Free air cooling reduces electricity consumption and carbon footprint within Gwynedd Council’s new energy efficient data centre
"Free air cooling, cold aisle enclosure and electronic UPS systems have reduced server room running costs and we now have a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) rating of 1.28 which is very efficient."

Ieuan Williams - ICT Infrastructure and Support Manager, Gwynedd Council

Challenge
Gwynedd Council in north-west Wales is committed to reducing electricity consumption and lowering its carbon footprint. However, its server room was at the end of its effective life span and was not capable of supporting this commitment to energy efficiency. In addition, the Council had concerns about the risk of flooding as the server room was located in the basement of the building.

It was important to move the server room to a less hazardous location, to introduce green, energy saving technologies and, crucially, to keep everything running in a live environment while the work was in progress.

Solution
The server room was relocated to an area with a lower risk of flooding. At the heart of the solution designed by Comms Room Services is the combination of a free air cooling air conditioning system and cold aisle containment. Free air cooling introduces cold air from the outside environment to cool the server room environment, while cold aisle containment separates hot and cold air flows with roof sections and end door panels. This bespoke green solution, tailored to the Council’s needs, delivers a low cost, low carbon alternative to traditional data centre air conditioning systems.

The new build was a complete end-to-end solution including a 1-hour fire rated wall, raised floor, new ceiling, new server cabinets, environmental monitoring, UPS, a green fire suppression solution and a shut down and call-out system. Both the air conditioning and UPS systems were designed as N+1 for added redundancy and guaranteed uptime.

All servers were moved, new equipment installed and the entire system re-commissioned over a weekend.

Benefits
Gwynedd Council now has a resilient and efficient data centre – one of the most energy efficient in the UK. Environmental threats are lower and security is higher. The green solution combination of free air cooling and cold aisle enclosure will, according to air conditioning manufacturers’ data, realise savings of up to 86% per year in running costs.