Zen Internet Case Study

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1 Zen Internet Case Study About Zen Internet Zen Internet is an independent Internet Service Provider (ISP) that offers a full range of data, voice, and hosting services to businesses and residential users in the United Kingdom (UK). Leveraging its Next Generation Network, state-of-the-art data centers, and in-house expertise, Zen Internet believes it is uniquely equipped to help businesses of any size make the most of expanding technology opportunities in a highly connected world. Over the past two decades, Zen Internet has built a reputation for providing quality service to consumers and corporate customers, with a range of Internet and IT services from high-speed broadband to dedicated servers, managed hosting, and cloud hosting. Zen Internet s power and energy footprint is far reaching, operating in more than 200 sites across the UK ranging from owned and managed data centers to third party co-location sites, network ISP, and Telco points of presence sites. In May 2012, Zen Internet opened a new $6 million ( 4m) Tier II data center. This is its third owned and managed site which provides additional space to grow the hosting segment of its business. The organization embraces a business philosophy that integrates social and environmental concerns into daily business operations and interactions with its stakeholders. For Zen Internet, this philosophy of corporate responsibility is a guiding principle on how it conducts business.

2 Company Zen Internet Ltd. Country Headquartered in the UK Industry Internet Service Provider Business Challenges Construct a new leading-edge and energy efficient data center and decrease the company s power and energy footprint. Panduit Solution Zen Internet deployed the following elements of the Panduit SmartZone Solutions: SmartZone Gateways and Appliances, which monitor and capture real-time data in each zone SmartZone Services, which helped analyze the physical infrastructure condition and requirements at the onset of the planning process SmartZone Solutions are part of the Panduit Intelligent Data Center Solutions portfolio Business Benefits A power and environmental management infrastructure with a holistic view of energy, and environmental parameters in Zen Internet s data centers and sites, resulting in improved operational and energy efficiencies with significant cost reductions, and improved facility performance. Leveraging State-of-the-Art Power and Infrastructure Solutions to Realize Energy and Operational Efficiencies Panduit helps Zen Internet monitor and manage its data center infrastructure to improve power and energy efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions Business Challenges As a rapidly growing organization, Zen Internet s data center infrastructure and business systems need to be agile and scalable. The demand on key business systems and their physical infrastructure grew as the company expanded, causing challenges to various aspects of its business operations. The demand on the organization s key business systems and physical infrastructure expands as the company expands causing challenges across multiple aspects of its business operations. As the server footprint for hosting and co-location customers increased, the cost for powering and cooling the server estate increased making capturing accurate energy and power usage information difficult. Furthermore, the increasing demand for more capacity and high density IT loads to support technologies, such as cloud and hosting services led to the demand for more power, cooling, and capacity. This resulted in dramatic increases in operational costs and put a substantial strain on Zen Internet s IT and facilities budgets. Since 2009, Panduit has worked closely with Zen Internet regarding a number of challenges that could be addressed through the application of Panduit Intelligent Data Center and SmartZone Solutions. Strategic Objectives For Zen Internet, maximizing its operational and energy efficiencies was paramount. With business expansion, the organization needed to orchestrate a phased construction of its new leading edge data center to enable growth of Zen Internet s hosting segment. A second phase of construction would enable the company to increase future capacity by more than 70%. It was important for the company to align with its goals of utilizing energy efficiently, reduction of carbon emissions, and compliance with UK regulatory carbon reduction targets. The organization set a target to reduce its CO 2 emissions by 5% each year in relation to revenue. To accomplish operational and energy efficiencies, Zen Internet needed its new data center to operate efficiently, while offering the latest technology to its customers. The company had insufficient tools to maximize energy efficiency, monitor environmental conditions, and manage IT infrastructures. Zen Internet needed solutions to provide the capability to monitor and manage its new data center and entire power and energy footprint of more than 200 sites. This would allow the company to address current needs and prepare for future growth. 2 visit

