Data Center Journal

VOLUME 38 | JUNE 2015

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28 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com possibly using cranes to pick up the larger equipment. Furthermore, the absence of one component oen means a standstill for the rest of the system deployment. Any changes at this stage can be very disrup- tive to the work and the timeline. is difference between the two processes ac- counts for many of the speed advantages of prefabrication. Additionally, on-site building requires permitting for "hot works" such as welding, drilling and so on. Oen, such details and safety concerns lengthen the building process or necessitate alternate, less optimal approaches—for example, screwing parts together instead of welding them. With prefabricated data centers, all those "hot works" are done in a controlled environment where permits are in place and safety is guarded by strict parameters. ose factors add to the timing and cost efficiencies as well as the overall quality of the solution. Most importantly, in a prefabricated data center, all systems are designed and configured in concert, resulting in a tightly integrated facility that can meet the highest standards of availability and efficiency. on-site assemBly With prefabrication, it's vital that the site location be chosen just as early in the process as it would be with traditional construction: that location will determine which lead vendor facility will undertake the project. It also will influence shipping considerations. Although there is some on-site assembly, it's now hundreds of parts rather than hundreds of thousands of parts. And, of course, the modularity that enables quick and cost-effective scalability also enables more-cost-effective trans- portation of the modules to their ultimate sites. It's worth noting that prefabrication versus traditional construction is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It's not uncom- mon for the IT/telecom parts of the data center facility to be prefabricated solutions whereas the attached offices and public spaces are stick-build construction. Back to the Car Analogy It's easy to see how assembling a car in the same place where the parts are made—with the benefits of an assembly line, experienced skilled labor and a built- in quality-control process—would yield a more reliable and more cost-effective product. Given all that depends on your data center and how quickly your organi- zation needs it to be online, the efficien- cies of off-site creation and assembly are compelling: simultaneously shaving 20% off costs and bringing your facility online up to 40% faster. As you can tell, we see prefabrica- tion as an option that should be seriously considered for any new project, and it should be evaluated for expansions and retrofits as well. For more information, browse our online prefabricated resources. n about the author: Eric Wilcox is the vice president of engineering and operations with Emerson Hyperscale Solutions. In his role, he is responsible for applying Emerson's industry-leading technology, products and engineering to provide unique problem-solving capabilities in the data center space. Eric can be contacted at 512-563-5600.

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