Schneider Electric and EfficiencyIT reduces data centre energy consumption by 33%

Tue 1 Oct 2024

Inside of a data centre with a person working in the background

Photo by Phil mynott

A UK specialist in data centres, IT, and critical communications, EfficiencyIT, along with digital automation and energy management company, Schneider Electric, has reduced energy consumption at the Wellcome Sanger Institute by 33% through a digital transformation initiative. The Institute is renowned for its work in genomic research and bioinformatics.

The project sought to increase the energy efficiency of its 4.5MW, genomic data centre in Cambridge and improve the resiliency and visibility of its critical systems using Schneider Electric EcoStruxure IT Advisor, on-premises data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) software, and more than 300 custom-designed APC™ Rack Power Distribution Unit (PDU) metering systems.

The initiative utilised data analytics, machine learning, and intelligent power monitoring to increase visibility across its data centre and distributed IT estate, remove stranded capacity and manage operating expenses (OpEx), despite the increasing energy cost.

Managing Director at EfficiencyIT, Nick Ewing, said the company has been a ‘strategic partner to the Sanger Institute’s data centre operations team for many years’. He added that seeing this project go full circle and deliver these energy savings is a testament to its vision for sustainable, cutting-edge science.

“Together, not only have we been able to reduce their data centre energy consumption by a third, but we have been able to gain valuable data to help improve operational efficiency, and increase the reliability of the power systems deployed in labs across the campus,” said Ewing.

At the same time, the Wellcome Sanger Institute has also used advancements in sequencing equipment, high-performance computing (HPC) and graphics processing unit (GPU) technologies from manufacturers to increase its computational output by 50%. EfficiencyIT said this computational capacity has been integral in accelerating the production of valuable research data, allowing the Wellcome Sanger Institute to both undertake and contribute to a host of ground-breaking projects.

Wellcome Sangar Institute Saves Energy and Lives

NVIDIA said the Wellcome Sanger Institute is also turning to NVIDIA accelerated computing to help save energy while saving lives, and by using its technologies, the Institute could save £745,955 ($1 million) and 1,000 megawatt-hours each year. This is roughly equivalent to amount of energy needed to power an average American home for a century.

Campus Data Centre Operation Manager at Wellcome Sanger Institute, Simon Binley, said the technologies hosted within the data centre power a host of HPC and GPU-intensive systems for both the complex genomic research they undertake on campus, and the applied sciences undertaker by its partners.

“As the hosting, density and energy requirements of these technologies change, it is vital that we keep the science as sustainable as possible. Our work with EfficiencyIT and Schneider Electric has played a key role in helping us save energy, while increasing our computational capability, significantly,” said Binley.

Data Centres and Lifesaving Science

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is based at the Wellcome Genome Campus and conducts key research into life sciences, human disease and genomic sequencing.

“Data centres, HPC, and AI have been integral to the life science sector for decades, and play a vital role in global lifesaving research, from cancer and dementia to infectious diseases,” said Mark Yeeles, VP Secure Power Division at Schneider Electric UK&I.

The vast quantities of data produced by its digital sequencers, and the speed at which it is generated, require high-density storage and hosting within its on-premises data centre, combined with high-performance computing (HPC) processing capabilities, AI, and GPUs.

In 2019, the Institute partnered with EfficiencyIT to implement Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ IT Advisor DCIM software. By leveraging AI and machine learning, they gained better visibility across their distributed IT estate, allowing for informed decisions to reduce data centre energy consumption. Custom-designed APC PDUs enabled rack-level metering and monitoring, crucial for accurately tracking power usage at the infrastructure level.

Prior to that, the Institute also deployed APC Smart-UPS uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to protect the sequencing machines hosted in its labs and protect them from power failures. A single outage could cause a catastrophic loss of data as these sequencers produce up to 4 terabytes (TB) of data a day.

Last week, the Pirbright Institute said it has enhanced its computing capabilities with a new modular data centre from Schneider Electric and Advanced Power Technology (APT), designed to support its ongoing viral research by improving capacity for scientific collaboration and data management.