Transforming a Canteen into
an Equipment Room

INVITE Systems SRL

Founded in 2000, Romania's INVITE Systems SRL has grown rapidly since 2005. Today, it stands as one of the country's most important network service providers in the Virtual Private Network (VPN) field. And, as one of the first network service providers to introduce digital hosting services, INVITE Systems has also led the industry, not simply followed.

No Space Too Small

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sudden surge in demand for online services in Romania, from gaming and videos to live broadcasts. This threatened to overwhelm INVITE Systems' platform capabilities and the company needed to quickly deploy a new data center to meet the burst requirements of enterprise customers specializing in games and videos.

Today, the rate of service expansion has far exceeded expectations. While, in the past, the planning and approval process for a new data center proved extremely time-consuming — involving multiple vendors designing and coordinating work for each subsystem, vastly increasing the complexity and time needed — this time, in the span of just a few short months, a highly reliable data center was deployed, efficiently bringing services online.

For its new data center, however, the only space INVITE Systems had available was the canteen. While the structure itself was sufficiently sturdy, space was limited and there were no raised floors. The company needed to fit as many Information Technology (IT) devices into the space as possible. While traditional data center deployment only supports a power density of 3–5 kW per cabinet, with power distribution usually taking up half of the equipment room, a high power-density data center was therefore obviously required.

Clearly, INVITE Systems needed a partner with strong design capabilities, to help transform the space into a modern, highly reliable data center. Huawei was chosen to complete the project, giving a new mission to the old canteen.

Easy Site Selection, Fast Deployment

Huawei's intelligent FusionModule2000 solution, which is fully modularized and integrated, enables fast deployment. The device does not need to be installed on a raised floor, simplifying site selection in general and, in this particular case, overcoming the physical constraints of the canteen.

"Huawei FusionModule2000 shortened the rollout time of our new data center by more than two months, from preparation to installation and overall commissioning. Much to my surprise, deployment was completed in just one month, exceeding all our expectations."

——Alex, CIO of INVITE Systems SRL

The design of FusionModule2000 — with cold and hot aisle containment, in-row smart cooling, and local cooling — meets the requirements for high-density deployment, greatly improving cooling efficiency and reducing overall power consumption.

Intelligent management methods are used to predict faults on all power supply and cooling links, further ensuring data center reliability and lowering the skill requirements of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) personnel. Meanwhile, unified collaboration between the local smart large screen and a remote management platform improves data center O&M efficiency by up to 35%.

Saving Space: SmartLi UPS

Huawei deployed a cutting-edge intelligent lithium battery solution — Huawei SmartLi Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) — in the 20 square meter kitchen area of the canteen. The power density of each UPS module is 50 kVA/3U, while the overall footprint is just 0.51 square meters. By using lithium batteries for power backup, the physical footprint is dramatically reduced, by 70%, compared to traditional lead-acid alternatives. This made it possible to fit the entire power distribution system of INVITE Systems' new data center in the kitchen space, leaving the main area as a modular equipment room and ensuring sufficient space for expansion.

In addition, SmartLi UPS provides a ten year, maintenance-free lifecycle and supports the mixed use of old and new batteries, boosting value for money and reducing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

"By working with Huawei, INVITE Systems SRL was able to keep growing its business at a rapid pace despite the challenges of the pandemic. This provided positive support for the company's profitability, giving us full confidence in the future of our company."

——Alex