Sandia's Transformation of a Mature Data Center
David Martinez, Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories currently operate a 32,000-square-foot, 40-year-old data center that is supported by a 5,000 ton campus chilled water loop and has nine megawatts of available power. The facility houses all corporate enterprise computing and network infrastructure as well as several high-performance computing platforms. The data center has undergone multiple remodels and additions that were typically project driven. Any planning and foresight on these activities were constrained by project budgets.
Today's data center managers are faced with not only responding to data center needs but doing so both effectively and efficiently. This has resulted in a change in values where the infrastructure is not designed in reaction to the computers and networks it will house, but is an integral part of planning and operations.
Integral to this transformation in values at Sandia was the facilities team taking over management of the data center. Previously the data center had been managed by several organizations with the primary focus of system administration and projects. The facilities management team called upon the system administration teams to decommission and consolidate, requiring the removal of all non-computing equipment from the data center floor and requiring equipment purchase plans to request operational efficiency, not simply equipment performance. The facilities team also made significant operational changes—use of variable frequency drives, cold-side control, rooms segregated by machine density, analyzing thermography and power, cold aisle containment, and increased air temperatures.
The facility now evaluates each component of the data center—systems, racks, cabling, power, cooling, and network—to ensure continuity of operations while maintaining an effective and efficient data center. This combination of changes in system administration management and total facility management has reaped invaluable benefits to the total cost of operations for the data center. The challenge for continual improvement remains—but look how far we have come.
Biography:
David Martinez has worked in the Sandia National Laboratories Corporate Computing Facilities (CCF) for more than 25 years in a variety of capacities. He has served as a journeyman mechanical/electrical technician working on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning mechanical and electrical systems to CCF facilities coordinator, where he is today. During his tenure, Mr. Martinez has seen the data center operations move from about 20,000 square feet (sq. ft.) to more than 77,000 sq. ft., comprised of four unique data center environments. Mr. Martinez is considered the power and cooling subject matter expert for Sandia's CCF.