Emerson Network Power Enhances Data Center Design Capabilities via Collaboration with Future Facilities
Emerson Network Power announced its collaboration with Future Facilities, a design and operational solution provider for mission-critical facilities. As part of the agreement, Emerson Network Power and its Liebert business gain access to Future Facilities’ 6SigmaDC suite of software products that are claimed to help data center managers optimize facility operational performance while enhancing the resiliency and flexibility of its design.
Emerson Network Power will equip its Liebert design team with 6SigmaDC to accurately evaluate the ventilation performance of new and existing data centers. Future Facilities will incorporate data on Liebert precision cooling units from Emerson Network Power into its 6SigmaDC computational fluid dynamics (CFD) mathematical models of IT and other infrastructure equipment.
"Proper planning for power and cooling needs is the number one issue facing today’s data center managers," said Fred Stack, Vice President of Marketing, Liebert business, Emerson Network Power. "Future Facilities’ success in integrating the complex strands of CAD, CFD and load capacity management will complement our data center environmental assessment activities, which are designed to help customers understand their current status and provide them a change management tool for analyzing data center evolution."
6SigmaDC was introduced to empower data center designers and managers to fully test the effectiveness of facility layouts using tailored and predictive three-dimensional modeling that includes heat distribution within dynamic environments. A Virtual Facility© virtualization tool allows the scientific validation of considerations such as room dimensions, floor void depth, rack layout, the proper location of air handling units, and redundancy in cooling. From an operational perspective, an IT inventory management module helps to ensure that the layout remains accurate as utilization changes.
The two organizations plan to develop additional applications such as capital and operational cost analytical tools, as well as energy efficiency metrics for the power, cooling and space dimensions of facilities.
