A team uses HoloLens in its data centers

Transforming IDC operations with mixed reality

Established in 2015, United Data Group is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, with R&D and Operation Centers in Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, and North America.

As an official Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner (MRPP), United Data is the first company in the world to apply MR in large commercial data center operations. In 2017, United Data developed Holo-IDC mixed reality solution to transform IDC construction, operation, and management. HoloLens enabled intelligent full lifecycle data center management and created many new value-added business scenarios.

As the backbone infrastructure to power the Internet, the IDC industry is constantly on the move. Smaller providers with less than perfect services are being phased out, replaced by large integrated providers with commercial-grade service level agreement.

Holo-IDC applies cutting edge mixed reality, artificial intelligence, and big data technology to smart IDC management, injecting innovative elements to the massive industry. This powerful solution is designed to optimize data center operation, minimize downtime, maximize energy efficiency, and even predict and prevent trouble from happening.

Like an intelligent and tireless agent, Holo-IDC is always on the job to guarantee service availability and stability all day, every day.

3D Access

The latest data centers are designed with MR from the very beginning. Complex pipes and cables are clearly diagramed and illustrated using 3D holographic, in addition to 2D blueprints. This not only made it easy for construction and operation, but it also shortened training cycles. Thoughtful design concepts are intuitively displayed in rich 3D for customers to see—even hard to reach areas of the facility.

Smart Inspection

Holo-IDC combines MR and IoT to transform data center inspection, which heavily relied on manual labor to perform random checks in the past. The solution directs inspectors to quickly locate defective hardware with pin-point accuracy, thus greatly improving operational efficiency.

"Holo-IDC improves service quality throughout the data center, grew our business by 28 percent, and increased customer satisfaction by nearly 40 percent."

–Li Jianli, Ops Manager, Hubei Wuhan Huazhong Data Center

Guangzhou Telecom Cloud Master Data Center is the largest IDC in Southern China. Facility tours are a big part of giving prospective customers a great first impression of the data center design and security mechanism. Effectively showing design, construction, operation, and management of such complex and dynamic data center to VIP guests is no small job. A traditional sand table display doesn’t work for high-tech audiences. The Holo-IDC “showroom” feature walks visitors through the complex structure and visually shows the data center through HoloLens spectator view. Combining large screen displays with high definition 3D MR holographic images, Holo-IDC helps Cloud Master Data Center create an intuitive and captivating showroom experience to wow customers. The solution attracted the attention of a large number of customers, which led to substantial business growth, and also deepened engagements with government and enterprise clients.

Inspectors with HoloLens and IoT access can visually see equipment status, even using gestures and voice to control the equipment. It’s really useful to spot abnormal equipment in a large room with a glance and have immediate access to historical data and charts from the cloud platform for real-time analysis and trouble shooting. MR technology delivered accurate inspection results, also vastly improving quality, efficiency, and inspection. Statistics show that the failure rate of a single-unit battery decreased by 90 percent after using Holo-IDC solution, stability of the power supply increased by more than 50 percent, and the overall operation and maintenance efficiency increased by 30 percent.

As an intuitive training tool, Holo-IDC effectively reduced the learning curve for IDC operators. The training cycle went from 40 days to 5-7 days. This solves the problem of a training instructor shortage and slow supply of qualified IDC personnel.

Solution spotlight

Holo-IDC connect HoloLens and sensors throughout IDC using MR and IoT technology. Easy-to-use QR code holographic image positioning system virtualizes physical equipment. 3D holographic visualization displays current state of hardware, together with historical and statistical data.

Benefits

Inspection efficiency increased 70 percent, accuracy rate went up 60 percent, equipment failure rate reduced 90 percent, power supply stability increased 50 percent, overall operation and maintenance efficiency up 30 percent.
Personnel training cycle compressed to 5-7 days from 40 days.
Customers who toured the data center with HoloLens reported 40 percent improvement in visitor satisfaction, resulting in 28 percent increase in business growth.