3 Zen Internet required a partner that could provide custom built, robust power control and environmental monitoring solutions. We also needed the confidence that the partner could suitably scale as we grew our hosting business. Having such a good close working relationship with Panduit has really helped meet all those requirements, and has provided us with the right tools to expand the range of services we provide to our customers in the future. David Horner, Senior Data Center Design Engineer, Zen Internet Panduit Solutions Panduit helped Zen Internet resolve issues through the application of SmartZone Solutions: Development of sustainable energy efficiency programs across Zen Internet s data centers Introduction of data center intelligence into its new (greenfield) data center Deployment of energy monitoring intelligence within its (brownfield) data centers Measurement, management, and improvement of power efficiency through power usage effectiveness (PUE) Enablement of remote monitoring to provide Zen Internet s customers with the functionality to access the data via a web-based portal Monitor how much power its customers are using to avoid under/over provisioning By understanding Zen Internet s challenges, Panduit was able to leverage a variety of SmartZone Solutions to provide a holistic view of connectivity, energy, and environmental parameters for Zen Internet s data centers, co-location, and server hosting sites. These solutions were designed to immediately improve operational and energy efficiencies, achieve rapid and significant cost reductions, and improve overall facility performance, with the intention of helping Zen Internet align with its corporate energy initiatives. 6 Zone Methodology Using its pioneering 6 Zone Methodology, Panduit dissected each of Zen Internet s data centers into six distinct zones to provide a complete picture of each facility from the building point-of-entry, to distribution systems, plant equipment, and the individual devices or assets within the racks. These assessments allowed Zen Internet to understand and discover potential power/energy, capacity, cooling, and asset/network infrastructure issues. This approach provided the framework for developing a tailored zone approach to energy and physical infrastructure management strategy within their new and legacy data centers, and other sites. Through the understanding of interdependencies between each of the operational zones within each data center or site, Panduit was able to help Zen Internet understand its data center infrastructure and opportunities to improve operational efficiencies, such as accurate power usage effectiveness (PUE). Unified Physical Infrastructure Solutions for New and Legacy Data Centers, Co-location, and Server Hosting Sites Within Zen Internet s existing hosting data centers, co-location, and server hosting sites, the company enlisted Panduit to provide a complete energy monitoring solution, which allowed them to remotely monitor and control power and capacity and provide customer reporting to promote more informed decision-making. Panduit deployed SmartZone power and environmental monitoring hardware primarily within Zones 5 and 6. Zone 5 monitoring specifically addresses load and capacity by rack, and Zone 6 addresses IT payload, asset and connectivity management. Rack and Cabinet Monitoring (Zone 5) SmartZone Solutions were deployed within Zen Internet s racks and free standing equipment. This included SmartZone Gateway-enabled PDUs (which replaced their existing dumb and unmonitored versions), environmental sensors, and gateways. The intelligent hardware provided granular data regarding a broad range of metrics from power usage, humidity, temperature and emissions, to leak detection, security, and rack level assets. 3

4 Panduit Solutions (continued) The information gathered by the SmartZone Solutions at Zone 5 enabled Zen Internet to measure and control power usage and infrastructure efficiency. Zen Internet was then able to see its capacity, power, environmental, and connectivity status for each data center, allowing more informed decision-making regarding energy/power, cooling, and capacity planning. Data was collected through SmartZone PDUs and Sensors via the Gateway processed in real-time and sent to Zen Internet s in-house management software. Deploying SmartZone power and environmental monitoring hardware within its racks enabled Zen Internet to monitor capacity and determine whether it was under or over provisioning power and space for its customers. Leveraging SmartZone Sensors to monitor temperature and humidity levels allowed Zen Internet to take measurements and trending information to identify opportunities for cooling cost reductions, and accurately advise new co-location customers coming into the data center. Device Monitoring (Zone 6) Within Zone 6, SmartZone Solutions monitor individual devices and provide trend and spot data at the outlet level. Extensive drill-down asset reporting is provided, including connectivity and power/energy consumption by location and server hardware. Data from this zone was collected through SmartZone PDUs and Sensors. This data was then processed in real-time through Zen Internet s in-house management system. Monitoring of connectivity within this zone (locally or remotely through a web portal) ensured that Zen Internet s networks remained secure, uninterrupted and error free, vastly reducing the risk of network downtime for its customers. As the cloud computing trend continues to gather momentum and businesses are increasingly reliant on IT systems to function, it has never been more important to ensure that a company s mission critical applications are hosted in a dedicated, energy efficient data center. This provides a secure, temperature controlled environment, which has access to reliable, resilient power and connectivity. Richard Tang, Managing Director, Zen Internet Zone 1: Building Point-of-Entry Monitors the building utility metering Point-of -Entry, providing power, oil, water, and gas consumption information and carbon emissions. Zone 2: Switchboard Distribution Board Monitors sub-meters at the main distribution board for Data Center related equipment. Zone 3: Plant Equipment Distributed monitoring of supporting facility services, including individual chillers, AHU, CRAC, UPS and lighting circuits. Zone 4: Branch Circuit Monitoring of Data Center Focuses on monitoring of total rack or cabinet IT loads and environmental conditions. Zone 5: Rack and Cabinet Level Monitoring Intelligent monitoring and control of power, environmental conditions, and cabinet-level security with asset tracking and capacity planning for the data center and enterprise. Zone 6: Device Level Monitoring Automated connectivity patch field management, as well as monitoring and control of per outlet or device power, within a data center or enterprise. Zone 2: Switchboard Zone 1: Distribution Board Building Point-of-Entry Zone 3: Plant Equipment Zone 6: Device Level Monitoring i Zone 4: Branch Circuit PDU Monitoring in Data Center Zone 5: Rack and Cabinet Level Monitoring visit 4

