Efficient Data Center Design—Thinking Outside of the Rack

I. The speaker will begin the presentation by explaining the back story of Brocade’s move to a new corporate campus in San Jose. He will detail how Brocade Communications first addressed the challenge of building a new data center on its Silicon Valley campus, the company took the same approach that it takes to developing products and solutions for its customers: Brocade planners began with a vision that was focused on performance and flexibility, and then followed through with planning and execution to achieve innovation in energy efficiency. He will address the outside-of-the-box thinking that the team used during the design phase and how that influenced the rest of the project.

II. He will then highlight the result- a data center built upon the principles of sustainability, scalability and flexibility and designed to meet the needs of Brocade employees as well as to help support interaction with customers. The data center is a key factor in Brocade’s exceeding the California Energy Code requirements by 16 percent, qualifying the company for one of the largest utility incentive rebates in the history of the program.

III. The Brocade speaker will then describe the steps his company took in designing its new data center. In his remarks, the Brocade speaker will focus on three design elements that were the basis for building the data center - scalability/flexibility; energy efficiency; environmental sustainability.

IV. Among the lessons learned in each area that can benefit other companies in constructing green buildings:

Scalable and Flexible Design Solution

  • Establish a goal of maximizing utility of the facility infrastructure while also lowering operating costs
  • Look at all available design alternatives, pairing them with physical constraints and conducting thorough analyses, yielding multiple design proposals with estimated costs and benefits for consideration

Energy Efficient Design

  • How research and design efforts can contribute significantly to energy efficiency and system reliability
  • Begin with high voltage primary power from a utility provider, distributing the primary power through the entire building and stepping it down once inside the data center space
  • Equipment selection critical to establishing the highest efficiency in tandem with the greatest reliability to deliver electricity to the data center
  • Implementing a cooling solution strategy to invest in the most efficient chillers, cooling towers, and pumps at partial loads versus full loads knowing that full loads wouldnot be reached for several years

Green and Sustainable Practices

  • Pursuing energy efficient designs to create an environment that excels in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) – Brocade is on track to receive a Gold rating in meeting LEED standards
  • Day-lighting controls reduce the lighting load by taking full advantage of natural sun light
  • Low eGlass, combined with Mecco shades, reduce solar gain by more than 15 percent
  • Flexible space designs allows changes in space use, while minimizing required construction
  • How a photovoltaicsystem installed on the parking garage roof provides positive return on investment and reduces carbon footprint
  • In water conservation and recycling campus-wide, Brocade is track to consume 40 percent less water than a traditional campus due to landscape and plumbing design