Software company Future Facilities is dedicated to improving the way data centres are designed and operated.  As such, Future Facilities is the first software company to implement the digital twin for the data centre industry.  This is what they say:

We strive to understand the challenges facing today’s engineers and owner-operators in the real-world through customer surveys and research. We have found that data centre decision makers lack the data they need to fully understand and meet the increasing infrastructure, power and cooling demands they are facing in the data centre industry today. To make it easier to get the right data to meet such demands quickly, we have made significant changes to our software with Release 14 by improving the performance and interface of the data centre digital twin. Release 14 of 6SigmaDCX focuses on streamlining the capacity planning process, improving operations and consolidating the solve process.

Our research revealed several issues that today’s owner-operators face that simply cannot go ignored:

• Data centre operators are building 3 data centres for every 2 they need
• 77% of organisations are seeing increased demands on their existing power and cooling infrastructure to meet business drivers
• 29% of organisations must compromise capacity planning decisions all the time

How Do We Address Rising Demands?

 Our findings were the primary motivating factors behind the development of Release 14 and the development of the data centre digital twin. Adaptability starts with the digital twin. The digital twin is a three-dimensional, physics-based, virtual representation of the actual data centre. It encompasses IT equipment, cabinets and the supporting power/cooling infrastructure. The digital twin replicates the physical behaviour of the real data centre from design to operations and enables you to predict, visualise and quantify the impact of any

change in your data centre prior to implementation, empowering you to make decisions with confidence. The DCX14 data centre digital twin is a comprehensive platform for operations that can streamline capacity planning, speed up decision making and enhance infrastructure analysis.

• Streamline the capacity planning process through comprehensive dashboards, change management reports and an email notification system
• Speed up the decision-making process by creating “behind the scenes” scheduler for automated solving and reporting
• Complete the capacity picture with the new Data Network—adding port availability to existing power, space, cooling and weight metrics
• Connect the external cooling infrastructure (chillers) to the internal cooling infrastructure to understand the resilience of the data centre during system failures

DCX14: A Closer Look at the Highlights

 6SigmaDataNetwork Module

 Design and manage the logical network, physical cabling and ports infrastructure in your data centre.

• Import data network connections via a new, easy-to-use interface with the Connections window.
• Analyse your port capacity with a range of new visualisations.
• Search for spare capacity on Network Switches and Patching for copper and fibre connections.

 6SigmaAccess Enhancements

 Create Dashboards that track power, cooling, space and inventory through customisable charts and timelines for one or more data centres.

• Bulk import IT equipment through existing DCIM or create new items from scratch to store in the Loading Bay for deployment.
• Assign customisable statuses to cabinet(s) or IT equipment based on your capacity planning process.
• Connect to any of our major integrations to store and display live monitored data, such as power or temperature, at the rack or IT level.

 1D Liquid Side Network

 Create a 1D liquid side network of piping and flow devices to replicate the chilled water infrastructure.

• Connect the liquid side network to the 3D cooling units in the digital twin to adjust cooling performance automatically.
• Fail parts of the cooling and power infrastructure to assess the impact on the 1D chilled water system and the 3D data centre.

 Solver Consolidation

 Solve anywhere (local or cloud): Quickly submit jobs to any Batch Queue, Rescale Cloud Simulation Platform, Microsoft® HPC Pack Cluster or IBM® Spectrum LSF Cluster in your network all in one place.

• See the current status and jobs list of any queue connected to the 6Sigma Control Centre with the View Queues feature.
• Schedule Batch and Rescale solve jobs quickly and easily with the 6Sigma Control Centre’s Scheduler tool’s consolidated solving functionality.

 New Power Network Views for Cabinets and IT Equipment

 Power views have been standardised, optimised and simplified to offer clearer and quicker connectivity.

• Colour individual power routes for easier distinction of your critical system connectivity.
• Improved capacity planning with additional resources on network and power capacity.

Please click here for the link to the brochure.

About Future Facilities:

Future Facilities is a software company dedicated to improving the way data centres are designed and operated. We promote the use of a digital twin, powered by engineering simulation, to maximise data centre performance at the lowest possible cost. Our digital twin allows you to predict, visualise and quantify the impact of any change in your data centre prior to implementation, empowering you to make decisions with confidence.

For more information and for the latest news and content from Future Facilities, please visit futurefacilities.com or contact Adam Smith, Business Development Executive, Future Facilities on +44 (0) 207 840 9518 or email adam.smith@futurefacilities.com