Schneider Electric has announced that its EcoStruxure™ Micro Data Centre R-Series for rugged indoor environments will be available in Europe as early as this month.

The new IP and NEMA rated micro data centres offer a resilient and quick-to-deploy solution to help manage edge computing infrastructure within challenging industrial and manufacturing environments.

As more industrial operators deploy Industry 4.0 technologies to increase productivity, safety, and automation, micro data centres have become increasingly essential to address everything from the convergence of IT and OT to the enabling of IIoT applications — making IT on the factory floor more reliable and simpler to deploy.

What is industrial edge computing?

For industrial operators to capture the benefits of increased automation, they cannot rely on cloud-technology alone to bring the resiliency and speed demanded by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other Industry 4.0 technologies.

Local edge data centres are IT infrastructure enclosures/spaces/facilities distributed geographically to enable endpoints on the network. When in industrial environments, such as a manufacturing plant or distribution centre, this application is referred to as “industrial edge computing.” Analysts have identified the edge as becoming increasingly important.

As part of the launch, six new models are available in 16U, 24U, and 42U sizes to allow for flexibility and scalability.

“As Industry 4.0 and advanced automation technologies continue to drive transformation within industrial environments, IT must be deployed closer to the point of use, enabling increased productivity and efficiency,” said Rob McKernan, SVP, secure power division, Schneider Electric, Europe.

“The availability of our new IP and NEMA rated EcoStruxure Micro Data Centre R-series solutions will help industrial manufacturers and distributors across the region truly reap the benefits of improved performance and reliability on the factory floor.”

EcoStruxure Micro Data Centre solutions are configurable, pre-packaged, enclosed rack systems that include power, cooling, security, and management.

They can save up to 40% in field engineering costs, get systems to market 20% faster, and reduce maintenance costs by seven percent.

Micro data centres take advantage of existing infrastructure and can potentially reduce capital expenses by 48% over a traditional build. The new R-series reinforces these benefits and helps customers alleviate difficulties because they are:

• Built to withstand harsh indoor environments and applications with minimum ingress protection ratings of IP54 and NEMA 12. Industrial edge environments can be challenging with high levels of dust, moisture, and wide temperature variations.
• Managed remotely with Schneider Electric’s portfolio of software and digital services when there’s limited-to-no on-site IT staff. EcoStruxure IT, an open, vendor-agnostic platform, provides the power and flexibility for users to manage critical infrastructure on their own, with a partner, or to allow Schneider Electric’s service engineers to manage the assets for them.
• Equipped with security features, such as access control, intrusion detection and security camera that allow it to go in unsecured locations.

• Able to standardise your design across multiple environments with a single, all-in-one-solution, which is easier to deploy and maintain than disparate systems.

The new R-Series is available through mySchneider IT Solutions Partners and Schneider Electric sales representatives.

Visit this page for more information about Schneider Electric’s new IP and NEMA rated EcoStruxure Micro Data Center R-series for rugged indoor environments.