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purveyorsout therewhoarewilling to
be involvedandsupport thecustomer
throughout thisprocurementand
facilitizationprocess.
Regardingmaintenancechallenges,
manymodulardatacenterdesigns
requireaccess to internal infrastructure
componentsonly from theoutside,
usinganumberofdoorsplacedaround
themodule.New improveddesigns
involve fewerdoors thatenableaccess
toallofaunit’scomponents from the
inside.Performingmaintenance inside
themoduleeliminates thevulnerability
of thecontrolled internal environment
beingdegradedbymaintenancedoors
beingopen, often in inclementweather.
Whensuchunitsareadjoinedsideby
side, theirdirectlyaligneddoorways
connect tocreatecoldaisles
thatextend fromone
modularunit to thenext.
Again, akey improvement
with thisscheme is theability
toallowhumanoperators to
remain insideaunitwith
doorsclosed, rather than
having toperform
maintenance from the
outsidewithaccessdoors
remainingopen fora
prolongedperiod.
On thesubjectof regulatory
issues, differing
interpretationofcodes in
various locations from local
to international isnotanewchallenge.
Particularly in thecaseofmission
criticalmodulardatacenters, it isnot
uncommon toencounter regulatory
officialswhodiffer in their
interpretationofwhenamodulardata
center isa “pieceofequipment”or
considereda “building.”Modulardata
centersareparticularlysusceptible to
regulatoryconfusion. Standingalone
onasite, theycanbe regardedas
“equipment,”butwhenconnected ina
contiguousseries theycomprisea
“building.”Fortunately, thereare
locationswheremodular solutionshave
been installedwhosecode
interpretationscanhelpshape
appropriate regulatoryapproaches in
new locations.
Thebestapproach to take insuchcases
isastraightforwardone—sittingdown
withofficials inaconstructiveway to
work througheach issue.Manyofficials
welcome thiscollaborativeapproach to
determininghowcodescanbestbe
applied towhatmaybeunfamiliar
regulatoryscenariossuchasmodular
datacenters.
For thoseownerswho require
customizationofmodularunits, there
arepurveyorswhoareskilled in
tailoringaunit to the individualized
needsof specificsiteclimates, IT
requirements, on-site infrastructure
conditionsandclientpreferences.
Someof theseunitsmakeavailable
integrated framingsupport systems
thatcanaccommodatedifferent
architectural elements tomake
modularunitsaestheticallycompatible
with thecontextof surrounding
structures.
Likemanydynamicnew technologies,
modulardatacentershaveexperienced
a rapidgrowthcurve inperformance
improvement. Few ifanywouldargue
that theyare thebestchoice forevery
datamanagement scenario, butan
increasingnumberofownersare taking
aclose lookat theproveneconomic
andenvironmentalbenefitsof the
modularapproachaswell as theshort
timeframe forprovisioninga “go-live”
environmentcomparedwith traditional
construction. Suchownerscanbe
assured thatmanyof theconcerns
associatedwithmodules justahandful
ofyearsagohaveeitherbeen
significantly reducedoreliminatedat
thesame time that thebenefitsoffered
bymodularapproacheshavecontinued
to increase.
7X24MAGAZINE SPRING2014
BobKirkendall isArchitect/MissionCritical Specialist atCH2MHILL.He canbe
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