnap.com/pages/products/the-supernap-video.php

More pics of their T-Scif cooling system: http://www.switchnap.com/pages/tech-specs/thermal-scif.php

The statistics off their site:

407,000 square feet of space

250 MVA Switch owned substation

146 MVA of generator capacity

84 MVA of UPS supply

30,000 tons of system plus system cooling

4,500,000 CFM

30 cooling towers

100% heat containment using thermal-scif™

Designed for 1500 watts per sq. ft. density

7000+ cabinets

Armed 24/7/365 military trained
Switch employed security staff

Tags: Supernap, Switch+Communications, Datacenter

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The Vegas SuperNAP