The new Schneider Electric built datacenter for SAP, France.

Schneider Electric, a world specialist in energy management, worked alongside SAP France to design the new data center hosting its information system and professional applications. Installed on the 14th floor of its new French headquarters in Levallois-Perret, its 80 square meters house an 18-rack integrated solution.

 The leader in business applications is, in fact, working steadily towards becoming a green business model, compatible with the international standards of a recognized sustainable economy to meet the expectations of shareholders, customers and employees. SAP is therefore committed to improving its economic and environmental performance in the long-term, for example, by reducing its carbon emissions over the next five years to the level they were at during the 2000s.

 In 2013, SAP France decided to consolidate its activities on a single site and issued a call for tenders to select the provider that could transform 80 m² of office space into a data center that would be operational in less than 6 months. The specifications included a number of constraints: The data center had to have low energy consumption, be intelligent, respect SAP’s environmental policy and, above all, be ready for the arrival of 400 employees in July 2014.

Schneider Electric handled all of the energy infrastructure, cooling, power distribution and protection, the raised floor, urbanization of the white space, as well as the management part with StruxureWare for Data Center DCIM software.

“Schneider Electric offered us a turnkey solution including an innovative cooling system, which was a decisive factor in the selection process. But their ability to design the server room in its entirety was a definite asset. It was very advantageous to have a single contact, as it gave us a global view of the planning”, explained Joseph Cinquanta, IT Account Manager at SAP France.

New generation intelligent cooling

For the urbanization of the IT room, Schneider Electric proposed its InfraStruxure solution: an integrated, fully customizable and modular offer which guarantees the highest availability and operational efficiencies of the information system. It includes modular power, precision cooling, security, integrated monitoring and management.

The room is cooled by a complete combination of solutions comprising cooling production, distribution and intelligent management. Cooling production is provided by Uniflair free-cooling chiller units, which are installed on the roof of the building, and which required a rather spectacular method of delivery: the narrow street in which the 22-story SAP France building is situated meant that the chillers had to be winched into place from a Super Puma helicopter.

Cooling distribution is provided by the InRow precision air conditioning system installed within the IT racks. These units capture heat as close as possible to the emission source, i.e. the servers. Connected to the EcoAisle solution, which ensures hot aisle containment, this system increases the cooling efficiency.

A genuine Schneider Electric innovation, the Air Flow Controler connects the chillers installed on the roof to the cooling units installed in the data center. The latter control cooling only when necessary, based on the parameters measured in the containment: temperature, hygrometry, air flow, thereby avoiding significant energy loss.

This system gives SAP France a target PUE level of 1.3.

The power protection is ensured by Symmetra PX modular UPS.

This installation also includes 17 service areas, each of which contains 2 racks and an InRow cooling system, on all floors for horizontal distribution on each level.

StruxureWare generates automatic reports, giving the information systems director an overview of the energy consumption and signaling any problems in real time.

A turnkey data center delivered in 6 months

The project’s success and adherence to a strict schedule relied on two specific factors inherent to SAP and Schneider Electric.

At Schneider Electric, cooperation between the different SAP departments is welcomed: “Throughout the project, the strong involvement of SAP IT Management together with Facilities, enabled to build a state-of-the-art datacenter in terms of energy efficiency and availability in record time”, explained Franck Laporte, Data Center Sales Account Manager at Schneider Electric France.

Joseph Cinquanta, IT Account Manager at SAP France, emphasized Schneider Electric’s ability to handle a project in its entirety: “In my 15-year career, this is the first time I’ve seen a solution operational from day 1! The all-in-one approach offers definite advantages”.

Configuration details

• 2 scalable Symmetra PX160 and PX96 modular UPS per module of 16 to guarantee optimal efficiency
• 18 NetShelter SX racks in the data center + 34 racks in the service areas
• 6 new generation InRow Cooling units with hot aisle confinement & “Air Flow Controler” system + 17 standard InRow Cooling units in the service areas
• StruxureWare for Data Center DCIM software solution – Operation & Energy Efficiency modules
• Automatic LED lighting, automatic door
• 2 Uniflair free cooling chillers
• Schneider Electric cabinets and circuit breakers
• Uniflair by Schneider Electric raised floor