APC’s DCU updates curriculum

Remmy Nweke

Data Center University (DCU) programmme, an online educational institution for Information Technology (IT) professionals, being propelled by the American Power Conversion (APC), has updated its curriculum.

The latest curriculum also has some new courses and involvement of new educational partners.

End-to-end infrastructure availability provider, APC, while announcing this development said a new set of courses and educational partners have been engaged to further boost the DCU.

The firm, noted that the vendor-neutral courses focus on the critical technologies and best practices that are relevant to leading-edge, scaleable, modular data centre infrastructure.

Since its launch in January this year, DCU’s on-line courses have become an invaluable resource for IT professionals seeking real world training on the fundamental issues of Network-Critical Physical Infrastructure (NCPI) of data centres.

As said by the firm, initially consisting of 20 courses in the subject areas of data centre design, build and operations, the Data Center University recently added 15 new courses, which are, for a limited time, available free online and on-demand at www.datacenteruniversity.com.

Topics for the new courses, APC announced, would include “Calculating Total Cooling Requirements; Advantages of Row and Rack-Oriented Cooling Architectures (Parts I and II in a series); Fundamentals of Cooling Architecture; Calculating Total Power Requirements; Inter-System Ground Noise: Impact on Data Centre Availability; Generator System Requirements for Data Centres; Maximising RFID Network System Availability; Specifications of Data Centre Power Density; Fundamental Principles of Network Security; Standardisation in the Data Centre; Emergency Power Off: Don’t Get Caught in the Dark; Guidelines for Specifications of Data Centre Power Density; Power Distribution Techniques – Part I; and Financial Planning for NCPI Assets in U.S. Data Centres.

It would recalled that recently data centre executives with decades of combined experience participated in the development of the courses.

In addition, APC said, its original partnership with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), several technology and professional organisations recently joined the list of educational partners with Data Center University programme.

These include the Healthcare Information and Management System Society (HIMSS), the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, and Building Industry Consulting Services International (BICSI).

Additionally, State Engineering Boards from 18 different United States (US) will award credit for completion of APC Data Center University courses toward maintenance of state board licenses.

DCU courses, APC said, facilitates IT professionals, engineers, facilities managers and others involved in NCPI, an unprecedented opportunity to broaden knowledge on a wide variety of topics related to data centre design and management. Individuals can complete most of the courses in less than one hour and the courses are self-paced.

The APC Data Center University programme also will offer certification paths beginning in the fourth quarter of 2006.

“In just a few months, the APC Data Center University program has been able to meet a critical need for standardised training on the core issues of data centre management and design,” says Carl Kleynhans, country general manager: Africa at APC.

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