The ICGC is housed in a property situated on the green hillsides above Catalonia’s biggest city. Since 1982, the ICGC has been collecting and analysing information – about earthquakes and avalanches, from site management and from old maps and hiking maps – and making this available for a whole range of purposes. The institute stopped using paper a long time ago and now works with digital data only. To store and process this data in an efficient, fail-safe manner, the ICGC needed to create a new data centre – but preferably without having to build an extension or new building. The aims of the project were to ensure ecologically sustainable operations and the security and integrity of the data.

Following a public invitation to tender, Spanish Rittal partner Abast won the contract and implemented the project as planned, within a period of just six months. One of the biggest challenges faced by the Abast specialists was that the new data centre had to be built next to the old one, in the tightest of spaces in a listed building – and all during ongoing operations.

• A strong partner for Rittal in Spain

  With 40 years of experience in the IT business, Abast currently has more than 450 employees and achieves sales totalling some 75 million euros per year. Our Spanish partner has sites in Madrid, the Mediterranean city of Barcelona and Palma on Mallorca.

   

SECURE, SUSTAINABLE AND MODULAR

The new data centre has been completely redesigned and built by Abast. Measuring 78 m², it is a “room-within-a-room” solution based on a number of key criteria – sustainability, security, energy efficiency and observability. Boasting a tier 3 design and 22 racks in total, this state-of-the-art data centre offers availability in excess of 99.98 percent. Its fully modular system design helps protect the entire area against fire, water, gases, dust and even vandalism. In addition to a fire alarm system, the data centre has its IP access control system to ensure only authorised personnel can gain access.

Two 100 kW batteries have also been installed to safeguard against failure in the event of a power cut. There is also the option of installing a second, additional power generator. The cooling system consists of energy-efficient liquid cooling packages (LCPs) installed between the racks. Each LCP uses only as much energy as is needed to maintain a suitable temperature level. Thanks to the island structure with cold aisle containment, efficiency can be improved significantly and the cooling space kept to a minimum. Initial estimates indicate that this will result in energy savings of around 140 MWh per year.