Advancing the next-generation data center

First published on Siemens Executive Pulse Blog

Last month, a post here highlighted a new chapter in the evolution of data centers: growing the cloud in a more sustainable manner. 

On that note, this week, Siemens joined Microsoft, McKinstry and Cummins to celebrate an important milestone: the opening of the world’s first gas datacenter in Seattle.

Though natural gas powered systems have been around for decades, it had not yet been translated to operate a power-hungry datacenter environment. Until now.

Using fuels cells powered directly by natural gas, Microsoft will aim to nearly double the energy efficiency of datacenters all while simplifying the process of powering servers.

This pilot project, named the Advanced Energy Lab, consists of a 20-rack datacenter in Seattle. Instead of relying on the electrical grid for its power, it will only require a natural gas source and fuel cells to provide the necessary power.

That’s where Siemens comes in. Once you create the power, the question becomes ‘how does one most effectively distribute and manage the energy across a highly consumptive, technologically complex system?’ We believe digitalization is the answer. Microsoft is relying on Siemens software to monitor points across the system as it’s transferred to the point of consumption. You can think of this system like the datacenters’ dashboard. It gives operators a real-time view inside the center’s power operation and provides guidance how the power should flow.

This digital insight will ultimately help Microsoft and its partners determine the ideal efficiency of the fuel cell so other systems across the world can implement this clean energy technology. And, considering the datacenter industry consumes two percent of the electricity in the U.S. per annum, moving to more renewable sources of energy can have a huge impact on sustainability.

Siemens is thrilled to once again partner with Microsoft to move the datacenter market further into a clean energy future. It’s a commitment that began back in 2014 when Siemens worked with Microsoft and other partners to help build the world’s first zero-carbon, biogas-powered datacenter in Cheyenne, WY. The clean, efficient data center operation here in Seattle is a product of our experiences in Wyoming and across the global datacenter market.

Congratulations to Microsoft, Cummins, McKinstry and the rest of the teams who have worked diligently to get this pilot up and running. We were proud to be on-hand to help celebrate the milestone.