VERTIV DELIVERS MOBILE DC OPTION TO HELP QLD AIRPORT BATTLE BUGS

Longreach Airport has adopted Vertiv’s SmartCabinet mobile datacentre offering, a drier to help deal with the region’s unique environmental challenges – including wildlife intrusion and extreme temperatures.

The enclosed, mobile facility with remote central monitoring is running systems including CCTV, access control and connections to corporate systems across the airport. Its installation removes the requirement for staff to sweep the server room for bugs and restart systems daily.

Located 700 kilometres from the coast, Longreach is known as the ‘heart’ of Queensland. The airport serves more than 3,000 passengers every month and is a hub for travellers seeking the outback experience in western Queensland. The town is one of Australia’s oldest aviation hubs and the airport was one of the founding centres for Qantas. The current facility, constructed in 2012, is owned and operated by Queensland Airports Limited.

Bugs, including crickets and grasshoppers, are common in the region, with the worst locust plague Longreach had experienced in 30 years occurring in 2010. These bugs can creep into IT systems and cause them to crash, forcing the airport to sweep them out every two months. The Vertiv SmartCabinet’s enclosed and secure design now prevents this from happening.

The area also suffers from extreme temperatures that can see highs of more than 45 degrees and lows below zero, putting pressure on IT systems and previously forcing the airport to constantly replace its key IT infrastructure and restart systems daily. Outages have the potential to delay flights and require regular early starts for the airport’s staff.

Longreach Airport chief operating officer Kevin Gill said the Vertiv SmartCabinet had answered some of the toughest questions the environment asks of the regional airport team. “Our systems are now operating well, even during the summer’s most extreme temperatures,” he said.

“As a small regional airport, the airport team is small in size, but procedures around check-in, security, departure, baggage, and everything else, are the same as in larger airports. It is vital technology doesn’t get in the way and instead enables staff and makes them more effective and mobile,” said Gill.

Turning to IoT

With the airport free from its IT challenges, it has increased its focus on IoT, opening its data to universities and industry to trial initiatives in areas such as video analytics, and then sharing results with the local community.

The Queensland Airports Limited team is also looking at how energy monitoring can be improved across its regional airports, adding to solar panel systems already in place in Longreach and Mount Isa.

“Longreach faces a range of typical airport challenges as well as unique ones not encountered by the world’s largest airports,” said Robert Linsdell, managing director of the Australia and New Zealand operations of Vertiv. “This was well illustrated by a curious emu who kept a close eye throughout the installation.

“The airport is putting the right infrastructure in place to ensure its IoT and smart city initiatives work and bring benefits not just to passengers and staff, but the wider Longreach community. The model of more robust IT infrastructure coupled with remote central monitoring could bring similar benefits to other regional airports and transport hubs, which often face challenges around climate and sparse technical staff.”

Vertiv names Danny Wong as Asia telco lead, expands role to cover ANZ

Vertiv has appointed Danny Wong as senior director for telecom for the entire Asia market. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Wong will drive programs to support telco operators in their digital transformation initiatives.

Previously covering only Southeast Asia and North Asia markets, Wong will now have an expanded role to include Australia and New Zealand. He will focus on pushing the full suite of Vertiv telecom products including the DC Power, hybrid energy and edge computing solutions, business development programs and customer engagement initiatives to support each of the local market units in the region.

“Asia is one of the most dynamic and exciting markets for telecom in the world and is leading the way in innovation and technology adoption,” said Anand Sanghi, president, Asia and India, Vertiv. “Mobile penetration continues to grow and is a major driver for social change. With innovations like 5G, internet of things (IoT) and edge computing, technology shifts are transforming the telco network from core to the edge. Danny’s rich experience and his in-depth understanding of the intricacies of each market in the region will allow him to support telco operators with Vertiv solutions.”

“The future of telco here in Asia looks bright with innovations and emerging technology trends. I am excited for what the future holds for the telco market and Vertiv is well-positioned to support operators from the core to edge,” said Wong.

Vertiv: Edge will drive change in 2019

Vertiv experts anticipate self-sufficient, self-healing edge in service of IoT, 5G

The edge of the network continues to be the epicenter of innovation in the data center space as the calendar turns to 2019, with activity focusing on increased intelligence designed to simplify operations, enable remote management and service, and bridge a widening skills gap.

This increasing sophistication of the edge is among the data center trends to watch in 2019 as identified by Vertiv experts from around the globe.

“Today’s edge plays a critical role in data center and network operation and in the delivery of important consumer services,” said Vertiv CEO Rob Johnson. “This is a dramatic and fundamental change to the way we think about computing and data management. It should come as no surprise that activity in the data center space in 2019 will be focused squarely on innovation at the edge.”

“The drivers behind edge computing are increasingly high-demand, low-latency applications such as artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics,” said Robert Linsdell, managing director Australia and New Zealand, Vertiv.

