The Rittal data centre container used in Christchurch is the first mobile data centre of this kind in New Zealand. Until Orion builds new premises for its staff and network operations, the data centre container functions for Orion as a transitional solution and thus safeguards the power supply in Christchurch. Neville Digby, Senior System Engineer at Orion, praises the collaboration: "After the earthquake in February and the destruction of our data centre, we needed a quick solution. From media coverage we learnt about the Rittal data centre container, and as a completely equipped data centre it now meets all our requirements. Thanks to Rittal's quick assistance, we were able to operate again very quickly."

The Rittal data centre container weighs 15 tons and is 10 x 3 metres large. It is equipped with a completely redundant power supply and emergency power supply and a fire alarm and extinguishing system. In addition, it has an integrated direct free cooling system with an output of 40 kW, which reduces the energy outlay by up to 40% as compared to conventional air conditioning units for data centres, and uses filtered outside air to cool the data centre.

"Our mobile data centre now houses the sensitive computer systems that are important for operating and managing the power network in Christchurch and the vicinity," explains Helmut Binder, Executive Vice President Sales Asia Pacific Middle East at Rittal. "The data centre container at Orion meets exactly the sort of requirements we assumed during development. It can be used as an interim data centre during expansion or rebuilding work, for example, when space is limited in listed historical buildings or as an extension where capacity constraints exist. Large modern data centres also rely on the container modules, since they allow computing capacity to be scaled on demand, which increases utilisation."

Another data centre container will soon follow in New Zealand. The Red Cross/St. John in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, is also impressed by this solution and has ordered a container from Rittal.

Orion

New Zealand electricity network company Orion (www.oriongroup.co.nz) owns and operates the power network in the central area of the South Island. It covers about 8,000 square kilometres - including Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest city with around 400,000 residents, Banks Peninsula as well as rural communities and highland areas.

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Rittal GmbH & Co. KG

Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, which has its headquarters in Herborn, Germany, is one of the world's leading system suppliers for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and software & services. Customers from all sectors of industry, from mechanical and plant engineering, as well as from the IT and telecoms market are making use of system solutions from Rittal.

Its broad product range also includes complete solutions for modular and energy-efficient data centres: from innovative security concepts for data systems (formerly known as Litcos) through to physical data and system security for IT infrastructures (formerly known as Lampertz). The leading software providers Eplan and Mind8 are supplementing the Rittal product portfolio with interdisciplinary engineering solutions.

Founded in 1961, Rittal is now active worldwide with 10 production sites, 63 subsidiaries and 40 agencies. With 10,000 employees worldwide, Rittal is the largest company of the proprietor-run Friedhelm Loh Group of Haiger, Germany. The entire group employs more than 11,500 people and expects to generate revenues of € 2.2 billion in 2011. Further information at www.rittal.com and www.friedhelm-loh-group.com.