NASA asks for tips on how to build a new data center

The Goddard Space Flight Center, a NASA research facility in Maryland, has recently released a Request for Information regarding plans to design an energy-efficient data center. According to Datacenter Dynamics, the NASA facility is asking for advice on three different approaches to solving their growing need for comprehensive data management. The inquiry is likely a response to a new federal mandate requiring departments to reduce energy use.

This Request for Information stipulates that NASA is interested in three approaches for upgrading their data center. The first approach revolves around short-term solutions for improving efficiency. NASA is currently interested in details on efficient cooling, flexible power supplies and power-monitoring management software.

NASA's second request is for a plan for dealing with the interim between shortand long-term solutions. Specifically, the Request for Information asks for a modular strategy that can facilitate a system with power requirements below or up to 10 kW/rack. Likewise, NASA is interested in software that can manage a system with power requirements above 10 kW/rack.

Finally, NASA's Request for Information calls for a long-term strategy for managing an energy-efficient data center. This approachmust meet all the requirements of Federal Data Centers Consolidation (FDCC) and Green mandates. NASA's ideal system would help to promote green IT practices, lesson the facility's carbon footprint and minimize the need for excess hardware.

NASA's request is notable because it mirrors the needs of most organizations interested in a new data center, says ZDNet. Every project is unique and will require a custom data center, but the prioritization of energy and space efficiency will be similar across the board. The Request for Information may even help to reveal new trends in data center design; all suggestions received by NASA will be published online. After all, energy efficiency is just one area of productivity that the Goddard Space Flight Center can improve with a new data center. Installing data management tools like console servers, for example, would provide administrators with access to data even while they are away from their desks.

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