Case Studies
Shell Europe
Shell is a worldwide group of energy and petrochemicals companies, with around 100,000 employees in more than 90 countries and territories. It has revenues of around US$278 billion (around £180 billion), and produces 3.1 million barrels of gas and oil every day.
The company has operations across Europe, and needs to co-ordinate their activities efficiently. In one example, a number of exploration teams work together closely between its sites in Aberdeen in Scotland and Stavanger in Norway.
To enable this team-working to be as efficient as possible, Shell has installed what it calls "Viz rooms" in each of those locations, which provide virtual reality (VR) communications. Also, the Viz rooms each contain two high-performance HP XW9400 workstation PCs, which are used by staff for 3D modelling and collaboration services.
The challenge
Having set up the Viz rooms, Shell found that the noise generated by the PCs was a problem, and specifically meant that it was it difficult to conduct conversations with the other locations.
"The rooms are quite small, so the noise of the PC towers working hard was distracting," says Simon Green, Virtual Reality Centre Coordinator at Shell.
Cooling the computers was also an issue for Shell, and it needed a solution that did not generate extra noise, as Green explains: "As we were using videoconferencing, the last thing we wanted was to be distracted by hearing an air conditioning system."
"Putting the computers outside the room was not an option," says Green. "The people using the room need access to log on, to use USB drives, or to reboot the PCs if required."
Experience with similar rooms had shown Shell that managing clutter was also a factor, as Green comments: "We had rooms without cabinets, and they ended up being noisy and awkward, with cables all over the place."
The solution
To overcome its noise problems, and to provide an ergonomic way to store the PCs and their peripherals, Shell decided to install NetShelter CX server cabinets. The company selected the AR4024 NetShelter CX model, which provides 24 rack spaces and 10 surge-protected power outlets. Shell uses one cabinet in each of the five Viz rooms in Aberdeen.
NetShelter CX cabinets enable the deployment of servers and network hardware directly in the office workspace, removing the need for server rooms. In typical usage, the cabinets reduce server noise by a perceived 90%, CO2 emissions by 96.5%, and - when compared to a server room - reduce floor space by 90%, operating costs by 98%, and capital costs by up to 80%.
"The cabinets mean that we can keep everything out of the way, and shutting the door blocks out the noise from the computer fans," says Green.
The NetShelter CX cabinets also provide cooling for the PC workstations. "Our users were initially concerned about closing the doors due to over-heating concerns, until we explained about the cabinets’ cooling systems," says Green. "These PCs used to be under a desk, but before we had the cabinets we had overheating problems as they are top-end systems – the heat they generated was incredible."
Noise reduction
Typical servers in an open office will generate noise at a level of something like 62 dBA to 68 dBA, which for comparison is above the 60 dBA level of normal conversational speech. To become unobtrusive, the noise from the servers or other hardware must be reduced to the level of the general office background noise, which is around 50 dBA. At such reduced levels, the human brain perceives the noise from the servers as part of the overall background noise and it will go unnoticed. This is similar to the unnoticed 45 dBA to 50 dBA hum from most built-in office air conditioning systems.
A Kell server cabinet achieves this required decrease, and typically brings down server noise to below 50 dBA. For Shell, they found that in day-to-day usage, their NetShelter CX cabinets achieved the noise reductions they looking for, and ensured their workstations PCs were quiet enough to avoid intruding into the video conferencing conversations.
"The main reason for choosing the NetShelter CX cabinets was because we wanted the rooms to be quiet – they were particularly good at achieving that," says Green. "This is the most important benefit that the cabinets have provided – our users have been impressed that they can close the doors and it simply goes quiet."
Ergonomic
In each NetShelter CX server cabinet, Shell has the two HP tower PCs side by side, as well as an audio amplifier which is used for videoconferencing. A shelf in the rack is used to provide dedicated spaces for the PC’s keyboards, and the chargers for the Bluetooth mice used.
"When the room is not being used, everything is kept in the cabinet, which makes it easy for people to just open the door and take out the keyboard and mice, and check the audio amplifier if they need it," comments Green. "We didn’t want a massive setup with control systems for the amplifier and PCs, and the cabinets mean we can just control the equipment directly, and can barely see the cables."
Green has also found that the cabinets are easy to work with, and comments: "It’s useful the way the cabinets themselves come apart to provide access – it’s quick and easy to add or change equipment."
About Shell:
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies. Our headquarters are in The Hague, the Netherlands, and our Chief Executive Officer is Peter Voser. The parent company of the Shell group is Royal Dutch Shell plc, which is incorporated in England and Wales.
Our strategy seeks to reinforce our position as a leader in the oil and gas industry in order to provide a competitive shareholder return while helping to meet global energy demand in a responsible way.
In Upstream we focus on exploring for new oil and gas reserves and developing major projects where our technology and know-how adds value to the resource holders.
In Downstream our emphasis remains on sustained cash generation from our existing assets and selective investments in growth markets.
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