Wellcome Sanger Institute selects EfficiencyIT for new data centre upgrade

UK-based data centre design and build consultancy wins power upgrade contract with genomics research leader

UK data centre consultancy EfficiencyIT has secured a new contract with the Wellcome Sanger Institute to deploy over 300 custom Schneider Electric PDU metering systems at its 4MW data centre near Cambridge.

EfficiencyIT, which has a long-standing relationship with the Institute, said the upgrade will deliver important insights into energy consumption and unused capacity and help the genomics leader lower operational expenditure.

By giving IT and C-level decision-makers better visibility into energy usage at Europe’s largest genomic data centre, reducing power consumption and providing savings, the upgrade will also open up additional funds for Wellcome’s life sciences research. 

In 2019, under the guidance of EfficiencyIT, the Institute selected Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT DCIM platform to increase visibility across its IT estate and improve energy efficiency.

“Our focus has always been to consult, advise and support the Institute in achieving its digital transformation objectives,” said Nick Ewing, Managing Director, EfficiencyIT.

“This second phase will see the deployment of new custom-designed APC power distribution systems, enabling the Wellcome Sanger Institute to identify stranded capacity, improve energy usage and lower its carbon footprint; all while ensuring uptime, data security and protecting the organisations on site.”

Wellcome Sanger Institute conducts research into life sciences, human disease and genomic sequencing. Its fleet of sequencing machines is powered by an on-premise data centre with huge storage, power and high performance computing (HPC) processing capabilities. 

“The research we undertake is sensitive, complex and imperative to life science progress,” said Simon Binley, Data Centre Manager, Wellcome Sanger Institute.

“The data centre plays a fundamental role in ensuring continuity for mission-critical applications, and by optimizing its performance we can reduce costs and become more sustainable, while identifying energy savings that will create more funding for life-saving science.”