CSC Finland pioneers energy efficiency for sustainable ICT development

When it comes to computing and data centre expertise, CSC plays a leading role in exporting its expertise around the world with a strong focus on eco-efficiency. Its latest showcase? The CSC booth at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC), the largest high-performance computing event in Europe.

Eco-efficiency in the data centres

Data centres all around the world must improve the ratio of total amount of energy used by the facility to the energy consumed by the servers. Today, IT services are produced under the principle of specialised networking. The challenge lies in improving data centre efficiency. The key performance indicator is known as Power usage Effectiveness (PUE) and a perfectly efficient server room would have a PUE value of 1.

EUDAT Coordinator: High performance & Low costs

Specialised in delivering sustainable ICT services, CSC, Finish Company, coordinator of EUDAT, has built an international reputation for energy-efficient server room technologies and their cooling systems, taking advantage also of the cool Finnish climate. In the last 5 years, CSC has improved its PUE values by 11%.

The data centre in Renforsin Ranta, Kajaani is a good example of high performance and low cost. This modular data centre (MDC) was deployed in 2012 and now has a power usage effectiveness (PUE) value of 1.03, making it a front runner in global performance. But it doesn’t stop here, the energy efficiency of all of CSC's data centres is extremely good in international terms (PUE values of 1.03-1.58).

Measuring energy efficient

A cool climate is not the only factor determining energy efficiency. Energy costs is a very important factor, since it represents 40-60% of total costs of running a server room.

“An affordable energy, combined with a world-class PUE value can provide the customer with savings of as much as millions of euros per year," says Marjut Andler, Director at CSC.

Another crucial factor for measuring energy efficiency is energy waste. Here the utilisation ratio must have a high performance to avoid wasting energy resources.

Other key factors to take into account include  being able to expand the facility, increasing energy supply, good telecommunications connections, security and expertise.

The Finnish value proposition

With this in mind, how can we sum up the strengths of Finland in the data centre market?

Geographical location, high level of information security, political stability and opportunities for substantial savings. A new submarine cable is the shortest and fastest route from the telecommunications hubs of Central Europe to the favourable data centre environments of Northern Europe and the markets of Asia and Eastern Europe.

The big data challenge

With big data bringing big insights into scientific research, the challenge is making sure can be shared across borders and disciplinary boundaries in a sustainable way.

This is where EUDAT comes into play as the place to go for all your data needs.

Source: https://www.csc.fi/en/-/csc-vie-suomalaista-laskenta-ja-datakeskusosaamista-maailmalle