JP2012248046A - Container type data center - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container type data center capable of ensuring a satisfactory work space at the front side and the rear side of a rack.SOLUTION: In a container type data center 1, a container 10 has power source facilities and air conditioning facilities therein and plural racks 11 for storing various apparatuses such as a server apparatus and a network apparatus are disposed in a row. Plural rows of the racks 11 are disposed in a depth direction on a floor of the container 10. In each row of the racks 11, when the front side of a first row of the racks 11 is positioned neighboring to a second row of the racks 11, the front side of the first row of the racks 11 faces to the front side of the second row of the racks 11. When the rear side of the first row of the racks 11 is positioned neighboring to a third row of the racks 11, the rear side of the first row of the racks 11 faces to the rear side of the third row of the racks 11. The size of at least a front side work space 16 or a rear side work space 17 is larger than the depth of the rack 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology related to the configuration of a data center, and more particularly to a technology effective when applied to a so-called container-type data center in which equipment such as a server is installed in a structure capable of transporting a container for cargo transportation. It is.

  In recent years, with the progress of the use of IT technology by companies, a large number of IT devices such as servers and network devices such as servers and network devices related to information processing systems used for business have been centralized and arranged in the data center for centralized operation. In many cases, management is performed. In these forms, for example, the form in which the company performs its own operation management, the form in which the operation management is outsourced to an IT vendor, etc., the IT resources owned and managed by the IT vendor, etc., are provided to the user as needed. There are some forms of cloud computing services. In addition, the data center may be owned in-house or borrowed from a data center owned and operated by an IT vendor or the like.

  The data centers used in various forms as described above mainly have various facilities for stable operation of a large number of IT devices (for example, cooling of redundant power supply facilities, network lines, air conditioning, etc.)・ Exclusive large-scale facilities that have exhaust heat equipment, floor structure suitable for equipment layout, earthquake-resistant structure, security equipment, etc.) are used.

  On the other hand, as a response to the need to install a data center more simply and quickly, the equipment elements in the data center such as server equipment, network equipment, power supply / air conditioning, etc. are installed in a container for freight transportation. Therefore, the use of small and portable data centers such as so-called container type data centers that can function as data centers is spreading. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,278,273 (Patent Document 1) describes a modular data center comprising one or more modules in which a plurality of computers are mounted in a container for freight transportation and a cooling air conditioning system. ing.

  Further, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-177836 (Patent Document 2) includes a rectangular parallelepiped room box and various devices in the room box, an electromagnetic shield applied to the side wall and the top plate, and a floor. The terminal is connected to the vibration control leg attached to the back of the door, the entry system attached to the side of the door for entry / exit management and security management, the DC power supply for operating the server, and the terminal device Easy installation by having a wiring panel, an optical access device that converts an optical signal input from the outside through an optical fiber into an electrical signal, and outputs it to a server, and a video monitoring device that constantly images the room A portable computer room is described that can be used immediately from the date of installation.

  Such portable data centers (hereinafter collectively referred to as “container-type data centers”) can be easily and quickly built in a short period of time and are low in cost. It has the advantage that there are few restrictions, such as. Further, by adopting a building block method in which a plurality of containers are combined, it is easy to add or remove in units of containers, and there is also an advantage of improving expandability and flexibility while avoiding unnecessary investment.

US Pat. No. 7,278,273 JP 2003-177836 A

  In the conventional container-type data center, with regard to the arrangement of the server equipment, etc., in order to efficiently use the limited space such as the container for freight transportation, as many server equipment as possible are mainly arranged. It has been sought. Therefore, server devices in containers (usually stored in racks) are usually arranged in one or more rows along the long side direction (the length / depth direction of the container) on the floor of the container. Be placed.

  However, when various racks are arranged in this way, the work space for maintenance personnel and the like on the front side and the back side of each rack depends on the length in the short side direction of the container floor (container width). Become. Since the width of a general container for freight transportation is standardized at 8 feet (about 2.4 m), for example, when a rack with a depth of 1 m is arranged in a row, the working space is about 80 to 90 cm at the maximum. (For example, the work space on the rear side of the rack is 50 cm and the work space on the front side of the rack is 90 cm).

