Academic Data Center
Summary: NACS' Academic Data Center
(ADC) provides a suitable environment for housing modern computing
equipment. It houses NACS' campuswide computing services as well
as 'co-located' systems owned by campus units and research groups. Its
unique capabilities make it a resource for the entire-campus. These
capabilities and the manner in which campus groups make use of the facility
are outlined herein.
NACS maintains and operates the Academic Data Center (formerly known as the NACS 'Machine Room') for NACS' computing
services and those of 'co-located' campus partners. The facility located
on the 1st Floor of the Engineering Gateway (EG) Building (East Side) contains
essential power, air conditioning, flooring, and networking capabilities appropriate
for large-scale 'service' computing systems. The facility is operated
'24x7' every day of the year with at least one full-time consultant/Facility
Manager at all times. Access is available from the interior of the
building as well as through large (accessible by up to 84-inch tall computer
racks) double doors to the EG loading dock.
Among the Special Capabilities of the ADC are:
- A 12-inch raised false-floor throughout the facility allowing easy access
for power cabling, networking, and airflow.
- Three 20-Ton chilled-water air conditioning
units capable of providing cooling for upwards of of 200KW of heat generated
by computing equipment within the facility.
- Electrical power available in multiple 'types' based on system need. Includes
two Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems (one with 52KW and the other
recently purchased with upwards of 120KW capacities) which filter and maintain
power during short power outages and 'brownouts'. Access to emergency power
via a building generator for extended power outages for most critical campus
systems.
- At present we offer three power 'Types' based on power during outages,
each one appropriate for differing needs:
- Type I - Generator backed electrical circuits plus UPS for campus critical systems which must remain operating even through an extended power failure
- Type II - Commercial power plus UPS for protection of power transients, brownouts, and other short term ( less than 10 minute) power failures
- Type III - Commercial power only. Useful for secondary power supplies for dual-powered, high criticality systems.
- Images of ADC critical components:
|
 |
 |
 |
Raised False Floor |
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) |
HVAC Cooling Units |
EG Diesel Generator |
Co-Location Services:
Currently, NACS' provides space within the ADC for non-NACS' systems that
could make use of the capabilities within the room which are lacking (power,
AC) in other campus environments. The type of 'co-location'
service that best fits a user's needs is usually determined by the system
in question, the long-term support costs for the system and its placement
in the ADC, and system administration support available to the system owner. At
present, NACS' provides three service types with differing costs:
- Co-locations Service Only
- Provides ADC environment to the system. System can consist of
an entire 'rack' of rack-mountable systems, a smaller set of rack mounted
systems, or even non-rack mounted systems within a provided enclosure. We
encourage rack mounted systems to minimize user costs. No system
administration service is provided to the system. Access is provided
to the ADC for outside system administrators. Current pricing
for this services can be found below.
- Co-location with A System Administration Contract
- Same as #1 but also includes system administration services through NACS's Distributed Computing Services. See Distributed Computing Support for a complete listing of prices. Co-location costs are separate.
- Join the MPC Consortium
- For system owners about to purchase rack-mounted systems to create 'Beowulf-type' computational clusters, NACS provides a service to allow owners to defray system administration costs if they are willing to donate 25% of their purchase to computing equipment (usually CPUs, but can be disk or networking equipment, etc.) to all campus users. For more details on this option please review the MPC website.
Current Co-Location Pricing
Sample Agreement Between NACS and System owners
Contacts
For more information on the ADC or how you can make use of Co-Location services
please contact Allen Schiano (x42829 or schiano@uci.edu) or Frank Wessel
( x46854 or fwessel@uci.edu) of NACS. For environmental issues about
the ADC, contact Alex Odyniec (x46133 aodyniec@uci.edu) or Steve Pickett
(x46224 or spickett@uci.edu).
Current Schedule
- March 30 - April 1, 2007 - Chilled water shutdown to ADC to allow connection of Engineering Unit 3 building. Emergency chilling provided by temporary cooling units. Some large research systems will be down during the event.
- March 31, 2007 - connection of new HVAC unit (#4) in ADC to provide additional cooling capacity for future growth and emergency cooling under emegency power conditions
- Summer 2007 - beginning of relocation of MPC cluster racks to new location in ADC
Planned Future Upgrades
- GIS of ADC completed for management of ADC infrastructure and computing devices - Summer 2007
- Installation of added digital security cameras to ADC - Fall 2007
- Air Temperature and Pooled Water monitoring and alarm system - Fall 2007
- Added physical security and access control systems - Spring 2008
- New UPS and PDU capacity for planned growth in S section of lab - Spring 2008
- Growth in EG lab C (in conjunction with opening of new NACS lab in the SBS building - 2009
