Italtel deploys green data centre for the University of Pisa

New facility supports teaching and research activities and meets strict sustainability criteria.

Tuesday, 7th November 2017 Posted 7 years ago in by Phil Alsop

Italtel – a leading telecommunications company in IT system integration, managed services, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and all-IP solutions – has designed and deployed a new green data center at the University of Pisa, one of Italy’s oldest universities.

Working within a Raggruppamento Temporaneo di Imprese (RTI, a temporary group of companies) with West Systems and Webkorner, Italtel built the data center within the Parco Regionale Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli. This is linked to the university by a fiberoptic ring, guaranteeing a high level of connectivity and reliability.

The data center has been built with best-of-breed technologies, including racks and air conditioning technologies with a guaranteed level of quality and efficiency, bringing a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) value of 1.17. This is even lower than the requirement of 1.3 needed to certify a data center as environmentally friendly and brings additional benefits such as reduced running costs.

“Because of their requirements for continuous power and air conditioning, data centers are traditionally associated with very high levels of energy consumption,” said Fiorenzo Piergiacomi, Head of Public Sector Account Unit at Italtel. “By choosing to create a green data center, the University of Pisa has reduced its environmental impact while also optimizing the available space and cutting ongoing maintenance costs.”

One of the key criteria for the University of Pisa when selecting its new technology infrastructure was that it meets its strict sustainability goals. Data centers are huge consumers of energy and having one that meets PUE targets while still reducing costs provided an ideal solution for the University.

The project was implemented by Italtel in just eight months, despite the infrastructure challenges posed by converting part of an existing building into a reliable and technologically-advanced data hub.