The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) in order to evaluate its options for an energy-efficient data center to supplement or replace existing solutions at its Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

NASA GSFC is looking for information on three approaches – one looking at short term actions, the second for an interim transitional stage and the third a long term strategy.

In an RFI document NASA gives details into which elements it is looking for regarding each of the three strategies.

Strategy one
Data center retrofit technologies and solutions with a high ROI as short term, interim measures.

NASA GSFC said it is currently considering the following technologies -

Cooling
- Rear door heat exchanger

- Direct liquid cooling – cold or warm water

- Application of water-side economizers as appropriate for the GSFC climate

Power
- Transformer-free UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

- PDUs (Power Distribution Units) which convert AC power to DC power

- Fuel cells

Management Software
- Remote power monitoring (ideally at rack-by-rack level)

- Power management based on impact on energy consumption

- Server utilization management

NASA said it would also look at any potential heat reuse applications.

Strategy two
Individual stand alone, high ROI containerized data center solutions that meet criteria for two distinct use cases.

NASA GSFC said it is specifically looking for a modular solution for two possible uses cases -

- A Management Information Systems Computing scenario with power requirements up to 10 kW/rack

- A High Power Computing scenario with power requirements up to 30 kW/rack

Strategy three
Containerized data center solutions with a high ROI, in order to establish a longer term strategic data center plan.

NASA states the approaches all need to meet Federal Data Centers Consolidation (FDCC) and Green mandates.

The Federal Data Centers Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) looks to reduce the cost of data center hardware, software and operations as well as promoting the use of Green IT by reducing the overall energy and real estate footprint of government facilities.