In the interview with Jan Moll
The DTM-Group has been working for over 50 years in the planning & installation of security and electrical systems. Over the past few years, the company has continued to evolve and established innovative communication cabling and network solutions in the market. In 2015, the company won the German Data Center Award and is once again breaking new ground with the idea of operating data centers in a wind farm. In an interview with Jan Moll, we talk today about this concept and the advantages of connecting a wind turbine with a data center.
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: What was the initial spark for the idea behind Power 2 Bytes and what does the concept mean?
Jan Moll: The basic idea is over 200 years old and dates back to the time of the Industrial Revolution:
Just as mills for grain were located by rivers or windy locations, with Power 2 Bytes we use the rotating wind turbine to generate electricity in the generator and use the energy on-site to process data (bytes).
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: Where did the original idea come from?
Jan Moll: The originators were the wind farm operators, or rather Mr. Johannes Lackmann, and the initiative from Paderborn University represented by Dr. Gunnar Schomaker, who recognized the potential of the concept as early as 2009 and were looking for companies to implement it. Their motivation was to use green, regenerative electricity for big data analyses such as those conducted by Paderborn University or HPC clusters, without sending the electricity through numerous transformation losses across Germany. In other words, reversing the principle: build data centers where electricity is available.
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: What are the advantages of combining wind power and data centers in one system?
Jan Moll: Sustainability means, among other things, making the best possible use of existing resources. This means using the wind turbine building additionally as a space for server cabinets, utilizing the existing single-mode data connection, the power supply, and the transformer for the data center.
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: Could this concept also help to operate data centers more cheaply in metropolitan areas?
Jan Moll: It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain enough electricity for data centers in locations such as Frankfurt, which is why edge data centers should take advantage of their location and use wind farms as preferred sites. Data centers require electricity 365 days a year. So why not go to locations where costs such as grid fees are eliminated and electricity costs a maximum of 15 Euro cents per kWh. In addition to the regenerative sustainability aspect, this can also reduce data center operating costs for small and medium-sized companies that are not normally large-scale electricity consumers.
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: In connection with this technology, the term multi-site concepts is often mentioned. Could you briefly describe what that means?
Jan Moll: Since wind turbines contain many small and distributed data center units, the redundancy of a single data center (availability class 3) can be further enhanced by distributing it across multiple locations (geo-redundancy), and by using a virtual cluster to combine the wind turbines into a single data center. This results in an availability class of 3+ or even 4, which means maximum security.
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: What does the future/ further development look like?
Jan Moll: In the future, this concept will expand vertically. That is, we plan to install up to 1 megawatt of server capacity in a single wind turbine. However, this is only possible if we build multiple levels (up to 3) vertically. In other words, above the E-module on the base plate, a steel structure inside the tower will provide additional space for data center operations.
At this power density, the cooling of the IT equipment will also play a crucial role. We are researching new hardware that can be cooled not by air but by liquid. This allows for a significant increase in packaging and power density – perfect for the Power 2 Bytes application!
DIGITAL FUTUREcongress: On November 8, you will be at the Digital FUTUREcongress at Messe Essen. Which customers or target groups should definitely visit your booth?
Jan Moll: We are particularly pleased to celebrate our premiere at the Digital Future Congress on 08.11.18. At our booth, we warmly welcome customers who are deeply involved in IT infrastructure and data centers. This includes planners looking for innovative solution concepts and products, as well as companies, authorities, banks, and automotive firms interested in office IT, WLAN, or data center projects – or planning investments in the near future. For all these target groups, we offer free consultation and an open ear on that day.