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Creating a one-stop provider for IT system
proposals from servers to facility construction including power
supply and air conditioning systems
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Hewlett-Packard Japan (Headquarters: Shinagawa
Ward, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yasuyuki Higuchi) and NTT Facilities
(Headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo, President and CEO: Ryuji Nunotani)
have formed a business alliance that covers a wide range of areas
related to server system facilities. These areas range both from
the introduction of large-scale information-processing systems
such as blade servers to facility construction, including power
supply and air conditioning systems as well as from facility assessment
consulting to system integration and maintenance. Provision of
solution services based on this business alliance began on August
27, 2004.
This alliance will make possible the provision
from a single vendor of more reliable and safer, and environmentally
considerate, system environment construction for server systems;
systems whose total power consumption has been increasing significantly
in recent years.
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We are now in an age in
which all corporate business operations are handled by IT systems,
and the role of those systems has become critical. Furthermore, the
facilities, i.e. the buildings, and equipment, that support these
systems, are themselves important elements of the IT system. Thus
operating environment construction that takes into account overall
compatibility of the facilities is critical in providing safe and
stable IT system operation.
Additionally, the following three problems have surfaced recently in the area
of power supply and thermal (environmental) issues in IT systems
in the corporate IT system environment.
(1)
Increased performance and higher density in IT equipment
Due to the increasingly widespread use of the Internet and other IT functions,
the demands placed on IT equipment have been increasing over the years.
Also, to install even more equipment in limited space, the installation
density and performance of IT equipment have been increased and the ratio
of equipment such as rack mounted servers2 and blade servers has increased.
At the same time, although the performance of the latest high-performance
CPUs has improved, the power dissipation and heat generation have increased
as well. Furthermore, the trend in system configurations towards server
consolidation3 has progressed, and the trend towards installing large
numbers of servers that have high power dissipation and generate large
amounts of heat is accelerating. This has resulted in the appearance
of problems such as power
supply and air conditioning infrastructure becoming inadequate. Thus
a stable power supply infrastructure and an air conditioning system that
can maintain the computer system room at an appropriate temperature are
becoming increasingly critical issues.
(2)
IT system structure (Unnecessary power dissipation = environmental
problems)
While the power provided by the power company is AC, CPUs and other components
that operate inside a server run on DC. As a result, modern power supply
systems that use an uninterruptible power supply involve four stages
of power conversion: AC -> DC
-> AC -> DC. Since conversion losses occur in the converters, the more conversion stages
the higher the power loss in the whole power supply system, and much
power is wasted. Since power loss leads to the generation of heat, the
air conditioning system capacity or number of units must be increased.
This can have an adverse influence on the environment. With the recent
increasing awareness of CSR (corporate social responsibility), we feel
that it is impossible to ignore these concerns when a company creates
its IT environment.
(3)
There are no vendors who can propose total solutions from the
IT system through the facilities that house that system.
Until now in Japan, vendors that supplied servers, system integrators,
and vendors that supplied IT facilities such as power supply and air
conditioning systems all made proposals to their customers independently
and individually. This resulted in an environment in which it was difficult
to construct overall systems that included both the IT systems and the
facilities effectively and efficiently.
To respond to these problems, HP Japan and
NTT Facilities have now formed an alliance that takes mutual
advantage of both companies' technologies, services, and know-how
in their specialties and that makes it possible for them to provide,
from a single vendor, server system environment construction
solutions which is from server and other IT hardware acquisition
to facility construction including power supply and air conditioning.
This business alliance will reduce our customers' TCO (total
cost of ownership) for their IT systems and facilities and can
contribute to increased competitiveness. At the same time, this
alliance will also contribute to creating an even more environmentally
considerate, and reassuring and safe basic infrastructure for
contemporary IT society.
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Recent server computer systems
have seen increases in power consumption, heat generation, and weight
per unit floor area due to higher system densities and increased
CPU power. Both quantitative evaluation of latent risks as well as
overall reliability, including that of the facilities, are critical
for stable and reliable IT system operation. Both of our companies,
as groups of professionals in the IT, energy, and construction fields,
will evaluate collectively the risks in our customers' IT systems
and the facilities that support those systems and contribute to improved
reliability of the IT infrastructure, which is indispensable to corporate
operations. Under this alliance, we will perform the following assessment
services and provide concrete solutions.
(1) Consulting services
- IT system construction support service
- Power supply system diagnostic service
- Air conditioning system diagnostic
service
- Earthquake resistance diagnostic service
- Lightning resistance diagnostic service
- EMC diagnostic service
- Security system diagnostic service
(2) Proposal
of integrated server solutions based on the latest servers
We will propose system construction and services for integrated server
solutions based on HP Japan's server and storage products. For example,
we will actively deploy proposals based on the blade type servers (ProLiant
BL series) that are expected achieve high growth in the future as high
density servers. Since blade servers can form extremely high-density systems,
they can achieve reductions in management costs by concentrating capability
in the system facility.
(3)
Total facility solutions
We will propose improvements that include repairs and improvements to
buildings and equipment, implementation of countermeasures and other
efforts, and maintenance and monitoring.
- High-reliability power supply system construction service
- High-reliability air conditioning system construction
service
- Building earthquake proofing service
- Security system construction service
- Lightning and EMC protection system construction service
- Monitoring system service
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Along with providing solutions
under this alliance, both companies will work on the following measures.
(1) Deployment of joint marketing and promotion efforts
To promote this server system environment construction total solutions
business, we will undertake a variety of publicity efforts, including
holding seminars and creating a web site. Furthermore, both companies
will take environmental issues seriously and will undertake solution
proposal and education efforts aimed at IT facility construction that
does not damage the environment.
(2)
Strengthened linking between IT systems engineers and facilities
systems engineers
This alliance will allow the deployment of site engineers from Hewlett-Packard's
headquarters in the US, HP Japan's main office, and NTT Facilities' headquarters
and the construction of an organization that promotes direct consulting
between these engineers. This will result in technology exchanges and
interactions that make the provision of rapid-response high-quality service
possible.
(3)
Establish a dedicated call center
A comprehensive consultation contact system related to IT systems and
facilities.
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Associated with the
start of this alliance, we are positioning the period from August
27 until the end of October 2004 as a monitor period and will provide,
free of charge during this period, a simplified risk diagnosis
service for customers' facilities, including buildings and equipment,
for customers considering adoption of HP Japan blade servers in
the ProLiant BL 20p, 30p, and 40p series.
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