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DATA CENTRE CASE STUDY:
LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lufbra_HazleriggBuilding.jpg
Established in 1909, Loughborough University physical IT infrastructure services for the public
has approximately 19,500 students spread sector, SMEs and corporate entities. In phase one
across a 523-acre campus. It is ranked first in the floor was upgraded and a new EcoStruxure
the world for sports-related subjects and was Row Data Centre installed. In phase two the IT
named Sports University of the Year by The was migrated back into the new installation
Times and The Sunday Times. with increased floor space created for future IT
deployments.
Central to the efficient running of the university
is its two primary data centres that act as a Another issue which later transpired concerned
failover to each other, namely the Haslegrove site the chilled water systems. The chillers on the
(constructed in the 1950s) and the more recent roof suffered catastrophic failure during the hot
Holywell site, which began operations in 2010. summer of 2022, compromising the university’s
commitment to no single point of failure. In
By this time the Haslegrove data centre had
order to address this Schneider Electric’s InRow
evolved to the point where it had around 60 server
DX (direct expansion) units were installed to
racks, with different faculties adding new racks
accompany the new EcoStruxure Row Data
ad-hoc over the years. This gave rise to a number
Centre so as to create two separate circuits,
of challenges as the dynamics of the server load
extending the ‘no single point of failure’ design
grew more complex, with hotspots emerging
concept throughout the entire facility. It also
when the room’s cooling units became unable to
used containment to gain more cooling control
deliver sufficient cool air.
and cool the IT racks directly. As a result the
When the university virtualised its server load environment became better suited for a new
the resulting reduction in the number of IT racks generation of compact and powerful servers. This
meant that the layout of Haslegrove had to be was done at both Haslegrove and Holywell.
redesigned, necessitating segregation of the the
Additionally, the university has installed Schneider
air supplies in order to optimise cooling efficiency.
Electric’s EcoStruxure IT platform in order to
The task was awarded to Schneider Electric’s proactively anticipate any failures and take action
Hot Aisle Containment Solution (HACS), formerly to mitigate them before they become critical.
known as Infrastruxure and now referred to
Further improvements in resilience and efficiency
as EcoStruxure Row Data Centre. This is a pre-
were also achieved by replacing legacy UPSs
engineered, modular, scalable and highly
(Uninterruptable Power Supplies) with Schneider
configurable system incorporating integrated
Electric’s Galaxy VS UPS with lithium-ion batteries.
power, racks, cooling and management software.
This incorporates Schneider Electric’s patented
It was also deployed at the Holywell site.
eConversion operating mode which offers
Ten years later the containment system up to 99 per cent energy efficiency without
approached the end of its useful operational life. compromising availability, and is noted to have
In addition, the original 1950s floor at Haslegrove increased resilience for the university’s research
had started to become unstable in places and applications.
needed replacement.
[ Reference: ‘Loughborough Uni drives IT and Data
A two-phase upgrade project followed involving Centre Efficiency with Schneider Electric’, Data
Schneider Electric’s Elite partner on365, a Centre Review, Autumn 2023 ]
specialist in the provision of energy efficient
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