5 We needed a solution that would help us continue to provide high quality service to our customers through improved energy and operational efficiency within our data center. This would allow us to also reach our carbon reduction goals and improve our overall facility performance. David Horner, Senior Design Engineer, Zen Internet Business Benefits From initial contact with Panduit in 2009 to the present, Zen Internet has steadily invested in more SmartZone Solutions to grow its business and meet the increasing demands from its customers for more capacity and control of their energy and power usage. The following improvements were achieved: Increased energy efficiency across Zen Internet s data centers achieving a PUE rating of 1.6 (1 is optimum) Exceeded annual 5% target goal by achieving an 8% reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions Deployed additional SmartZone Power Distribution Units (PDUs), Gateways and Sensors on a modular basis, resulting in improved capacity management, cost savings, and improved energy efficiency Replaced existing dumb PDUs with customized SmartZone PDUs, specifically designed and manufactured for Zen Internet s co-location customers; this enabled the company to purchase in smaller volumes and meet its customers exact requirements Future Plans As Zen Internet continues to grow in scale to meet the increased need for virtualization and cloud hosting, so will the demand for greater capacity (i.e. more space, power and cooling). The ability to support this demand will inevitably put additional strain on Zen Internet s infrastructure and systems within its data centers and facilities. The roadmap for Zen Internet includes the implementation of SmartZone Infrastructure Management Software, which integrates with Zen Internet s intelligent PDUs, gateways, sensors, and third party devices to collect, filter and process real-time data, providing enhanced functionality and visibility across Zen Internet s entire physical infrastructure. The software will address Zen Internet s power and energy usage challenges, capacity constraints, environmental issues (temperature, humidity and carbon footprint), asset tracking, remote management, and security requirements to provide the tools and information needed to make intelligent decisions for its data operations, and to support its customers growing businesses. visit 5

6 Real-World Solutions With a proven reputation for excellence and innovation, Panduit and our partners work with you to overcome challenges and implement real-world solutions that create a competitive business advantage. Panduit offers the broadest range of solutions, from data centers and intelligent buildings to manufacturing operations, to help you build a smarter, unified business foundation. Technology Leadership Panduit develops innovative physical infrastructure solutions that meet the rapidly changing needs of our clients, from hardware and software to advisory services. This commitment is supported by investment in advanced research, solutions-focused product development, world-class manufacturing, and collaboration with customers at the forefront of technology. Partner Ecosystem Our best-in-class partner ecosystem offers a comprehensive portfolio of services that span the project lifecycle, from planning and design to delivery, deployment, maintenance, and operation. Panduit business partners distributors, and certified architects, consultants, engineers, designers, system integrators, and contractors are qualified to help you achieve your objectives and realize predictable and measurable results. Strategic Alliances Panduit cultivates long-term strategic alliances with industry leaders, including Cisco Systems, EMC, IBM, and Rockwell Automation, to develop, optimize, and validate solutions for our customers. This investment in people and resources helps solve our customers greatest business challenges. Global Business Commitment Panduit is committed to delivering a consistently high level of quality and service the world over. With a presence in more than 100 countries, local Panduit sales representatives and technical specialists offer guidance and support that bring value to your business. Our global supply chain, which includes manufacturing, customer service, logistics, and distribution partners, provides prompt response to your inquiries and streamlines delivery to any worldwide destination. Transform Your Physical Infrastructure Call or visit us online, we can show you how. Panduit Corp. World Headquarters Tinley Park, IL cs@panduit.com US and Canada: Europe, Middle East, and Africa: Latin America: Asia Pacific: Sustainability With a commitment to environmental sustainability, Panduit develops and implements solutions that protect, replenish, and restore the world in which we live. This commitment is demonstrated by Panduit s LEED Gold certified World Headquarters, leveraging the Unified Physical Infrastructure SM approach to enable convergence of critical building systems to drive energy efficiency and ongoing operational improvement Panduit Corp. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Printed in the U.S.A. CPCS42-SA--ENG 11/2013