China Unicom is investing in a new impressive data center to underpin its Wo-Cloud service, sealing its commitment to innovation and premium services.
By Wang Yang, Han Jiaan
China Unicom calls its Wo-Cloud service “a base in the cloud for all your data.” With the construction of a new cloud data center in Guian set to underpin this service, the Chinese telco has sealed its commitment to stimulating change through innovation and services that create value for customers.
Keeping standards high
Jiao Gang, GM of China Unicom’s Cloud Data Company, believes today’s explosive trends to be mobile Internet and smart city applications in the areas of governance, transport, healthcare, education, and travel. Enriched by virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics, a new crop of technologies, services, and applications are producing massive amounts of data every day, which requires high-standard cloud data centers to host. To meet the burgeoning demand for cloud data services, China Unicom has shifted its focus to cloud data centers.
Since its launch in December 2013, China Unicom’s Wo-Cloud is increasingly regarded by government and enterprise clients as a solution that offers unique strengths in automation, cloud-network integration, and controllable security.
Designated by Guizhou’s local authority as a hub for developing big data and cloud services, Guian New Area will be home to China Unicom’s new cloud data center, adding to the ten that the telco runs in nearby Guiyang. Thanks to good air, a temperate climate, and a reliable power supply, the region is a solid geographical choice for deploying this tech.
The Guian cloud data center is set to be a core node in China Unicom’s southwestern cloud computing platform. As well as becoming China Unicom’s largest data center in the south of China and Asia’s largest single modular data center, it will also take a spot in China’s top ten largest cloud computing centers and top three cloud resource pools. Covering 300,000 square meters with 32,000 racks and 400,000 servers, the data center will provide cloud computing and big data services for Guizhou and the south of China.
Short and green
Designed to meet international standards in performance, clustering, response, and energy efficiency, the data center project is divided into three phases. Already completed, the first phase saw 1,108 cabinets deployed and 22,288 physical frames planned – the latter will be used as the basis of renting Guizhou Unicom’s data center server room.
To generate revenue as quickly as possible, China Unicom laid down two construction requirements: keep the time short and the scheme green. Although these goals align with the rapid growth of the data center sector and government mandates on protecting the environment, China Unicom couldn’t meet either using traditional methods; however, Huawei’s modular data center solution could.
One-stop shop
Strong on simplicity, energy efficiency, and reliability, Huawei’s modular data center solution can easily scale capacity and density to meet services needs. Thus, China Unicom deployed 62 micro-modules in six months to rapidly deploy the first-phase cabinets and swiftly roll out services.
The data center meets national A-class standards and international Tier 3+ standards for server rooms by virtue of 2N configuration for power distribution, N+1 configuration for cooling, and 2N configuration for critical loading in other server rooms. Huawei ensures 99.999 percent power system safety and reliability via 52 high-power modular UPS5000-E units. Featuring industry-leading topology, this UPS series provides back-up power for IT equipment and key auxiliary equipment, while the modular design supports hot-swapping between modules, thus minimizing maintenance and service outages.
Energy-efficient
In-row air conditioning, aisle-containment technology, and modular UPS combine to reduce power usage effectiveness (PUE) across the data center to less than 1.3 PUE. Installing the air con system and cabinets side-by-side for near-end refrigeration prevents localized over-heating and precision cooling, which saves energy. Moreover, separating the hot air and cold air increases cooling efficiency, improving PUE and slashing OPEX.
China Unicom chose the Huawei UPS5000-E because of its high efficiency at low-load: efficiency is 95 percent with a 20 percent load and 96 percent with a 40 percent load.
Given that the industry average for UPS efficiency in megawatt data centers is just 90 percent, Huawei’s UPS5000-E will save China Unicom at least 3 million yuan in electricity costs annually and make a real difference in energy savings and emissions.
Looking ahead
With the first phase completed, the Guizhou branch deputy GM Chen Jinghua commended Huawei on its rapid progress and excellent results, stating that the “Guian cloud data center is a perfect real-world example of Huawei’s modular data center.” The solution will help China Unicom on its mission to keep rolling out high-value, innovative services for users.
Huawei’s is consolidating its extensive experience in this domain by increasing R&D investment in global data center solutions, with further successes anticipated. To date, Huawei has constructed more than 660 data centers around the world, making a clear contribution to growing the industry.
