The data centres (data centre/colocation centre) are air conditioned in an energy-saving manner based on the principle of free cooling. The outside temperature is used to cool the data centre – especially in the cooler seasons. The building's roof has chilled water units (5 +1 in the final configuration) with up to 5 x 440 kW for cooling (value for IPC 3).
Within the data centres, the server cabinets are cooled according to the principle of cold and warm air aisles. Up to 10 air conditioners with a total output of 850 kW (100% redundant) per section ensure optimal conditions. Cool air is blown into the 0.7m-high raised floor, which has air outlet slots in front of the server racks. The warm air is then extracted in the ceiling area.
The supply of cold air is regulated via a redundant piping system to continuously and reliably cool all areas of the data centre that are problematic. The temperature inside the data centre is consistently approx. 23 degrees Celsius.
Power supply
The IPC 3 and IPC 4 data centres are redundantly integrated into Karlsruhe municipal service's 20 kV ring. Transformers reduce the 20-kV medium voltage to 400 V low voltage with a nominal output of 2,000 kVA each.
In the event of a power failure, diesel generators are at hand to supply the data centre with electricity within seconds, thus ensuring continued operation. The diesel units are supplied with fuel from redundant tanks. If necessary, they can be refuelled while in operation.
To bridge the diesel generators’ start-up time, UPS systems (U ninterruptibleP owerS ystems) are at the ready. The autonomy time under full load is up to 30 minutes.
The low-voltage switchgear is located in a separate fire compartment. Remote reading guarantees constant network operation control.
Network connectivity
The TelemaxX data centres (data centre/colocation centre) are fully redundantly integrated into a fibre optic backbone based on SDH, IP and WDM within Karlsruhe via their own fibre optic infrastructure. Each location has at least two, sometimes even three, house entries. There are separate fibre optic distributors within the data centres, each in different rooms.
TelemaxX also maintains grid couplings with almost all well-known national and international carriers. Data transfers in Frankfurt or Stuttgart can also be implemented via redundant routes.
The IP backbone is currently connected to TIER-1 providers with a transmission speed of 3 x 20 Gbit/s, directly to the DE-CIX with 1 x 20 Gbit/s and additionally with 2 x 10 Gbit/s, 1 x 6 Gbit/s and 1 x 1 Gbit/s.