science

Virtual facility

Virtual facility is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Virtual facility rather than just read about it. In short: A Virtual Facility (VF) is a highly realistic digital representation of a data center. The term "virtual" in Virtual Facility refers to its use of virtual reality, rather than the abstraction of computer resources as seen in platform virtualization.

Key takeaways

Virtual facility belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Virtual facility to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Virtual facility from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A Virtual Facility (VF) is a highly realistic digital representation of a data center. The term "virtual" in Virtual Facility refers to its use of virtual reality, rather than the abstraction of computer resources as seen in platform virtualization. The VF mirrors the characteristics of a physical facility over time and allows modeling all relevant aspects of a physical data center with a high degree of precision.

VF Model features A standard VF model includes:

Three-dimensional physical facility layout Network connectivity of facility equipment Full inventory of facility equipment, including electronics and electrical systems such as power distribution units (PDUs) and uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) Full air conditioning system (ACUs) and controls within the room The term Virtual Facility was introduced by Future Facilities, a data center design consultancy focused on delivering Design and Operational solutions, to address the emerging environmental problems facing the modern Mission Critical Facility (MCF). The concept is, in essence, a combination of the fields of virtual reality (VR), computer simulation, and expert systems being applied to the specific domain of facilities. The VF type of computer simulation allows for detailed analysis and prototyping of air flow in the data center by making use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. This allows the airflow and temperatures of the facility to be analyzed visually (scientific visualization) and numerically to study and predict what would happen in a real facility. The importance of scientific methods in the design of mission-critical facilities has become a necessity, since the performance gains predicted by Moore’s law go hand in hand with a rise in power and heat dissipated by equipment. Rules of thumb have proven to be no longer adequate.

VF applications The VF model can be used to assist with the following:

Greenfield design Asset management Troubleshooting existing data centers Making existing data centers more resilient Making existing data centers more energy efficient Cost prediction Staff training Capacity planning Load growth management The VF model is currently being employed by many large organizations as a way of virtually assessing a situation before having to commit large sums of money to trying to solve the problem in a real facility. It is essential to know whether adding new equipment or changing equipment will cause a logistical or thermal problem. The VF allows the designer or operator to assess the best course of action and gives an in-depth understanding of counterintuitive behaviors.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Virtual facility

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Virtual facility claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Virtual facility before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Virtual facility ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Virtual facility

In research: Virtual facility appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Virtual facility in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Virtual facility is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Data management, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Virtual facility outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Virtual facility in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Virtual facility means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Virtual facility out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Virtual facility in simple terms?

Why does Virtual facility matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Virtual facility?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Virtual facility.