Siemens and Baselayer Partner on Modular Data Centers

German industrial conglomerate Siemens has partnered with Baselayer, the Chandler, Arizona-based IO spin-off that sells prefabricated modular data centers and data center management software to integrate a number of Siemens data center products into Baselayer modules.

Power distribution, control and metering, and fire safety products by Siemens will be integrated into Baselayer’s modular data centers. Siemens’s intelligent busway, for example, will save space inside the module and enable localized power distribution, allowing optimization of airflow down to the component level, improving the module’s energy efficiency, Siemens said in a statement.

As common elsewhere in the data center industry, Siemens and Baselayer are both partners and competitors. They compete in the data center infrastructure management software space, Siemens a fairly recent entrant with its Clarity LC DCIM tool and Baselayer adopting IO.OS created by IO as one of its products, rebranding it as Baselayer OS.

Since its separation from IO, Baselayer has been promoting an unusual deployment model for its shipping-container-like modules: plugging them directly into bulk electrical transmission lines to avoid the expense of backup generators. Bulk transmission lines are reportedly more reliable than so-called “last-mile” transmission.

The first such deployment, which the company has promoted as a showcase for the model, is for the Phoenix-based utility Salt River Project. The modular data center came online in Gilbert, Arizona, earlier this year.

IO announced plans for the Baselayer spin-off late last year. The company’s executives explained the move by the need for IO to focus on its primary business, which is providing data center colocation services, while Baselayer continues developing as a data center technology company.