Greetings from Brindabella Business Park next to Canberra Airport, where Rittal are showing their "Rittal Data Centre Container" (RDCC). It has room for 12 standard computer racks, a 300mm raised floor and is designed to be used outdoors.The RDCC uses "direct free cooling" to lower energy use. In cold weather the normal air conditioning is turned off and filtered air is circulated. Rittal point out that in Canberra the outside air temperature is low enough to be used for direct cooling most of the time.
The unit has standard "twistlock" points on the lower corners for securing in transport and shackles on the top corners for lifting. However, the unit will require special handling as it is 3 m wide, which is wider than the standard 2.438 m ISO Shipping Container.
Rittal argue that the larger container is more practical, particularity where they are used for personnel. However, it would be wasteful to take a unit designed for equipment and use it for personnel. It would more efficient to have one container for the equipment and a lower cost transportable building for personnel.
It should be noted that a data centre can also be transported as a flat pack and assembled on site. This requires skilled staff and the data centre cannot them be moved easily. But this also allows the data centre to be assembled inside an existing building. An example of a modular data centre supplied by Rittal, was to University of Southern Queensland. Rittal also supply fire resistant cabinets ("fire safes") large enough to hold one rack of equipment. This allows a small computer system to be installed in an office very securely. The cabinet is in flat panels which can be assembled on site, allowing the cabinet to fit though narrow doorways, or it could be delivered assembled.
