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A familiar scenario from film and television: a typical data centre consisting of hundreds of servers lined up in rows, with the lighting above them bathing the room in clinical white light. Is that really what it’s like? We asked two experts about the special requirements of data centres regarding lighting: Sophie Parry, Head of the TRILUX Akademie in the UK and Tom Wright, Lighting Projects Engineer at TRILUX.
Learn what matters in data center lighting
SP: Because of the size of the rooms and the row-like arrangements of the servers, continuous lines such as our E-Line Pro are ideal for illuminating these applications. As in any other application, the continuous line is configured precisely for the individual project. In data centres for example, it’s not only optimum horizontal illuminance but also vertical illuminance that’s important to recognise the IT equipment well. Another factor is colour rendering – it should be as natural as possible, for example CRI 90 with our E-Line Pro. That helps to quickly and reliably identify the frequently colour-coded cables, connections and interfaces in the servers.
TW: Sustainability is a topic near the top of the list. Over 100 data centre operators and industry associations have set themselves the goal of making their data centres climate-neutral by 2030 as part of the European Green Deal. The lighting in the server rooms has to also contribute to the sustainability of the building and help the companies achieve their climate targets. Although the energy consumption of a data centre with thousands of servers is from ten to fifty times higher than your average office building, which means that the lighting itself hardly counts in that respect.
SP: Yes definitely. Upgrading conventional uncontrolled lighting to an LED solution with light management cuts its energy consumption by up to 85 %. Even if that only accounts for a small fraction of the total energy consumption it still contributes to the sustainability of the building – especially if we bear in mind the longer service life of the LEDs. Also, energy-efficient smart lighting is often needed within the framework of sustainability certifications like BREEAM and LEEDS. There are also other indirect positive sustainability effects such as the low heat generation of LEDs compared to conventional luminaires, which means that less energy is needed to air-condition the server rooms.
TW: For security reasons server rooms are usually monitored with cameras, and that means the quality of light must allow crisp CCTV images and recordings. Even if the lighting is never switched off completely due to the needs of security, a light management system with presence detection makes sense to save energy. If there are no people in the room the lighting isn’t switched off completely, but only dimmed to a general light level that still allows video recording. Emergency lighting (either with single or central battery) and emergency exit signage can also be quickly and easily integrated into the E-Line Pro trunking thanks to suitable modules. In the case of central battery-controlled emergency lighting solutions we also offer ELMo (Emergency Light Monitoring), which is an automatic monitoring and test function that’s legally compliant.
SP: Networking and light management also make sense in data centres, and not just for energy reasons. The luminaires can be easily controlled and monitored by connecting the lighting to the cloud, and services like our light monitoring enable the operating parameters of each individual light point to be monitored in real time. The maintenance intervals can then be optimally adapted to the actual requirements based on that data. This so-called predictive maintenance isn’t only more cost-effective than fixed maintenance intervals but also increases the failure safety of the entire installation – and that’s particularly important with 24/7 operation.
TW: Firstly, efficiency and reliability: the E-Line Pro is the clear industry leader with 207 lm/W and a service life of up to 100,000 hours. Secondly, quality of light and flexibility. Thanks to an extremely wide selection of high quality optics and the extreme adaptability of the continuous line system, every type of room can be perfectly illuminated. The third factor is smartness and future viability. Our E-Line Pro provides even more efficiency and transparency thanks to light management and connection to the cloud. And with the option of integrating IoT modules into the network, future smart applications such as sensor technology can also be easily realised over the lighting network.
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