IT-Integrator, in cooperation with its partner Alpha Grissin Infotech Ukraine, which is the official distributor of Vertiv equipment in Ukraine, developed a new modular data centre for Antonov. The challenges that the company faced after the start of the full-scale invasion required non-standard solutions.
Modular data centre in wartime
After February 24, 2022, the airport in Hostomel is not just a Ukrainian cargo airport, it is the site of fierce battles between russian troops and the Ukrainian Defence Forces. During the attempted takeover of the airport, the airport’s infrastructure was devastated.
Before the full-scale invasion began, the IT-Integrator team designed a stationary data centre in Hostomel for the air transport division of Antonov SE. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2022, but plans had to be changed very quickly and adapted to force majeure circumstances. To ensure the uninterrupted operation of the enterprise during the war, a new solution was needed, where the time and speed of deployment became mandatory. With this in mind, it was decided to reformat the project in favour of a modular data centre with the ability to quickly move and install it at any site in any city in the country.
The modular design provides for the ability to quickly disassemble and reassemble it at a new location, as well as transport it on public roads. That’s why the project involved calculating and ensuring the rigidity of metal structures and special docking units, installing reinforced beams, designing a roof with the required angle of inclination for precipitation drainage and the ability to accommodate external air conditioning units.
“The modular data centre was manufactured, tested and launched in record time. It consists of two structural elements that create an internal space where cabinets for IT equipment, air conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies, electrical panels, and fire safety systems are installed. All engineering support systems, including the structured cabling network, were assembled and tested at the production site, including operation under load. This approach made it possible to involve a minimum number of third-party personnel to launch the facility at the installation site, as all systems were set up and tested in the factory. This was justified in terms of safety and speed of the project launch,” explained Nataliia Herts, Deputy Director for Digital Development and Logistics at “Antonov” SE.
Reliability and uptime of critical subsystems is ensured by redundant equipment and its components. For example, the redundancy level for uninterruptible power supply and power distribution systems is 2N. The design of the modules, their external arrangement, fire doors, hermetically sealed and fire-resistant electrical, communication and freon inlets comply with fire resistance class E60/I45. In addition, all solutions comply with applicable government regulations and standards, occupational health and safety requirements, fire and sanitary standards, ensuring safe operation by the customer’s technical staff.
Project for the future
The project takes into account not only the current needs of the enterprise, but also provides for future scaling opportunities. This factor was taken into account as we are looking forward to the post-war restoration of Ukraine.
The Vertiv Liebert APM Modular UPS with additional battery cabinets provide a gradual increase in UPS capacity as the power consumption of IT equipment grows. It is also possible to increase the battery life. The Liebert APM UPS was used in the very first Ukrainian modular data centre in 2014 – since then, the model has been improved and updated, but its architecture, quality and reliability have remained unchanged.
The cooling system can also be scaled up. To do this, you need to install an additional air conditioner to the existing Liebert CRD inter-row air conditioners. These models have a high cooling capacity and a compact design – with a width of 300 mm, one Liebert CRD can remove up to 25 kW of heat.
The modular data centre is equipped with all the necessary engineering systems. Infrastructure and environmental parameters are monitored using VERTIV Environet software.
The peculiarity of operating such products as modular data centres is that the developer, manufacturer and representatives of the main equipment vendor guarantee the maintenance of the performance of both the structure and all the installed equipment, including the backup power supply – in this case, it was a Cummins diesel generator power plant.
“The war not only destroyed our normal life, but also became a challenge for our team, which had to change approaches to work on the fly, reorient projects to meet new customer needs in a military environment and be useful to the state, the military, volunteers and all the companies we cooperate with. The project to build a modular data centre for “Antonov” SE is an example of the professionalism, reliability and dedication demonstrated by all parties involved in the implementation, solving a strategically important task,” said Maksym Korobko, Director of the Public Sector Department and Project Manager at IT-Integrator.
