The Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center (EEC) is located in Building 25 near the center of Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington corporate campus. At the EEC, customers, partners, and Microsoft’s product development organization work together to validate today’s latest enterprise solutions, increase interoperability, and discuss solutions to meet the rapidly increasing demands of the market.
 
Part of Microsoft’s Server & Tools division, and the premier customer-facing lab on campus, the EEC gives customers the opportunity to test Microsoft’s enterprise products and solutions to better learn how those products will perform in a replica of their estates. During an EEC engagement, customers can validate the next versions of Microsoft’s products in an environment similar to their production environments. They are also able to test their deployment plans as well as gather performance and environmental data to understand how these technologies will impact their overall IT strategy. By gathering this information before they deploy, customers are able to better understand their new solutions and mitigate the risks involved in IT growth, thus saving both time and money as they move forward. 
 
The EEC infrastructure contains over 1000 servers, more than 3.5 Petabytes of storage and a central switching fabric of over 20 Terabytes. A significant expansion project, completed in July 2009, enhanced the facility’s capacity and capabilities while increasing energy efficiency and, importantly, also providing the metering and tools to measure increasing levels of overall solution efficiencies. At the base of these new capabilities is the addition of Rittal’s TS8 server rack enclosures and LCP+ (Liquid Cooling Package) high-density, in-line cooling units. 

 

Expansion Project Timeline  

 

The EEC expansion project began in April of 2008 with initial presentations to Microsoft’s senior leadership highlighting the need for expansion of the facility to increase capacity and to implement new tools for reporting and management. Final approvals for the project were received in June 2008, at which time the planning and research phase began as Microsoft investigated a variety of available solutions to determine how best to meet their needs. In December of that year, Rittal modular TS8 server enclosures and LCP+ high-density cooling systems were selected as the best enclosure and cooling solutions for the EEC facility. Cooperative deployment planning with the Rittal engineering team was completed in January of 2009. The unique demands of the EEC facility required some modifications to the “customary” equipment implementation, but by working closely with the EEC team, Rittal was able to deliver what was needed. The Rittal units arrived for installation at the end of March 2009, and installation was completed in June 2009—allowing the EEC to meet its scheduled opening date of July 15, 2009. Before making a final decision on what products to use to complete its expansion project, the EEC reviewed solutions from all the leading manufacturers, and selected Rittal based on the LCP’s ability to accommodate higher densities and its data collection capabilities.  
According to Michael Dillon, principal program manager at the EEC, the decision to implement Rittal’s TS8 and LCP+ systems came down to two very important points—density and monitoring capabilities. “The first [reason] was because they support higher power densities. In order for us to host the number and size of customers that utilize the EEC, we needed to have racks that can support a large footprint of servers and blades [and an efficient, effective way to cool them]. The second was that the [LCP+] system would allow for a granular level of data collection so we can deliver the product teams and customers more information about their estates and how their products perform.” Dillon continues, “The LCP+ solution allows us to monitor and then provide power and cooling data from the engagements to our customers and product teams. This important data helps customers understand how their estates are performing.”
 
 
In the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center, there are currently 15 LCP+ high-density liquid cooling packages, modified with provisions to allow for the overhead water supplies required by the project specifications, and 32 Rittal 42U TS8 LCP-ready server enclosures—complete with solid front and rear doors to accommodate the closed loop LCP+ configuration and proprietary rail systems that allow for maximum internal mounting capabilities. 
 
Rittal’s scalable Liquid Cooling Packages (LCPs) can handle high heat densities (up to 44 kW per rack) and adapt to changing requirements as quickly as needed—all while reducing energy consumption and costs by up to 45%. At their core, Rittal LCPs are air-to-water heat exchangers that operate simply with connections to facility chiller systems that, in many cases, already exist on-site (Rittal can provide chiller systems if necessary). Heat energy from installed IT equipment is absorbed and removed from the enclosure, at the enclosure level, by water (which has a 3,500 times greater thermal capacity than air), and then fan modules circulate the cooled air created by this exchange through the equipment. Once the cycle is complete, the process is repeated.
 
Rittal LCPs are available in a variety of different styles that are intended to provide users with a tremendous amount of flexibility that allows for creative, efficient, and effective solutions that deliver unmatched returns for investment (many installations pay for themselves within two years of deployment via saved utility costs). Rittal Liquid Cooling Packages can be used in open or closed loop and hybrid configurations, with or without hot aisles and containment systems, and can either be designed into a new deployment or retrofitted to expand the efficiency of existing installations.
 
Rittal’s TS8 server and network enclosures are optimized for high-density installations with a modular design built around a patented 16-fold, continuously welded frame that increases dimensional stability by 30% and can carry loads of 3,200 pounds. Unique Z-shaped mounting rails, included as standard, help to create 29% greater internal mounting area by allowing users to take advantage of the interstitial or, “zero U,” space. Because TS8 enclosures are modular, they can be scaled to meet the needs of practically any size deployment.
 
Rittal offers a wide variety of sizes and styles of TS8 server and network enclosures, from the “standard” rack enclosure with perforated surfaces to facilitate optimum airflow to the LCP-ready enclosures used by the EEC with solid surfaces intended to contain it. Additionally, colocation, UL Type 12 networking enclosures (primarily used in factory environments), and custom or cooperatively designed solutions are also available within the TS8 line of products.
Now in operation for a number of months, Rittal’s LCP+ and TS8 enclosure systems are part of an overall monitoring/reporting solution used by the EEC called “EnPower.” Once this solution is fully implemented, the EEC will be able to document all environmental data points on a per rack enclosure, server, or engagement basis. This is crucial because, under their engagement model, the equipment in an enclosure is used differently based on the customer architecture and the software solutions they are validating. 
 
Commenting on the role of Rittal’s solutions in the overall functionality of the EEC, principal program director, Michael Dillon says, “The LCP’s are a vital part of our data collection system that allow us to deliver data to the product teams on how efficient the code is so our applications can take full advantage of compute power and be more sustainable.”