  That is, the conventional container-type data center has been mainly aimed at improving the storage capacity of server equipment and the like even at the expense of the comfort and ease of maintenance of maintenance personnel. However, in such a narrow work space, for example, a general-purpose server or the like having a size that requires the entire depth of the rack (about 1 m in depth) cannot perform operations such as carrying in and installing in the rack itself. Or, it may be difficult, and it may be impossible to take advantage of the characteristics of a container-type data center, such as a simple and quick construction of a data center at a low cost, such as the need to design a dedicated server device.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a container type data center that can sufficiently secure work spaces on the front side and the back side of a rack. The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  Of the inventions disclosed in this application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  A container type data center according to a typical embodiment of the present invention has a power supply facility and an air conditioning facility inside a transportable structure having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and stores various devices including server devices and network devices. A container-type data center in which a plurality of racks are arranged in a row, and has the following characteristics.

  That is, in the container-type data center, a plurality of rows of the racks are arranged along the short side direction on the floor surface of the structure, and for each row of the racks, the front side of the row of the first rack is When there is a second rack row adjacent on the front side, the third rack is opposed to the front side of the second rack row and the back side of the first rack row is adjacent on the back side. Are arranged so as to face the back side of the third rack row, and the size of the work space on the front side or the back side of each row of the rack is It is characterized by being larger than the depth of the rack.

  Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, effects obtained by typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  According to the typical embodiment of the present invention, in the container-type data center, work spaces on the front side and the rear side of the rack can be sufficiently secured, and comfort and ease of maintenance can be greatly improved. It becomes possible.

It is the top view which showed the outline | summary about the example of arrangement | positioning of the rack etc. in the container type data center which is one embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view which showed the outline | summary three-dimensionally about the example of arrangement | positioning of the rack etc. in the container type data center of one embodiment of this invention. It is the top view which showed the outline | summary about another example of arrangement | positioning of the rack etc. in the container type data center of one embodiment of this invention. It is the top view which showed the outline | summary about the example of arrangement | positioning of the rack etc. in the conventional container type data center. It is the perspective view which showed the outline | summary three-dimensionally about the example of arrangement | positioning of the rack etc. in the conventional container type data center.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted. In the following, in order to make the features of the present invention easier to understand, the description will be made in comparison with the prior art.

  FIG. 4 is a top view showing an outline of an example of arrangement of racks and the like in a conventional container type data center. FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing the outline of an example of the arrangement of racks and the like in the conventional container type data center as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the conventional container type data center 2, generally, as described above, a plurality of racks 21 and equipment panels 22 are arranged in the container 20, and the long side on the floor surface of the container 20. It is arranged in a line along the direction (the length / depth direction of the container).

  Here, the rack 21 collectively stores one or more devices and devices necessary for operation as a data center, such as server devices, network devices, UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), air conditioning devices, and the like. Structure, which is generally standardized in size. The equipment panel 22 is an interface for managing, controlling, and using various equipment such as a power source and a network.

  The container-type data center 2 further has an entrance 24 on one short side of the floor surface of the container 20, and an area that partitions the outside of the container 20 and an area for storing the rack 21 at a portion in contact with the entrance 24. It has the front chamber 23 which is. By having the front chamber 23, for example, when the container-type data center 2 is installed outdoors in the summer, the area in which the rack 21 is stored is prevented from coming into contact with the outside air, and the internal cooling efficiency is maintained. can do.

  Here, as described above, for example, when the depth of the rack 21 is 1 m, if 60 cm is secured as the rear working space 27 of the rack 21, the front working space 26 can be secured only about 75 cm. Therefore, a server device having a size that requires the entire depth of the rack 21 (such as a depth of about 1 m) such as a general-purpose server cannot perform operations such as carry-in and installation on the rack 21 or is difficult. In some cases, a general-purpose server cannot be used, and it is necessary to design and manufacture a server device having a dedicated size.

