Newsletter subscription

DC technology in the data center
The Zurich West data center will be an international role model for exciting innovation in data center technology: In cooperation with ABB, green.ch will equip its state-of-the-art data center in Lupfig (AG) with an additional energy distribution solution based on DC technology. The ABB subsidiary Validus DC Systems will provide the technology. The pilot installation is scheduled to go into operation in the first quarter of 2012.

Using DC instead of AC allows data center operating and investment costs to be lowered by up to 30 percent. The bulk of the savings are a result of the lower cooling requirements since DC-powered servers do not need power supplies which generate a lot of heat. Renowned manufactures like HP or IBM already have servers that are fed directly with DC. In addition, a whole range of additional devices that switch between AC and DC will no longer be necessary. This increases reliability while simultaneously reducing maintenance and operating costs. And a data center based on DC technology requires much less space than a conventional data center.

Beyond this, DC technology is especially interesting in connection with renewable and alternative sources of energy. For example, solar cells only deliver DC power. Because the infrastructure – the cables and distributors that bring power to the equipment in the server rooms – is, as usual, set up for AC power, conversion will be necessary. If only DC power distribution were used, this could also be eliminated.

ABB und green.ch want to use this collaborative role model project in the Zurich West data center to help DC technology achieve a breakthrough. The installation in Lupfig will show international customers the advantages of this technology in a real environment.

Co-location for small space requirements

We host your server in the Zurich West data center starting from ¼ rack. For an attractive offer – including power connection, Internet connection and power consumption – see our Data center website.

High-end streaming: a real-life example

xtendx streams around 1000 terabyte of data annually. To be able to smoothly transmit even large live events to hundreds of thousands of recipients simultaneously, the rich media stream provider relies on the green.ch data center infrastructure.
To the real-life example.