Minutes of the B513 Planning Meeting, 1st February 2000

IT/ST Co-ordination Meeting regarding Bat.513. Meeting held 1/2/2000 Present: ST: A.Funken
IT: T.Cass, D.J.Underhill, T.Smith, M.Vergari, R.Minchin.

T Cass reminded those present that the object of the meeting was to ensure that for both short term and long term issues, we were able to

agree on the issues,
ensure things were not forgotten, and
decide how to progress on each issue.

As the extension to Bat 186 was being covered in parallel discussions it was agreed to limit our discussion to issues concerning Bat 513.

The issues to be addressed concern Space, Power, Air Conditioning, Access and Safety. These can be viewed as follows:

SPACE:

Short term: "Ensure we can accommodate the LHC testbed facility (or facilities), that will be introduced progressively from autumn 2000".
Long term: "Make available a total "raised floor" area of 2,000 m2 for LHC era computing farms".

Comments: DJU commented that care was needed in some of the short term choices as they could have longer repercussions.
Tim Smith should supply us with the space requirements for the test bed facility. ACTION: TS.
Tony reminded us that the 2,000 m2 required for LHC did not include space for home directory servers or for network infrastructure.
DJU and RPM had looked for space that could be recuperated within B513. They had located

~500m2 in the barn - recuperating all except the offices along the west wall and moving the corridor alongside them.
~1100 m2 in the basement - progressively recuperating space as equipment is moved out - e.g. STK robots as soon as their new location is made available and emptying of the 3480 archives, all of which should be able to be thrown away by 2003.
~200 m2 in the old MG room. Due to the noise level in this room it might be more suited to a replacement archive.
~200 m2 in the storage area between the MG room and the corridor to the tape vault.

Almost all of the above space would require the relocation of people or equipment or both. For instance, alternative office space should be found before considering moving people from the barn. Part of the 1st floor could be considered.
It was agreed that here is sufficient space within the Computer Room for our requirements until mid 2001, including the test bed facility.
Tim will provide a graph of the space requirements envisaged for the next 6 years. ACTION: TS.
It would not seem necessary to build another floor or building to house computing equipment provided that the designated areas can be liberated.
Tony suggests that we investigate pre-equipping the tape vault with false floor and power by mid 2001.

POWER:

Short term: "Ensure a backup power supply can take over within 10 minutes of any failure of the primary EDF/EOS supply."
Long term: "Ensure electricity supply is adequate for the foreseen load of 2 Megawatts in 2005. This includes distribution, backup and emergency power off issues".

Comments: At a recent ST division workshop in Chamonix it was proposed that the automation for switching over to an emergency power supply would be renewed.
The three diesel generators currently used have a maximum deliverable output of 2.1 Mw. They have to supply power to Point 1 and all of the Meyrin site, including the Computer Center, and therefore would not be able to supply the 2Mw the computer centre will require.
The power consumption in B513 is extremely difficult to subdivide due to the interconnectedness of the systems. This makes it virtually impossible to consider powering off selected machines in an attempt to reduce the demand.
DJU commented that there is also a 2Mw limit on Substation 23 which supplies the Computer Centre.

AIR CONDITIONING:

Short term: Seems ok.
Long term: "Ensure that the air conditioning arrangements are both adequate for the installed equipment foreseen in 2005 and compatible with any fire detection and extinction equipment."

Comments: The airconditioning system currently installed is only used to about 30% of its capacity. However, what is not understood is whether it could cope with the heat dissipated by equipment using 2Mw of electricity. This needs to be checked.

ACCESS CONTROL:

Short term: Move to the CERN standard access control system.
Long term: Any issues?

Comments: One question is whether the new system should control the whole building or just the computer room. There is a large difference in price. Covering the whole building has implications on the use of the large metal doors used for deliveries. ST proposes that the two large blue metal doors on the Saleve side of the building be replaced by roller doors. IT is awaiting an offer.
DJU should find out who pays for maintenance once the system is installed. ACTION: DJU.
Tony enquired if the CERN access system, which was installed to cope with the LEP era, would need to be upgraded before LHC.

SAFETY:

Short term: "Work with TIS to document the improvements/modifications to B513 that are required, desirable or suggested for the safety of personnel, data and equipment IN THAT ORDER"
Long term: "Ensure that all required improvements/modifications are implemented and as many as feasible from the desirable or suggested lists"

Comments: In meetings with ST and TIS it has been suggested that the outdated smoke detection systems in the offices and barn be replaced.
The very sensitive laser smoke detector in the roof is a single unit. To provide increased safety, this should be duplicated.
It is not obvious if use of the sprinkler system in the vault is advisable, given the nature of the equipment installed there.
DJU will circulate reports that discussed replacing the wall between the computer room and the barn with something more resistant to fire. ACTION: DJU. This idea is largely negated by the centralised air condition system which circulates air throughout the whole building.
The high ceiling of the computer room provides considerable space for heat dissipation but makes it difficult to trace the origin of any smoke.

OTHER BUSINESS:
TC and AF will investigate possible sites to visit or companies that might provide consultancy (e.g. BT or IBM).

NEXT MEETING: 15th Feb at 10:00. Meet at the coffee machine and visit the building. Follow up meeting 29 th Feb. 31-1/002.

Richard Minchin.