  Therefore, in the container-type data center which is an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of racks are arranged in a plurality of rows along the short side direction of the container, thereby sufficiently securing the work space on the front side and the back side of the rack. . FIG. 1 is a top view showing an outline of an example of arrangement of racks and the like in a container type data center according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a three-dimensional outline of an example of the arrangement of racks and the like in the container-type data center according to the present embodiment as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the container-type data center 1 of the present embodiment, a plurality of racks 11 are arranged in the container 10 along the short side direction (the container width direction) on the floor surface of the container 10. Two rows are arranged. Note that the racks 11 in each row are arranged so that the front surface and the back surface are in the same direction.

  Since a general cargo transportation container 10 has a length of 20 feet (about 6 m) or 40 feet (about 12 m), for example, a rack 11 having a depth of 1 m using a 20-foot container 10 is shown in FIG. When arranged as shown, a sufficiently large front-side work space 16 of about 170 cm can be secured on the front side of the rack 11 (in this embodiment, the work space of the rack 11 is the row of the racks 11. And the vertical length is expressed as “size”). Therefore, for example, even if the equipment panel 12 is arranged at a position as illustrated in the front side work space 16, there is a sufficient margin, and comfort and ease of maintenance can be greatly improved. Further, since the front-side work space 16 larger than the depth of the rack 11 can be secured, it is possible to easily carry in and store a server device having a size that requires the entire depth of the rack 11 such as a general-purpose server.

  In the present embodiment, the front working space 16 of the rack 11 is configured to be larger than the rear working space 17, but conversely, the rear working space 17 may be configured to be larger. Good.

  Here, as shown in the figure, by arranging the two rows of racks 11 so as to face each other on the back side, the back side work space 17 is shared by two rows, and the back side work space 17 is individually provided in each row. The space can be used more efficiently than the provision of the space (in the example of FIG. 1, the back side work space 17 of 70 cm is shared by the racks 11 in two rows). The frequency of work performed by maintenance personnel or the like on the server device or the like stored in the rack 11 is not so high (particularly in the case of the back side), and therefore the back side work space 17 is divided into two rows of racks 11. There is no practical problem even if shared.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the front chamber 13 and the inlet 14 are arranged on one long side of the floor surface of the container 10 so as to contact the ends of the pair of racks 11 facing each other on the back side. The work space on the front side of each row of the racks 11 is divided into two front side work spaces 16 together with the set of two rows of racks 11, and from the front chamber 13 to 2. The front work space 16 and the back work space 17 can be made to come and go through doors or the like. Thereby, while maintaining internal cooling efficiency, the ease of maintenance work can be maintained.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, spaces are provided between each row of racks 11 and the front chamber 13 and the ceiling of the container 10, and the air conditioner is installed in a conventional container type data center. 2 is not a rack-type air conditioner that is generally used in 2, but as a ceiling-type air conditioner 18 that is generally used for business use or the like. Place on the ceiling. This makes it possible to use the work space more efficiently. In the configuration as shown in FIG. 2, the back side work space 17 becomes a hot area where exhaust heat from the equipment in the rack 11 is released, and the two front side work spaces 16 include the ceiling-type air conditioner 18. It will be a cold area where cold air from is supplied.

  In addition, in order to ensure the ease of carrying in apparatus etc., you may make it provide the entrance 15 as shown in each short side in the floor surface of the container 10 so that it may illustrate. Moreover, in the example of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, although the length of the container 10 is 20 feet, the container 10 of 40 feet can also be used. In this case, two or more rows of racks 11 may be provided. At this time, the front side of each row of racks 11 is opposed to the front side of the row of adjacent racks 11 on the front side, and the rear side thereof is relative to the rear side of the row of adjacent racks 11 on the rear side. Arrange to do. Thereby, not only the back side work space 17 but also the front side work space 16 can be shared between adjacent rows of racks 11, and the space can be used efficiently. A plurality of front chambers 13 and inlets 14 may be provided depending on the number of rows of racks 11.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the use of the container type data center 1 is used as a normal “data center” for operating and managing server devices and the like is taken as an example, but the work space on the front side of the rack 11 in each row is used. For example, any one of the front-side work spaces 16 can be used as a simple office by utilizing the structure in which 16 is partitioned.

