Prefab Datacenter Employs Battery-Backed Servers
Fujitsu recently partnered with Yahoo! Japan to deploy 200 PRIMERGY RX200 S7 servers with on-board batteries as part of Yahoo Japan's 'prefab' datacenters.
The announcement (in Japanese) marked the culmination of field trials that were started in 2011. These trials evaluated next-generation prefabricated datacenter modules based on Fujistu servers. Like the servers designed by other hyper-scale datacenter companies, these carry backup batteries directly on their motherboards so that the datacenter doesn't have to rely on backup datacenter power.
The prefab modules are equipped with servers and a minimum of cooling and networking equipment. Instead of using expensive air conditioning units, a fan brings in outside air to displace heat. It also had the ability to be updated with newer technology as the need presented itself. All of these pieces together creates a datacenter ripe with efficiency.
Fujitsu found that by using a prefab approach there is a potential of saving 60 percent on the cost of construction when compared to traditional datacenter build-outs. It also found that energy efficiency was improved and power costs went down as a result. The PUE of the prefab datacenter was rated at 1.044, which achieved the partners' goal of coming in under 1.1. The successful project and low PUE may lead to interest in this module design, but for now Fujitsu's battery-backed servers are only available only in Japan.
