Vertiv Case Study: EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Since its foundation in 1969, it has become one of the best-known institutions for science and technology in Europe.

Like its sister institute in Zurich, the “ETHZ”, it has three main goals: education, research and technology transfer. Over 14,000 lecturers, researchers and students work, teach and conduct research on the main campus.

Background

To ensure the many different innovative and future-oriented projects being carried out by researchers and students are supported with the appropriate IT equipment, the EPFL has an IT and Building Infrastructure teams made up of around 200 employees. Aristide Boisseau, Head of the Datacenter Operations team, plays a particularly important role. Together with his team, he acts as the interface between the two domains, ensuring a regular exchange of information and smooth processes.

High-performance computers are predominantly used at the EPFL to provide the capacity required for scientific calculations. While the EPFL’s budget for new high performance computers has remained the same over recent years, providers have nevertheless increased the capacity of their products in the data center. As a result, the power density per square meter has risen and the existing ventilation cooling systems have not been able to keep pace with this growth. A new, intelligent solution  capable of adequately cooling the 8-point grid systems was therefore required.