Schneider Electric and University of Birmingham Dubai are collaborating to build new energy-efficient data center

Schneider Electric and University of Birmingham Dubai are collaborating to build new energy efficient data center. Students and faculty at the University of Birmingham Dubai’s new campus will benefit from one of the UAE’s most modern on-site data centres, a high-performance, extremely energy-efficient facility that reflects the University’s environmental goals.

The data centre is developed around Schneider Electric technology and executed by system integrator CDW, resulting in energy savings of up to 15% while operating at top capacity. It has capabilities like remote management and performance benchmarking against thousands of other data centres across the world, and it is meant to be as energy efficient as possible. The hub, which is connected to the University of Birmingham’s UK campus, will allow for quick data sharing between the two locations.

The new buildings at the University of Birmingham Dubai have been planned as a ‘Smart Campus,’ with technology that allows for innovative, trans disciplinary teaching and learning. WiFi6, the next generation of wireless connectivity, will help students and professors by facilitating study and research across campus and between the UAE and the UK.

Schneider Electric’s technology comprises Easy Metered Rack Power Distribution Units (Rack PDU) for real-time remote monitoring of power usage as well as power management for connected loads, and it includes both hardware and software. Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) devices provide battery backup power in the event of a power outage, and Easy Rack installations make data center design and maintenance easier.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT software also has a number of capabilities that will help the data center’s operations: its staff will be able to monitor, control, and optimise energy use across servers, cooling, and electrical equipment on-site and remotely. By doing vulnerability assessments on all devices within the data centre, in-built cybersecurity will lower the likelihood of a security breach.

Data from the data center’s infrastructure can be anonymously compared to thousands of other data centre sites thanks to EcoStruxure IT’s cloud-based analytics, which will assist operations better understand what they can do to improve the performance, efficiency, and health of the equipment.

Professor David Sadler, Provost at the University of Birmingham Dubai commented: “Our new building has been designed as an ‘Smart Campus’ – embedded with flexible, cutting-edge technology allowing innovative, multidisciplinary teaching and learning. We aim to deliver a flexible and powerful teaching environment in Dubai that students and staff will enjoy.

“In delivering an educational experience like no other in Dubai, we wanted to create a data centre that would be future-proof – supporting our goal of a tech-smart, energy-efficient campus. This data center’s performance, efficiency and sustainability will create the platform upon which we will build out our IT systems. By working with CDW and Schneider Electric, our staff, students and academics can enjoy an excellent technology platform that will enhance their campus experience.”