MeshBlox Micro Data Centres

Reducing the Hardware Pains of a Fast-Growth Company

May 10th, 2010 - Modern Plant Nutrition take delivery of their first DataBlox20 containerised server room from MeshBlox.

Taking delivery of the seven rack DataBlox20 unit proved to be the turning point for the Brisbane based fertiliser manufacturer, reducing yearly server room modifications and the challenge of increasing corporate security, but still retaining local control.

Brisbane company Modern Plant Nutrition (MPN) has been growing rapidly for more than ten years.  The company manufactures custom-specification fertilisers for niche sectors of the agriculture and horticulture industries.

But founder Dr. Bradley King laments, “I’m a fertiliser manufacturer, not an IT company.  I know how to grow my fertiliser business, but I’m appalled by the IT hardware I have to keep dragging along with me and accommodating as I grow my business.” Dr. King has had to relocate his business three times in just over a decade to meet expanding demand.  IT hardware provision and accommodation has been a continuous source of expense and stress for the business at each growth stage and intervening years.

MPN has a highly automated and computerised fertiliser batching, packaging and stock handling system.  To grow the business and remain cost-competitive the business has been through two major upgrades of its manufacturing equipment and production capacity.  Each expansion has required more software, more computer processing and storage capacity and the installation of very specialised process control and automated analytical equipment to keep production running smoothly and delivering the high-specification products demand by customers.

On a number of occasions MPN explored the option of taking server space in a commercial data centre to keep IT equipment at a single facility that could accommodate growth without the business needing to allocate its limited office space to IT housing.   But it just did not prove practical.  Manufacturing was dependent upon process control and analysis equipment that needed to be on-site.  “We had to house this equipment at the factory anyway, and the transmission lags and service reliability issues we get in industrial estates meant we would be risking productivity and product quality by trying to house processing gear here and our computer systems in some distant data centre.” And the often hidden costs associated with requesting reasonably frequent changes and expansions to data centre installations were another cause for concern.

The result has been MPN battling on with provision of its own data room facility at each of its new premises.  “But each time we moved I just burnt money” Dr King said.   “The put-right costs on our old premises.  The fit-out for each new data room and the equipment relocation and calibration costs and lost time really made me hesitant to make the next move.” As production ramped at each new premises and new control equipment was brought in the company found itself knocking down walls, expanding its data room footprint and buying additional power supply and cooling units.  “It felt like I was spending half my time making IT decisions.  But I’m a chemical engineer who happens to dependent upon computers so the decision-buck stopped with me, and it consumed time and capacity I should have be putting into other parts of the business” said Dr. King.

Dr King adding, "We also had the additional pressures from the company auditors, requesting more data security and redundancy, particularly on the control side of things. Catering for all these requests at a time of company expansion meant that customer rooms were clearly a solution of the past."

But a chance conversation with Matt Heysen – Meshblox MD, over a Saturday afternoon barbecue at a friend’s home has changes Dr. King’s approach and attitude to IT accommodation.  The benefits of standardised and relocatable IT accommodation were quickly explained.  Within two months of that lunch MPN installed a DataBlox20 containerised server room at their Brendale factory.

The DataBlox solution allows MPN to utilise all of its available office space while keeping process control and analysis equipment and IT hardware together on-site.  Over one weekend the entire process control and IT equipment installation was transferred to the DataBlox20 units located under cover at the rear of the premises and ready for work on Monday morning.

MeshBlox found that although the requirements for cabling and some 48V DC power were different from the normal request, it could all be catered for in the standard product. Rack mounted UPS, extra process control cabling and 48v DC power supplies were the only major additions. "Some specific cabling and power components were the only bits required to be added. The best of all is all the components were easily bolted straight into the racks, even the DIN rail bits and scientific gear", explains Matt Heysen. "Modern Plant Nutrition have proven to be an ideal example of the combination of IT, scientific and process control gear...For many years organisations who have had the combination of IT, telecoms and real-time equipment have been caught in the cycle of building their own custom rooms and small data centres, unable to outsource due to the interconnection of all this gear. The big problem has been that budgeting for this and ensuring the end solution is scalable and can move with the business has proven very difficult."

One of the key benefits to MPN from the DataBlox solution is the ability to easily accommodate additional equipment when necessary in the pre-configured racks.  And if the heat dissipation load gets too high a simple swap-out for a higher capacity air conditioning units can be completed in just a few hours.The next time MPN needs to move to even larger factory premises it will just pick up its DataBlox20 and relocate it to the new site too.  No stress, no building fit-out, and almost no additional cost.

“The common-sense simplicity of the DataBlox approach was quickly obvious to me.  I can see this saving us a lot of money, time and needless stress as we keep growing Modern fertilisers.  I wish I’d only known about it sooner” said Dr. King.

1. Modern Plant Nutrition use DataBlox to enable them to house critical IT, process control and scientific equipment for the production of customer fertilisers.
2. Due to highly sensitive IP on manufacturing processes and formulas, data needed to be stored in a physically secure environment
3. Changing regulations governing chemical manufacturing means that the business needs to be able to minimise cost and downtime when facilities need to be moved or expanded - this has occurred twice since 2000
4. With the close coupling of process control and scientific equipment with the IT systems an outsourced Data Centre solution was not possible
5. Yearly changes to electrical and cooling systems supporting the server room were becoming difficult to justify
6. Recent company green initiatives required a complete review of energy consumption - DataBlox gave us unprecedented information and control on power usage

Key Reasons for DataBlox selection;

1. Ability to mix IT, process control and scientific equipment in the same room
2. Comparative cost with alternatives
3. Ability to scale cooling and electrical capacity in-line with business
4. Lower cost than repeating build of server and equipment rooms, then re-instating them to original state when moving premises
5. Higher physical security than modified office facility and added benefit of robustness in the event of factory disaster
6. Meets AS2834 and security provisions required by company auditors
7. MeshBlox provided a complete turnkey solution from needs analysis to site preparation and deployment.

About Modern Plant Nutrition Pty Ltd

Modern Plant Nutrition designs and manufactures bespoke fertilisers for the fresh produce sector. Employing the latest in nano technology delivery systems and advanced automated production, Modern Plant Nutrition produce the highest quality, maximum yield products in the Australian market.

Website:  http://www.modernplantnutrition.com.au/

About MeshBlox Pty Ltd

MeshBlox designs and manufactures transportable Micro Data Centres. Delivering complete – ready to use data centre solutions that provide customers with standardised and repeatable solutions with reduced overheads and simpler deployments.

Website: http://www.meshblox.com
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: +61 7 3040 3027