Growing data volumes and escalating demands on IT infrastructure often lead to space constraints in legacy IT environments, which were not designed for the data throughputs and power densities seen in many modern data centers today.
Positioning a data center container outside, near the facility is an ideal solution to expand the capabilities of existing IT infrastructure. Such containers are scalable, secure, and energy efficient. Thanks to its modular design, a Rittal data center container can be configured in a number of ways to accommodate numerous requirements based on the organization’s needs.
Typically, the systems for cooling IT equipment are placed inside the container, often using the in-row cooling configuration found in large datacenters. The Rittal Blue e+ outdoor cooling solution for data center containers separates itself from these typical container solutions by mounting the cooling units directly on the outside wall of the container. This frees up room inside the container, providing more space for additional racks and for the maintenance and servicing of critical IT equipment. Additionally, the hybrid technology of the Blue e+ outdoor cooling solution provides a cost-effective and energy-efficient climate control solution. This unique technology is explained further in the following section.
- Robust sheet-steel container designed specifically for IT applications.
- Encapsulated interior wall construction with thermal insulation.
- Fully equipped with redundant data center climate control, 19" server racks with cable management, early fire detection, fire extinguishing system, data network distribution, IT power distribution and UPS systems with a bypass.
The key to efficiency
Energy savings of up to 33% with Blue e+ outdoor cooling
The hybrid technology behind the Blue e+ takes cooling efficiency to a whole new level. In addition to an active cooling circuit for demand-based IT cooling, the Blue e+ outdoor cooling unit also incorporates a passive cooling circuit. This circuit leverages an integrated heat pipe to automatically dissipate heat to the surrounding environment as soon as the ambient temperature drops below the temperature inside the data center container’s hot aisle. The effect is particularly pronounced in locations with major temperature differences, leading to significant energy and cost savings up to 33% over traditional cooling methods.
Benefits of Blue e+ outdoor climate control
Potential energy savings of 1/3 on average* with hybrid technology.
*Compared with a conventional cooling solution
Average cost savings (TCO) of around 18%*
*Compared to a conventional cooling solution, assuming an average load of 75% over 10 years of operation
The hybrid technology used in Blue e+ outdoor cooling units with passive components cuts carbon emissions by up to 17.4 tonnes per year*
*Compared to a conventional cooling solution, cooling output 60 kW, full load, located in Frankfurt/Main, 460 g CO2/kWh
The smart interface between the Blue e+ outdoor cooling unit and your in-house monitoring & energy management system.
One unit for all voltages and networks – Suitable for global use, thanks to multi-voltage capability and international approvals.
Space-saving Blue e+ outdoor cooling units are easy to install. The Blue e+ outdoor cooling unit is attached directly to the cut-out in the container wall.
Scalable container dimensions and tailored climate control solutions
The hallmark of any Rittal RiMatrix data center solution is its adaptability to any number of configurations based on the project needs and requirements. Container dimensions can be adjusted according to the scope of the IT infrastructure. Rittal data center containers can be supplied to individual specifications as well as in ISO dimensions (20 ft and 40 ft).
The typical Rittal container is 10 ft wide. This leaves ample room for technicians and network engineers to complete installation and routine maintenance work of IT assets. The ISO variant of the data center container has a more narrow profile; this smaller width requires mounting on a sliding rail system to comply with all safety-relevant standards, and to simplify the installation of the IT equipment.
Pre-fabricated cut-outs in the container wall allow for simple and quick retrofitting of additional Blue e+ cooling units to increase capacity, without the need for additional coolant pipework or external condensers. This allows the container’s cooling capacity to scale with increasing IT demands, or as requirements change.
What applications is the Blue e+ outdoor cooling solution best suited for?
Our expert Philipp Müller (Head of Global Data Center projects) answers five key questions about data center containers designed with Blue e+ outdoor cooling technology.
Learn more about how to achieve optimal cooling of your IT infrastructure using CFD modeling to determine the proper Blue e+ solution to meet IT needs with primarily passive cooling.
Get in touch with Rittal to learn more
Do you want to learn more about Rittal’s containerized data center solutions? Simply get in touch using the contact form.