APL builds a new free-cooling data center for Groupama

Customer name :	Groupama
Area of business :	Insurance
Accompanying mode :	Consulting - Project management
Type of service :	Assistance with the design and construction of a high energy efficiency data center

Groupama Systèmes d'Information (GSI), which manages all IT production for the insurance group Groupama, decided to create a data center that would serve as a backup for its old center in Bourges, France, while also hosting a portion of its development IT.
GSI chose APL, which was making upgrades to the old site, to build this new, 3250-m² data center—dubbed "M2"—in the Rennes region.

Project objective

Build a data center with very high levels of availability
Anticipate growth in IT demands
Ensure the energy efficiency of the site
Adhere to the Flood Risk Prevention Plan and earthquake regulations

Services provided

Design assistance: dimensioning, comparison of different options for containment and load balancing
Thermal simulations, to compare different layout scenarios and anticipate fluctuations
Organization of 4 computer rooms, each with 200 m² of compute space
Economical and environmental analysis: estimation of energy consumption and PUE, advantages of free-cooling compared to other cooling solutions

Client benefits

Data center designed and constructed within the prescribed timeframe (18 months)
An HPE (High Energy Performance) site: high quality energy production, lighting, and free cooling of equipment supported by hydro-cooling units in the room
Scalable data center architecture and installations, in order to absorb load spikes (with power draws varying between 1.5 kW HQ/m² and 3kW HQ/m²)
Redundancy of all technical installations (electrical and climate control networks), in order to ensure continuity of service during construction, maintenance, load spikes, etc.
Economical site performance, with very low operating costs