OREANDA-NEWS. The first stage of Sberbank’s Skolkovo Data Processing Centre (DPC) has been launched in the Skolkovo Innovation Centre.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovich, Minister for Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Nikolai Nikiforov, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Herman Gref, and President of the Skolkovo Foundation Viktor Vekselberg participated in the ceremonial opening. The guests were shown the power equipment, ventilation and cooling facilities, as well as the technological systems of the Centre.

The DPC is located in a special building with server hardware, as well as engineering and telecommunications infrastructure. The centre is used to store, process, and transfer big data. Modern systems maintaining constant temperature and humidity level, high-speed internet access and equipment for non-stop electricity generation are needed for the centre to operate.

The launch of the DPC will allow Sberbank to increase the reliability of its IT systems, optimise operating costs, and boost growth of the bank’s IT infrastructure. The Skolkovo and Yuzhny Port DPCs will complement each other and ensure the continuous operation of Sberbank’s automated systems.

Herman Gref: “Our team were tasked with using Russian equipment. While there were almost no Russian-made components in the first data processing centre, there were huge machines produced by IBM, all equipment was produced overseas, in the new data processing centre there is a large number of Russian-made machines. The solutions developed here by Russian engineers are on the cutting edge of the most advanced technologic developments.”

Arkady Dvorkovich: “I believe this is a great step forward for Sberbank, Skolkovo, and for all of us in terms of IT development and big data usage. I am grateful to everyone who helped carry out this project: to developers and engineers. To those who were in charge of the construction, who contributed to the inventions that helped move this DPC to a higher technological level compared to the previous one. New technologies will keep emerging, but this DPC is currently one of the best in the world, and it will help Sberbank perform its activities more efficiently. I hope Skolkovo will also use part of these facilities to carry out joint tasks, as we have agreed.”

Viktor Vekselberg: “Sberbank is one of the global leaders in terms of the application of advanced digital technologies, and Herman Gref says that the bank will not provide traditional services in the future, but rather services related to big data processing, and offer informational services. We have already established very close cooperation in the fintech area. The companies who satisfy Sberbank’s needs operate in the venue of the Foundation. We have a large joint programme with Skoltech in the IT area, and I believe that Sberbank as one of the leaders and main customers will act as a very serious driver in terms of support and promotion of the results generated by the Foundation.”

The reliability of the new DPC according to the Uptime Institute international assessment system is Tier III, which means the accessibility of systems totals at least 99.98%. The power capacity of Sberbank’s DPC in Skolkovo is up to 29.9 MW. The project is extremely energy efficient and uses innovative cooling and non-interruptive power supply systems. The power usage efficiency indicator (PUE) does not exceed 1.3.

The power systems are built on the basis of the 2N scheme and use dynamic sources of non-interruptive power supply. The cooling systems use the direct outboard air cooling principle and operate without using energy for more than 330 days per year.

The DPC has already obtained the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification in the US. It scored 51 points, when the construction of the building is over, it will receive an LEED Silver certificate.