Ferrera Erbognone (Pavia), 13 April 2015 - The President of COPASIR (Copasir), Giacomo Stucchi, and Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, today visited Eni’s Green Data Center in Ferrera Erbognone (Pavia). The center is designed to house Eni’s central computer system, both the computer management and the High Performance Computing supporting the Company’s core business - in exploration and oilfield modeling.
The GDC is among the best in Europe by type and size (5,200 square meters, up to 30MW of power IT) and the world leader for energy efficiency as well as for the excellence of its security systems. The centre is equipped with high protection systems which guarantee its security from both external (terrorism, floods, etc.) and internal events (such as fire).
The excellence of the computers’ security systems is also revealed by the constant protection of corporate data through a Control Room, equipped with cutting-edge tools.
The security of the computers is also ensured by the protection of corporate data via a control room, equipped with leading security systems.
The energy efficiency of the GDC, entirely designed by Eni, centers around a particular cooling system (free-cooling), characterized by a structure which regulates the temperature by using 75% natural air and thus using air conditioners for only 25%. Innovative solutions were identified for the GDC in order to reduce energy consumption and to improve the energy efficiency parameter PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness - the ratio between the total consumption of a Data Center versus that of the single IT). The goal of reducing the ratio to 1.2 was achieved by Eni in 2014 with a PUE equal to1.192.
The GDC is running the High Performance Computing infrastructure, the most powerful supercomputer in Europe, intended for the industrial production of oil and gas and one of the largest in the entire oil industry.
The HPC allows a faster and more accurate processing of subsoil data by applying its proprietary technologies. Eni's strategy is focused on the utilization of the most modern processing technology aimed at supporting oilfield exploration and simulation. In 2014 Eni obtained worldwide recognition by HPCwire as the best user of HPC systems in the oil and gas field.
In the HPC’s international rankings, Eni has a computing and storage total capacity of 3 petaflops equal to 7.5 Petabytes and is currently ranked 12th in the latest TOP500 listing of the largest computers in the world.
According to the international parameters applied by the Uptime Institute, a further essential driver in the realization of this project was the obtainment of Tier IV level (Tier IV is the highest level of assurance that a data center can offer).
