Huawei claims it’s halved the time needed to build a 1,000-rack data center
(2022/05/27)
- Reference: 1653628511
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/05/27/huawei_next_gen_dc_facility/
- Source link:
Huawei has entered the data center construction business with an offering that it claims can be built in half the time required by competing methods, then run more efficiently.
The prosaically-named “Next-Generation Data Center Facility”, as depicted in a [1]video posted to Chinese social media, employs suspiciously-shipping-container-sized modules stacked into a larger building.
In the video, a pre-school girl and her father use Lego to assemble a cube-shaped building. The scene cuts to film of a very similar building under construction in the real world, before the director makes sure the metaphor can’t be missed by morphing the Lego and actual buildings, as depicted below.
[2]
Click to enlarge
But Huawei’s banking on speed and low cost, not cinematic subtlety. The Chinese giant asserts that its approach to big barn building means a thousand-rack facility can be up and running within six to nine months, compared to 18 months for bespoke jobs.
The company’s also created a power supply it asserts is simpler than those offered by rivals, as it can be delivered in two weeks instead of two months.
[3]
“Simplified cooling maximizes heat exchange efficiency by changing multiple heat exchanges to one heat exchange, and shortening the cooling link,” Huawei’s enthused.
[4]
[5]
The Next-Generation Data Center Facility also includes Huawei’s very own automation and AI-infused optimization tools, said to be capable of fine-tuning cooling to make it more efficient. Power is a major cost for data center operations, so if Huawei has done this well it will be appreciated.
The Chinese mega-corp has not said if the data centers require the presence of Huawei products to realize the promised benefits.
[6]Canada bans Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks, citing national security risks
[7]China plans to toss foreign-made PCs from government agencies 'in two years'
[8]Huawei re-orgs to formalize business PC sales
China has introduced a [9]plan to relocate five million data center racks from the crowded east of the country to ten designated data center precincts in nation’s western sparsely-populated west. That’s one obvious market where rapid data center builds will be in demand. If Huawei wins even 20 percent of that business, it’ll be building 1,000 of these data centers!
Quick builds will also be appreciated elsewhere around the world. Whether Huawei’s design is welcomed by governments remains to be seen. The company’s well documented troubles have centered on its role as a network equipment provider representing a risk of network disposition information, or actual data, reaching Beijing. The contents of a data center also represent very useful information to a nation credibly accused of using state-backed groups to conduct offensive cyber-ops.
[10]
Huawei denies it would ever act against clients’ interests, or in ways that violate local laws, or would willingly be used an agent of China’s intelligence services.
Modular data centers based on shipping containers are not new, and one facility that used such a design – OVH’s Strasbourg facility – infamously [11]went up in flames .
Huawei’s stated that this design is resilient and environmentally responsible, in addition to offering rapid builds. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1042211:4773439995838592
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/05/27/screenshot_huawei_next_generation_data_center_facility.jpg
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/20/canada_bans_huawei_and_zte/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/07/china_foreign_pcs/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/huawei_terminal_business/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/22/china_west_and_east_datacenter_plan/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/10/ovh_strasbourg_fire/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The prosaically-named “Next-Generation Data Center Facility”, as depicted in a [1]video posted to Chinese social media, employs suspiciously-shipping-container-sized modules stacked into a larger building.
In the video, a pre-school girl and her father use Lego to assemble a cube-shaped building. The scene cuts to film of a very similar building under construction in the real world, before the director makes sure the metaphor can’t be missed by morphing the Lego and actual buildings, as depicted below.
[2]
Click to enlarge
But Huawei’s banking on speed and low cost, not cinematic subtlety. The Chinese giant asserts that its approach to big barn building means a thousand-rack facility can be up and running within six to nine months, compared to 18 months for bespoke jobs.
The company’s also created a power supply it asserts is simpler than those offered by rivals, as it can be delivered in two weeks instead of two months.
[3]
“Simplified cooling maximizes heat exchange efficiency by changing multiple heat exchanges to one heat exchange, and shortening the cooling link,” Huawei’s enthused.
[4]
[5]
The Next-Generation Data Center Facility also includes Huawei’s very own automation and AI-infused optimization tools, said to be capable of fine-tuning cooling to make it more efficient. Power is a major cost for data center operations, so if Huawei has done this well it will be appreciated.
The Chinese mega-corp has not said if the data centers require the presence of Huawei products to realize the promised benefits.
[6]Canada bans Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks, citing national security risks
[7]China plans to toss foreign-made PCs from government agencies 'in two years'
[8]Huawei re-orgs to formalize business PC sales
China has introduced a [9]plan to relocate five million data center racks from the crowded east of the country to ten designated data center precincts in nation’s western sparsely-populated west. That’s one obvious market where rapid data center builds will be in demand. If Huawei wins even 20 percent of that business, it’ll be building 1,000 of these data centers!
Quick builds will also be appreciated elsewhere around the world. Whether Huawei’s design is welcomed by governments remains to be seen. The company’s well documented troubles have centered on its role as a network equipment provider representing a risk of network disposition information, or actual data, reaching Beijing. The contents of a data center also represent very useful information to a nation credibly accused of using state-backed groups to conduct offensive cyber-ops.
[10]
Huawei denies it would ever act against clients’ interests, or in ways that violate local laws, or would willingly be used an agent of China’s intelligence services.
Modular data centers based on shipping containers are not new, and one facility that used such a design – OVH’s Strasbourg facility – infamously [11]went up in flames .
Huawei’s stated that this design is resilient and environmentally responsible, in addition to offering rapid builds. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1042211:4773439995838592
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/05/27/screenshot_huawei_next_generation_data_center_facility.jpg
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/20/canada_bans_huawei_and_zte/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/07/china_foreign_pcs/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/huawei_terminal_business/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/22/china_west_and_east_datacenter_plan/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpChRlPMnh3Jhw16F7OoJgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/10/ovh_strasbourg_fire/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: The US has done its job well..
Anonymous Coward
Fair comment. I think it's a "which side are you on" question. I believe a US owned cloud or US provisioned DC probably has as many backdoors and vulnerabilities as the Chinese equivalent and probably a fat pipe going straight to the NSC or their local branch office (GCHQ). If you're a company working in Europe or North America you're already dependent on the government not shutting you down for their national security reasons and you will comply with their sanctions and banned persons lists.
How long?
Ken G
Does it take to get your data privacy signed off by the government?
The US has done its job well..
.. to blacken Huawei's reputation on nothing more than an assertion that has remained stubbornly impossible to provide evidence for (which is why the US then had to bully people into acting as if they believed it anyway).
As stated elsewhere, to date, Huawei is basically the only vendor which has had its kit publicly examined by parties that had every interest in finding something - yet, nada. Nothing. Entertaining is that the accusing party was behind the Crypto AG affair, so this has been a very succesful case of grade A deflection to get their own spyware installed, and it's not just network gear. If I look at how every authentication request in a Windows SSO infrastructure essentially runs via Microsoft I am convinced any company running Microsoft software is leaking data at a rate that even Google would be jealous of.
I'm not a fan of either, I just dislike BS.