  FIG. 3 is a top view showing an outline of another example of the arrangement of the racks 11 and the like in the container type data center 1 of the present embodiment. In the example of FIG. 3, one of the rows of the racks 11 in FIG. 1 is not arranged, but instead, for example, a work having furniture such as a desk and chair and a client terminal 19 such as a PC (Personal Computer) and peripheral devices such as a printer. A space is arranged to form an office area such as a simple window having the entrance 15 as an entrance. Further, the rear side work space 17 in the other row of the racks 11 is partitioned by a partition or the like. Thereby, for example, a simple / temporary branch office such as a government office in a disaster or the like, a mobile office, etc. can be easily and quickly constructed.

  In general, a server device or the like is vulnerable to fine dust or dust such as toner discharged from a printer, and may be affected when installed and used in a location close to or open to these. However, in the container type data center 1 of the present embodiment, unlike the conventional container type data center 2, the front side work space 16 is partitioned, so that one of them can be used as a simple office. While being easily usable, it is possible to perform operation management of the server devices and the like housed in the rack 11 in parallel.

  As described above, according to the container-type data center 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the work space on the front side and the rear side of the rack 11 can be sufficiently secured, so that comfort and maintenance can be ensured. The ease can be greatly improved. Further, since the work space is wide, even a general-purpose server can be easily carried in and stored in the rack 11.

  In addition, while maintaining the function as a data center, it is also possible to easily use a part of the partitioned work space as a simple office or the like. It can be used effectively.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the case of storing server equipment or the like in a container for cargo transportation has been described as an example, but not limited to a container for cargo transportation, it can be transported and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, Any structure having a capacity capable of accommodating server equipment or the like can be used as appropriate.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a so-called container type data center in which equipment such as a server is installed in a structure capable of transporting a cargo transportation container or the like.

1, 2, ... Container type data center,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 20 ... Container, 11, 21 ... Rack, 12, 22 ... Equipment panel, 13, 23 ... Front room, 14, 24 ... Inlet, 15 ... Carry-in entrance, 16, 26 ... Front side work space, 17, 27 ... Back side work space, 18 ... ceiling-suspended air conditioner, 19 ... client terminal.

Claims (5)

A container-type data center that has power supply facilities and air conditioning facilities inside a transportable structure having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a plurality of racks that house various devices including server devices and network devices. There,
A plurality of rows of the racks are arranged along the short side direction on the floor surface of the structure,
For each row of the racks, when the front side of the first rack row is adjacent to the front side of the second rack row when there is a second rack row adjacent on the front side, When there is a third rack row adjacent on the rear side, the rear side of the row of racks is arranged to face the rear side of the third rack row,
A container-type data center characterized in that at least one of the work spaces on the front side or the back side of each row of the racks is larger than the depth of the racks. In the container-type data center according to claim 1,
Having a front chamber and an inlet on one long side of the floor surface of the structure so as to be in contact with the ends of the two sets of racks facing each other on the front side or the back side;
The container-type data center, wherein the front chamber is configured to be able to come and go with respect to the work space on the front side and the back side of each of the rows of racks that contact each other. In the container type data center according to claim 1 or 2,
A container-type data center comprising a ceiling-suspended air conditioner in a ceiling portion above a work space on the front side or the back side of the row of racks in the structure. In the container type data center according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Between the fourth rack row adjacent to the doorway and the fifth rack row adjacent to the fourth rack row, having an doorway on one short side of the floor of the structure. A container-type data center characterized in that the fourth rack row is replaced with a business space having client terminals and peripheral devices to form a simple counter or office space. In the container type data center according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The container type data center, wherein the structure is a container for cargo transportation.

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