Over 15,000 companies have visited Dell's 15 Solution Centers (DSCs) in the last three years. Each DSC is supported by a data center where customer environments can be tested to evaluate new solutions. As Brian Hayden, Dell's Global Infrastructure Lead, explains, "Losing a data center at a critical moment in the customer's lifecycle could have a major impact on that project." For this reason, the DSCs utilize Schneider Electric's critical power solutions, such as their DCIM StruxureWare for Data Centers and their InfraStruxure solution for on-demand data centers.
The relationship between Schneider Electric and Dell is a good example of how companies are increasingly relying on strategic alliances for success. Both companies are experts in solving IT challenges, helping clients achieve their business objectives while maximizing their budgets.
The Limerick Campus Case
DSC's Limerick Campus has three data centers, each very different, housing 70 racks containing more than 1500 servers, switches, storage and network infrastructure.
"Computer nodes have increased in density, and the same has happened with storage devices. As the power density of devices increases, the power and cooling capacity available in the data center are put to the test," says Hayden.
Schneider Electric's solutions are helping DSCs tackle power and cooling problems and, for example, have enabled DSCs to use free-cooling for 302 days, resulting in energy savings equivalent to $25,000.
Therefore, to ensure efficient and reliable data center performance for customers with extensive requirements, DSCs rely on the intelligent data center infrastructure solutions offered by Schneider Electric.
The company has adopted energy efficiency as a metric for its data center test environments and uses a range of tools to monitor and measure efficiency. Schneider Electric's Data Centre Expert provides a dashboard for all facilities across the EMEA region. Since the facilities are managed by a virtual team, a portal has been created to provide insight into what is happening within the data centers, including heat mapping and analytics. A high level of software and automation usage significantly enhances the capabilities and responsiveness of the management team.
"In EMEA, we're also using Schneider Electric's Data Centre Operations software, which allows us to ensure, for example, that we properly balance loads across data centers. We can simulate cooling failures and their impact on servers, and create heat maps across the entire facility. We use best practices to assure customers that the tests they're running are being implemented in a well-managed environment," says Hayden.
Schneider Electric, trusted partner of Dell Solutions Centers
“Schneider Electric doesn’t just deliver the solution; they also manage the entire installation,” Hayden continues. “Schneider Electric is a proven and trusted partner,” says Brian Hayden, Dell’s Global Infrastructure Lead. “They are pioneers in high-density in-row cooling technology. Just as customers want to see the latest Dell IT solutions, they are also interested in the latest power and cooling technologies, such as HACS (Hot Aisle Containment System) and free cooling.” He adds, “The modular solution is dynamic and intelligent: when the racks are loaded, we can see the fan speed up as needed to provide more cooling. The IT hardware is also becoming smarter. APC units do the same at the data center level, so we are getting the best at both the component and data center levels.”.

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