“As always, Australia and New Zealand’s need to get the edge right is greater than most – we have a highly-disperse geography and many of our primary and resurging industries such as mining and manufacturing aren’t done in cities with access to centralised data centers. They’re in far-flung destinations where even basic connectivity can be poor or absent.

“The only way to harness the power and benefits of IoT and smart city applications in these areas is through edge computing and we need further investment in this area to make sure technology expectations among customers, staff and businesses are met across the region.”

Simplifying the Edge: A smarter, simpler, more self-sufficient edge of the network is converging with broader industry and consumer trends, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and the looming rollout of 5G networks, to drive powerful, low-latency computing closer to the end-user.

For many businesses, the edge has become the most mission critical part of their digital ecosystem. Intelligent infrastructure systems with machine learning capabilities working in tandem with cloud-based analytics are fundamentally changing the way we think about edge computing and edge services. The result will be a more robust, efficient edge of the network with enhanced visibility and self-healing capabilities requiring limited active management.

“In Asia, the edge is no longer just a buzzword but a reality and many organisations are realising the value of having a strong core to edge ecosystem to support high compute and low latency demands,” said Anand Sanghi, president, Asia and India, Vertiv. “As the edge becomes a critical and strategic part for many organisations, it’s no longer about simply having availability, but protecting and optimising the edge with the right infrastructure to deliver the best customer experience.”

Workforce Revolution: A workforce aging into retirement and training programs lagging behind the data center and edge evolution are creating staffing challenges for data centers around the globe. This will trigger parallel actions in 2019. First, organisations will begin to change the way they hire data center personnel, moving away from traditional training programs toward more agile, job-specific instruction with an eye toward the edge. More training will happen in-house. And second, businesses will turn to intelligent systems and machine learning to simplify operations, preserve institutional knowledge, and enable more predictive and efficient service and maintenance.
Smarter, More Efficient UPS Systems: New battery alternatives will present opportunities for the broad adoption of UPS systems capable of more elegant interactions with the grid. In the short term, this will manifest in load management and peak shaving features. Eventually, we will see organisations using some of the stored energy in their UPS systems to help the utility operate the electric grid. The static storage of all of that energy has long been seen as a revenue-generator waiting to happen. We are moving closer to mainstream applications.
Pursuing Normalisation: The data center, even in the age of modular and prefabricated design, remains far too complex to expect full-fledged standardisation of equipment. However, there is interest on two fronts: standardisation of equipment components and normalisation across data center builds. The latter is manifesting in the use of consistent architectures and equipment types, with regional differences, to keep systems simple and costs down. In both cases, the goal is to reduce equipment costs, shorten delivery and deployment timelines, and simplify service and maintenance.
High-Power Processors and Advanced Cooling: As processor utilisation rates increase to run advanced applications such as facial recognition or advanced data analytics, high-power processors create a need for innovative approaches to thermal management. Direct liquid cooling at the chip – meaning the processor or other components are partially or fully immersed in a liquid for heat dissipation – is becoming a viable solution. Although most commonly used in high-performance computing configurations, the benefits – including better server performance, improved efficacy in high densities, and reduced cooling costs – justify additional consideration. Another area of innovation in thermal management is extreme water-free cooling, which is an increasingly popular alternative to traditional chilled water.

Vertiv steps up ANZ smart cities focus with trio of key hires

Critical technology infrastructure firm Vertiv has created three new strategic roles in a bid to meet rapidly growing demand for its suite of cloud and smart cities offerings.

Glen Trestrail will head up service and project management as the new senior director of that business in Australia and New Zealand, while Jonathan Buchanan will lead the cloud, colocation and BFSI team and Matt Lawler joins asf solutions architect based Canberra.

Trestrail will be able to draw on some three decades of IT experience, most recently with Canon Australia. He will be tasked with developing a high-performing team as Vertiv continues its drive into the edge and smart cities space.

Screenshot 2018-10-25 22.07.22 — Vertiv ANZ MD Robert Linsdell

“The need for data centres to run uninterrupted, and to optimal energy efficiency levels, is greater than ever in the IoT and smart cities era,” said ANZ MD Robert Linsdell.

“We need a strong services team to effectively manage that expectation and help enterprises and government organisations realise their smart city ambitions.”

Additionally, Jonathan Buchanan joins from Metronode and will be charged with expanding Vertiv’s cloud and colocation business across the whole of Australia. “Gartner recently predicted Australia’s colocation and hyperscale market was worth almost $400 million and increasing,” noted Vertiv.

“Sydney has become a natural technology hub for hyperscalers and businesses investing in cloud computing,” said Tony Gaunt, senior director, cloud, colocation and BFSI, Vertiv. “How cloud and colo fit into an organisation’s wider digital strategies and distributed data centre network is more important than ever, and we’re seeing higher demand for helping businesses get that structure right.”

Finally, Matt Lawler, who joins from F1 Solutions, will lead Vertiv’s operations in Canberra, following rising demand for cloud and colocation services in the region driven by the Federal Government’s Secure Cloud Strategy.

