Case Study: Laola1

The Internet presents the ideal medium for LAOLA1 to distribute sports information and content. The performance and reliability of the company’s servers are therefore critical to its success and led to the decision to establish a dedicated server room at the company’s Vienna headquarters. This would be a secure facility which would in future only be accessible to its IT managers.

LAOLA1 wanted to work with a partner who could provide a comprehensive solution with althea necessary expertise from one source. The implementation had to ensure both the reliability of the servers themselves and the creation of a server environment with effective climate control and monitoring.

In addition the newly created server room presented a number of challenges in itself. NextiraOne’s experts had to create a solution in a space of just 25 square metres and with two load-bearing pillars in the middle. The solution had to use the space as effectively as possible and allow for the number of servers to grow in the future. Timescale and logistics were a further challenge in the project since the company needed to complete the implementation within less than two months and without disruption to the service.

Moreover a number of legal requirements such as fire protection and emergency escape provisions had to be taken into consideration.

NextiraOne was also asked to extend the existing Alcatel-Lucent OXO telephone system to accommodate the growing needs of the business.

Special challenges need innovative solutions – and NextiraOne’s experts rose to the challenge. NextiraOne designed and implemented a new server room that incorporated a number of innovative approaches, from the design of the racks to the cabling and the choice of air conditioning units.

NextiraOne began by creating specially designed racks, usually only produced for large data centres. The racks are taller than standard racks (over two meters) and have a distinctive door arrangement with double doors to the front. This has created extra space that will allow the number of servers to be doubled.

An innovative approach was also chosen for the cooling and power supply – NextiraOne installed the cabling of the new server room using special overhead ducting above the racks rather than the usual approach of running the cabling under the raised floor with the cooling. This has the advantage that cabling can be extended or adapted to meet future needs without having to break circuits and interrupt operations and without the additional costs of underfloor cabling. It also allows better performance of the cooling systems under the false floor because the cables do not disrupt the flow of cool air.

To ensure the most effective climate control of the room, NextiraOne brought in a specialised air conditioning unit from Italy (the BXK U Super Power C262). Developed specifically for use in IT and communications environments, this air conditioning unit features a sophisticated micro-processor control system which independently monitors and controls all the mechanical and electrical components of the system and ensures a constant ambient temperature and humidity in the room.

To ensure the reliability of the servers further, NextiraOne also created and optimised air circulation through the introduction of heating and cooling corridors within the server room. In addition cool air can be introduced to the servers through special controllable vents in the purpose-built racks.

If – in spite of all these precautions – an unforeseen occurrence, such as a fire or a failure in the cooling system, takes place, a rapid reaction is of the utmost importance. The Vizioguard monitoring system installed by NextiraOne ensures that in an emergency immediate alerts are sent out by text message to those responsible. This automatic monitoring and immediate notification system means not only that necessary measures be undertaken immediately, but also that the organisation has been helped to save time and costs, since it is no longer necessary for a member of staff to be present overnight.

The implementation of the project was completed successfully and on time by NextiraOne. As a result LAOLA1 has asked NextiraOne to assume responsibility for the support and maintenance of the servers and the two companies will continue to work on future communications projects.

Rainer Geier, Managing Director, LAOLA1 Multimedia GmbH
“We are pleased to have found in NextiraOne such a competent and reliable partner for this project,” said Rainer Geier, Managing Director of LAOLA1 Multimedia GmbH. “The effective monitoring and optimum cooling and air conditioning of the room has increased the reliability of our servers and this helps to ensure our company’s continued success. We were also impressed by the optimized use of our limited space - NextiraOne’s solutions are compelling and have supported us in achieving cost, manpower and time efficiencies. We will continue to work with NextiraOne in the future.”

Roman Beer, Account Manager NextiraOne
“A powerful data centre is an important asset for any organisation, but for companies whose core business depends on the online environment – they are essential. Thanks to the confidence our customer showed in our solutions during the project we were able to make the most of their limited facilities. We have proved once again that we have the necessary know-how and comprehensive expertise to create and implement innovative, customized data centre solutions for our customers.”

Alcatel-Lucent