Change is a constant in today’s IT infrastructures. The digital transformation is bringing new innovations at a pace that has never been seen before. IT managers know that they will be constantly faced with new, as yet unknown challenges in the future. They have to be in a position to respond as fast as possible and implement data centres that offer a high level of investment certainty and flexibility for the future.

It is against this backdrop that Rittal developed the new RiMatrix Next Generation (NG) IT infrastructure platform. “Even from the initial design phase, we thought ahead to the ability to adapt to diverse and constantly evolving requirements when we were developing the open platform,” says Uwe Scharf, Managing Director Business Units and Marketing at Rittal. “Our customers have to adapt their IT infrastructures to developments faster than ever before to ensure business-relevant products and services can be created continually at the highest possible speed and without faults. Our aim is to support them as their partner for the future.” The result is an open platform for establishing data centres of all performance classes flexibly, reliably and fast, and for comprehensive consulting and services throughout the entire IT lifecycle that is unique in the world.

Whether it’s single rack or container solutions, centralised data centres, distributed edge data centres or highly scaled colocation, cloud and hyperscale data centres, the modularity and backwards compatibility of RiMatrix NG make it possible to update individual components in an infrastructure, and thus continuously adapt the entire data centre to rapid technological developments. “RiMatrix NG thus becomes an IT infrastructure platform that is extremely future-safe and flexible,” Scharf explains.

All IT infrastructure components in a single modular system

With modules from five functional areas that can be planned individually, IT managers can quickly and easily receive solutions that are tailored to their requirements, consisting of racks, climate control, power supply and backup and IT monitoring and security. The range of combinations ensures that users can cover their entire needs and meet local stipulations wherever they are in the world – depending on requirements using solutions from Rittal or from tested and certified partners for energy supply and fire safety, for example.

RiMatrix NG offers the flexibility of utilising and configuring the comprehensive Rittal modular system in IT racks, too, in line needs and preferences in the country of use – with the help of the new VX IT, or fully compatible with older generations.

This means the platform solutions are scalable in every dimension – size, performance, security and fail-safe reliability. If a particularly fast response time is needed, or existing buildings do not offer sufficient space, data centres can also be implemented using container solutions and safely integrated into existing IT infrastructures.

First platform for OCP technology

What also makes the RiMatrix NG special is that it is the first platform to support the use of OCP components and direct current in standard environments. Highly standardised direct current architectures and 21" racks in the Open Compute Project (OCP) design are increasingly becoming the energy-efficient best practice in hyperscale data centres. “Rittal is both a driver of the OCP initiative and a top supplier of OCP racks for hyperscalers worldwide,” Scharf says. “With the RiMatrix NG, we are the first supplier to enable the straightforward use of OCP technology in standard data centres.” Data centre operators can use RiMatrix NG modules and accessories to easily integrate the OCP solutions into the existing alternating current architecture without switching the entire data centre and, say, the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to direct current. “In this way, we now provide all our customers with easy access to the energy and efficiency benefits of this technology for the future – even for individual applications,” Scharf explains.

IT climate control

The IT systems installed in RiMatrix NG are cooled in a controlled cycle using tailored and fail-safe fan systems, refrigerant-based or water-based solutions, and continually monitored. With RiMatrix NG, cooling solutions can be tailored to the needs of every system from single racks and suite and room climate control, all the way to complex high performance computing (HPC) using direct chip cooling (DCC).

IT power supply and backup

In its “Continuous Power & Cooling” concept, Rittal has developed a way of bridging short-term power failures for a defined period depending on the requirements, preventing damage to both active IT components and the entire infrastructure, including climate control. Solutions from Rittal support the entire energy supply chain, from the main infeed, USP systems and sub-distribution to smart socket systems (power distribution units) in the IT racks.

IT monitoring and safety

With the RiMatrix NG platform, Rittal offers effective protective measures and monitoring solutions to ensure IT environments always remain functional. For instance, RiMatrix NG supports monitoring solutions such as the Computer Multi Control III (CMC III) monitoring system and the Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software. The sensors available for this include ones for measuring humidity, temperature, differential pressure and vandalism.

Wide-ranging protection concepts can be implemented depending on the requirements, for example as a basic protection room in a modular room-in-room solution, or as a high availability room offering even greater reliability. Independent assessments such as certification to ECB S rules from the European Certification Body GmbH (ECB) prove the level of safety.

Rapid project implementation

RiMatrix NG was designed in such a way that new data centres can be implemented rapidly. This speed is achieved for example through the quick and easy layout of components using the web-based Rittal Configuration System and unique 24/48-hour delivery service for standard products in Europe that Rittal provides. The international approvals ensure reliability and further boost the speed of IT projects, as there is no need for time-consuming permit and test procedures.

Consulting throughout the entire IT lifecycle

In addition to the system components, customers with Rittal as their partner for the future receive all the consulting and services they require for set-up and operation. Rittal offers support during the entire IT lifecycle of a data centre. Its service portfolio includes consulting on design, planning and configuration, assistance with operations and optimisation. Variable financing models such as leasing round off the portfolio and enable needs-oriented investment.