He’ll also oversee support of the smart city initiatives taking place across the city, resulting from the ACT Government’s Smart City Strategy.

“Historically, much of our activity in Canberra has been managed out of Sydney with the assistance of local partners,” added Linsdell. “But we see a great opportunity in the shift to cloud and the smart city initiatives taking place in the city. We know how to optimise data centre networks – from cloud and colo to core and edge – to ensure maximum efficiency, a timely subject at the moment, and ‘always on’ digital services.”

Vertiv signs up brace of new Australian partners in smart cities drive

Vertiv has signed two new Australian partners; Queensland-based electrical services provider HazElec and Sydney IT infrastructure provider Powerfirm.

The new partnerships are part of a drive to take a leading role in the growing number of smart city initiatives taking place across enterprises and government organisations in Australia, said Vertiv. It cited results of a survey KPMG Australia conducted last year among government, universities and industry spokespersons showing 80 per cent of organisations had already kicked off their smart city campaigns by 2017.

HazElec has a strong reach in North Queensland’s resurging mining and other heavy industries. Vertiv said partnering will help both organisations target the “industrial edge space” – through the deployment of robust modular data centres such as Vertiv’s SmartCabinet.

“IoT and smart cities are about people connecting with each other,” said Vertiv ANZ MD Robert Linsdell.

“Expectations on technology reliability are high and tolerance for failure is low, and we know that bringing infrastructure to the edge – where people are using applications and creating data – is vital to meet those demands.”

“HazElec and Powerfirm share those values and together we can help businesses and government organisations create the right IoT experiences for their customers,’ added Linsdell.

Vertiv achieves Uptime Institute Tier IV rating for SmartAisle integration system

US critical infrastructure firm Vertiv’s SmartAisle service – a row-based system integrating racks, power, cooling, monitoring and control technologies – has been granted a TIER IV-Ready Certification by the Uptime Institute in Asia, the first in the firm’s IT and edge infrastructure suite in the region to achieve the distinction.

A TIER IV-Ready certification is the highest certification, signifying maximum reliability and efficiency of the service, Vertiv said, adding that the certification was awarded to a specific SmartAisle model only available in Asia.

“[It] was evaluated based on a number of factors, including design specification, site-specific information, network topology, as well as mechanical and electrical components,” Vertiv said.

The Uptime Institute found that the Vertiv SmartAisle supports a fault-tolerant design, with redundant capacity and modularity. “This enables the data centre to potentially function within the requirements of a total design for TIER IV certifications, according to the Uptime Institute,” Vertiv added.

The latest SmartAisle series offers a simplified, rapid deployment data centre design in a row-based system. “Its fully integrated features include power, thermal management, infrastructure management and monitoring, as well as racks and containment, offering considerable savings for data centre operators,” Vertiv said. “[It’s] modular and scalable depending on capacity requirements, and is capable of supporting deployments for Internet of Things applications and edge computing networks.”

Vertiv unveils new space saving uninterruptible power supply for critical loads

Vertiv, formerly Emerson Network Power, has unveiled the latest addition to its uninterruptable power source (UPS) portfolio, a new product called the Liebert EXS UPS.

Vertiv billed the new offering as an “extremely compact, monolithic, transformer-free UPS with the smallest footprint in its class.”

It said the Liebert EXS UPS delivered very high density and maximum active power of up to 40 degrees Celsius. “Its double conversion efficiency of up to 96.2 percent also significantly reduces energy cost, impact on the environment and overall total cost of ownership,” the firm added.

Available initially in the range of 10-20 kVA across Asia, including Australia and New Zealand, the Liebert EXS can house up to four battery strings, eliminating the need for external battery housing which reduces overall installation cost and floorspace. “This allows the Liebert EXS to deliver exceptional features to both IT applications and other mission critical applications, such as transportation, emergency lighting, healthcare, retail and government facilities,” Vertiv said.

“We are continuously developing new products and technologies to ensure that we are offering the best solutions for our customers. Limited floor space and high operating costs are constant business pressures, which is why the Liebert EXS has been designed to deliver standardisation and optimal performances for customers who want to optimise TCO and floor space,” said Chee Hoe Ling, vice president for products, solution and marketing at Vertiv in Asia.

Like all Vertiv UPS systems, the Liebert EXS can be complemented with Vertiv LIFE Services, a sophisticated remote diagnostic and preventive service which provides early detection of UPS conditions, allowing effective proactive maintenance, fast incident response and remote trouble shooting 24/7, to increase mission critical application availability to the customers. The Liebert EXS is also compatible with the Trellis Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) platform, which enables real-time, unified optimisation of data centre and facilities infrastructure.

“Businesses today require more than just the basic level of power protection. With growing focus on optimising infrastructure at the edges of the network, having a flexible, agile and efficient UPS solution is critical. The new Liebert EXS addresses this with its innovative design and powerful features, giving the best power protection in the market today,” said Arunangshu Chattopadhyay, director of power product marketing at Vertiv in Asia.