Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/522582
THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 27 www.datacenterjournal.com where construction takes place. Does it happen on the site where the data center will ultimately operate, or off site at a ven- dor location? Many factors, detailed below, contribute to the benefits of building the modules in the vendor facility. talent anD geograPhiC loCation e location where a data center is needed doesn't always match the location where it is most cost effective and practi- cal to build. Bringing in the specific skill sets needed to build a data center in rural locations, where the talent pool might be limited, can mean a significant cost spike. Similarly, some countries require the use of expensive union labor to build a data center. For traditional construction, your building location is set. e labor factors that are associated with that particular site are locked in. With the prefabricated data center option, construction can happen anywhere the lead vendor has assembly operations, which should span every world region. at means talent can be chosen to bal- ance skill set, labor cost and transporta- tion logistics. And in this scenario, the skilled talent required is likely employed by the vendor and, thus, experienced in data center creation. e talent portion of the equation contributes significant cost savings to the prefabricated approach (in addition to boosting quality and speed). PerformanCe, safety anD effiCienCy When hundreds of thousands of electronic pieces are coming together, there are always kinks to iron out. In prefabrication, this concern is addressed through complete assembly that ideally includes thermal management, power distribution, controls and management soware, and services—plus ancillary systems such as lighting, fire protection, physical security and water treatment. e solution is integrated, tested and perfected in the vendor facility before it is shipped. Further, it's possible for a vendor to replicate much of the commission- ing process right in its own facilities. In our case, before the prefabricated units are ever shipped, customers are invited to walk through and make tweaks to the final product during factory acceptance testing. Sometimes that means hundreds of interconnected cabinets going live in the construction facility, which can highlight changes the customer never would have thought about before seeing the system at work on site. Although the solution remains in the factory, executing such changes is minor. In the stick-build approach, hun- dreds of individual cabinets are coming together for the first time on-site—pos- sibly with someone hanging drywall over the installers' heads at the same time. Should the need for a change be uncovered in the commissioning process, an entire subsystem may need removal,