VERT.com
Redesigning the Future of Data Centers

Data centers are an integral part of today’s IT world and are conventionally designed to suit a company’s existing building structure. However, data centers are exposed to the risk of encountering unforeseen design and construction hindrances, managing multiple suppliers, and having complex sever components. Furthermore, a classic data center design has many fundamental flaws including air leakage, mixing of hot and cold air, and inefficient or obstructed air flow patterns that companies have to endure. Tackling the root cause of the problem—the design of the data center—is the Canada-based company, VERT.com. Unlike a conventional data center, that attempts to house the server components in an existing building, Vert.com supplies a pre-configured and pre-fabricated structure that houses server racks in a very unique way—vertically.

The need of the hour is to increase cost savings, reduce underutilization, and improve energy efficiency. VERT.com checks all these boxes with its innovative data center designs for the next generation of data centers, delivering a high-density server environment without compromising on cooling needs. “The vertical module we provide is essentially a giant CRAH (Computer Room Air Handler) in which rack servers can be placed at several levels, allowing optimized vertical air-flows,” says Philippe Savard, CMO, VERT.com. The vertical configuration of the servers makes containment of aisles easier and reduces cable distances. Vert.com’s design team has also incorporated systems which utilize fresh air to achieve direct cooling to make the system cost-effective and reliable. “Our design can support higher capacity components and is more systematic and robust,” says Savard. The company holds a U.S. patent for its pre-fabricated vertical data center modules and method of large-scale deployment. We use components which can be found in traditional CRAH units, but our design can support higher capacity parts like fans, coils, and other equipment. This results in an efficient and robust architecture which results in reduced operating and maintenance costs

The design proved to be more efficient than conventional data center strategies and has been incorporated into Vert.com’s flagship product, the VERT.center. The VERT.center is an IT structure that employs the vertical data center modules and includes all the necessary power and cooling components to house up to 120 air-cooled high-density racks. The offering has been introduced into a market to respond to the growing energy requirements of modern-day data centers. “Earlier, the average rack density was 3 kW per rack, whereas today it is around 6 kW per rack and in the near future, it will be about 15 kW per rack. Conventional installations cannot offer such power agility at a reasonable cost,” says Savard.

The VERT.center solution, apart from being energy-efficient, also boasts speed-to-market due to its repeatable deployment strategy. The modular design of the VERT.center also makes the solution scalable. Today, the demand for high-density data centers are rising Cloud, virtualization, and other services are gaining momentum. VERT.center addresses this strategic challenge by quickly deploying and designing data centers and being ideal for clients with rapid expansion needs. With speed of deployment and a reduced data center size being a key factor for survival, VERT.com is able to stand firm in the competitive market.

Our design can support higher capacity components and is more efficient and robust, resulting in reduced operating and maintenance costs

For the roadmap of VERT.com, Savard plans to accelerate the firm’s growth by partnering with a venture capital firm that recognizes the importance of data storage. “Vertical data centers with a good degree of scalability will define the future of data centers and will become a key facet of IT growth, especially in urban area,” concludes Savard.