Our Philosophy: The Data Centre is your Ecosystem


At PowerHouse Group we start with operational ability in mind. To ensure appropriate Engineering solutions are established for each client, the needs of that client and their business requirements affecting the facility must first be defined.



In order to design a new home, you would begin by meeting your builder or architect to clarify your lifestyle intent, the purpose each room will serve in helping you achieve your ideal lifestyle. At this point you are ready to specify the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the size and type of the kitchen, and the other special features you require.

Similarly, PowerHouse Group will define your business intent, what specifics the new data centre must have to support the operational and reliability needs of your IT organization.

We specialize in collaborating with the various teams responsible for operating the data centre space, network, servers, and storage selection, to business owners and senior stakeholders. Our expertise as project & construction managers is to help navigate everyone on-board through the difficult waters of strong opinions and misunderstandings.

Our collective passion as a team is for the successful integration of the multiple engineering disciplines involved. We blend all this together to transition everyone’s concern for what is the right concept to build, into an approachable and easy to comprehend design concept for your data centre.  A design that everyone gets and is fully committing to seeing built.

We view your data centre as an ecosystem. In a data centre everything in the environment is interdependent. Each data centre, by nature of its design, has its own unique set of cause and effect inter-dependencies.

What we focus on:

• Location of the data centre, and external elements requiring consideration
• The reliability requirements for the facility
• Hardware weight, power consumption, and heat dissipation
• Calculated power and cooling requirements of the existing IT equipment today and in the future
• The projected business/IT growth, and timeline the facility is expected to operate
• The potential downtime to the business to renovate/relocate the data centre
• Availability, reliability, and scalability requirements
• Business resiliency requirements

PowerHouse believes a clear understanding of the business and technology drivers behind the project are essential to achieving the desired outcome and objectives.  At PowerHouse we start with the end in mind – what the data centre must have to support the operational and reliability needs of your IT department and your business as a whole.  Through an interview with the stakeholders we work to create an understanding of the facility requirements while taking into account the realities of site conditions and potential construction costs.  Our deliverable is to create a conceptual design that services those needs.

Upon stakeholder sign off of the functional design document, all data centre aspects including architectural, mechanical and electrical will be included in the Technical Recommendation document. PowerHouse provides the specific and detailed design criteria which must be met to comply with industry best practices, applicable codes and data centre guidelines to align with the Functional Design. The areas, which are covered in the Technical Recommendation, are the same as those addressed in the Functional Design; including specific technical information, detailing sizing and exact vendor specifications.

Detailed Engineering involves finalizing the technical recommendations and developing all engineered designs and drawings for tender and construction.  In this phase PowerHouse Group liaises with project architects and mechanical/electrical/structural engineers to transform abstract concepts into specific details. 

It’s our passion and curiosity for innovation across all the engineering disciplines that allows us to help facilitate a coordinated design – one that ensures all data centre components will work together in the end.  We will facilitate the generation of engineering specifications and tender documents, and are available to review tender submissions to ensure the responses are complete and have not missed any critical data centre items.

  


All infrastructure components must be chosen such that they are compatible with one another, and maintainable over the life of the facility. PowerHouse has direct relationships with leading data centre manufacturers and our knowledge in selecting and integrating these solutions ensures your project goes smoothly.


Build overview

• Our team ensures the construction of your data centre meets all the agreed to quality standards, maintains budget, time, and scope.
• We have regular meetings to review facility construction and update schedules and budget progress
• We identify unexpected events or situations prior to occurance and resolve them right away

One of the most overlooked phases of a data centre construction project is integrated systems testing. At PowerHouse, we take this phase very seriously. This is when we verify that the various systems and infrastructure, work together  to form a reliable data centre that meets our clients’ needs and expectations. Tests are designed to verify the correct sequence and operation of each individual system (electrical, mechanical, etc.) and operation of the data centre as a whole, during normal and abnormal conditions. PowerHouse will organize, manage, and complete the integrated systems testing of the data centre once construction is largely completed on-site. PowerHouse utilizes our in-cabinet server simulators to test air flow, while managing power, thereby ensuring all components perform as a complete system, one that meets the intended design.

We will provide a comprehensive Data Centre owner’s manual and user guide for your facility. Our manual incorporates all design and service documentation, as built drawings, vendor and OEM users manuals, and recommendations for ongoing and preventative maintenance.

We offer one time and ongoing component training and best practices guidance.

PowerHouse Group provides manufacturer supported preventative maintenance to ensure the ongoing reliability of your data centre components and as a whole. Contact us for further details.