Mitsubishi Electric leverages technology and experience to offer solutions for more efficient data centre operation.
Over the years, there has been a substantial increase in the use of digital data over the Internet and via ICT systems making efficient operation of data centres integral to network integrity. As digital transformation leverages the IoT (Internet of Things), data growth has become a crucial asset—not just for the IT industry, but also for other industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors.
Data centres facilitate the storage and stable operation of many different types of IT components, which manage the transmission of ever-increasing digital data, requiring robust security measures and high-performance equipment. As such, system integrators and engineers involved in building and running data centres require a great deal of specialised knowledge.
Enter Mitsubishi Electric, a company that manufactures a wide variety of electrical equipment and integrates it all into numerous systems across multiple business sectors. Leveraging decades in the field, Mitsubishi Electric is positioned to support the establishment and optimal operation of data centres that can meet the demands of today’s data-driven economy, while also complying with environmental pressures.
Equipment and security measures are crucial for high performance
Running a data centre requires supplying IT equipment with a stable flow of electricity, as a power failure could lead to significant losses. Accidents and temporary outages must be considered, as well as momentary drops in voltage and power fluctuations caused by weather events and natural disasters. Adopting uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units is the key to protecting IT equipment from such power failures. The Mitsubishi Electric UPS systems for data centres do not merely serve as backups for the loss of power supply; by constantly drawing power through inverters, these systems provide a supply of high-quality electricity at high levels of efficiency with reduced noise.1
IT equipment consumes high levels of power and generates large amounts of heat. While temperatures must be kept even and uniform throughout a data centre, the pressing issue of environmental protection cannot be neglected.
Our air conditioners for data centres are equipped with an automatic restart function as a standard feature to ensure stable operation when recovering from a power failure.
Robust security measures are also indispensable for data centres to protect valued data. These measures are crucial in preventing tailgating and other unauthorised building access. To address this, Mitsubishi Electric offers various methods of identity verification that is compliant with the safety measure standards set by Japan’s Centre for Financial Industry Information Systems (“Security Guidelines on Computer Systems for Banking and Related Financial Institutions”). One such solution is the Mitsubishi Electric Destination Oriented Allocation System (DOAS), which serves to restrict where data centre visitors can go by linking visitor information verified at security gates with elevator systems.2
A new solution: linking multiple components
Merely increasing the performance of a component does not equate to a data centre’s capability to provide high reliability and performance. A Mitsubishi Electric solution permits the lining of data centre equipment and drawing out the maximum capacities of each individual component.
In manufacturing and infrastructure businesses, SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems are often deployed to facilitate this linkage. These systems are structured to gather data from operational status signals transmitted from each piece of equipment, data from sensors installed on devices, and information from warnings and the monitoring system. These elements are then leveraged to control equipment and analyse operational status.
The Mitsubishi Electric GENESIS64™ is a SCADA software, which is just one in the flexible portfolio of products part of the ICONICS Suite™. Aside from having a customisable graphical user interface to match the structure of data centres, the interface comes with a security camera video feature that enables uniform monitoring and control of facility conditions. GENESIS64™ is also compatible with many industry-standard protocols, such as OPC™, MODBUS® and BACnet, providing flexibility when it comes to building equipment networks.3
To link data centre equipment, Mitsubishi Electric leverages its technology in the factory automation (FA) system business, which involves the automation of production processes through the control of elements such as machine tools at manufacturing plants. The MELSEC series of sequencers produced by Mitsubishi Electric make it easy to implement a dual structure that uses controlled CPUs and standby CPUs. This means that they continue to serve as control centres with no suspension of operations even during an abnormal event.4 The system supports Modbus and BACnet, and can be used to build a flexible and reliable centralised control room system.
Mitsubishi Electric provides a wide range of solutions to address the issues faced by system integrators and data centre operators by making full use of the company’s know-how cultivated in the data centre business and track record of being a leader in the power systems, factory automation and air conditioner industries.
Notes
(1). Mitsubishi Electric’s Total Solution Catalog for Data Centers
(2). Mitsubishi Electric News Release (Mitsubishi Electric Delivers Taiwan’s First Double-deck Elevators with Destination Oriented Allocation System that Integrates with Building Access Control Systems)
(3). GENESIS64TM Product Catalog (for Mitsubishi Electric’s SCADA Software)
(4). Mitsubishi Electric MELSEC Consolidated Catalog
