Vatican Apostolic Library Case Study

The Sistine Lounge
Apostolic Palace – Vatican Library

About the Vatican Apostolic Library
Founded in 1451 by Nicholas V, the Vatican Apostolic Library preserves and displays rare manuscripts from as far
back as the third century. The Vatican Apostolic Library holds pivotal cultural documents that include letters fromimportant historical figures; drawings and notes by artists and scientists such as Michelangelo and Galileo; andtreaties from all eras, in all fields of learning, from all parts of the world.
Currently, the Vatican Apostolic Library maintains over 180,000 manuscripts (including 100,000 archival
units), 1.6 million printed books, over 8,600 incunabula, more than 300,000 coins and medals, 150,000 prints,drawings and engravings, and over 150,000 photographs.
Today the Vatican Apostolic Library is a research institution for history, art, literature, law, philosophy, science,and theology. One of the main functions of this distinctive institution is to offer consultation services on thestored books through selected researchers and qualified members of the academic community. These services
provide a valuable resource on the collected information, contributing to world history consolidation and thesharing of human knowledge.

Biblioteca
Apostolica
VaticanaImproving Reliability andEnhancing Operational Efficiency

COMPANY
Vatican Apostolic Library
COUNTRY
Vatican StateINDUSTRY
Education and Historical Research
BUSINESS CHALLENGES
To provide a highly reliable and secure
network infrastructure that empowers theuse of technology, supports sustainability
objectives, and provides the highest network capacity today and into the future.
PANDUIT SOLUTION
Panduit Integrated Data Center Solution
comprised of SmartZone™ Software andHardware for comprehensive energy andphysical infrastructure efficiency in thedata center. The Net Access™ S-Type
Cabinet System for thermal sealing andcable management, and the copperand fiber cabling system for consistent
network reliability, performance, andscalability.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
Improved data center infrastructure
management offering better visibilityof critical IT infrastructure to enablestreamlined processes and agile businessdecisions.

2The Vatican Apostolic Library implemented thePanduit Integrated Data Center Solution to createa robust and highly available network
infrastructure to support the conservation of its
literary treasures.
BUSINESS CHALLENGES

The manuscripts in the Vatican Apostolic Library are extremely delicate andsensitive to light, humidity, and temperature. Therefore, handling the materialpresents significant risk for destruction or damage. To guarantee the preservationof its documents, the Vatican Apostolic Library has begun an extensive manuscript
digitization project.
The purpose of the project was to provide the technology and functionality needed
to support the future storage of the valued manuscripts. To accomplish this goal,
the existing data center needed to be completely dismantled and equipped with amore efficient data center infrastructure.
The new data center required a highly available, secure network infrastructure tosupport the massive data transfer effort and provide the capability to monitor andcapture real-time data.
The complex project has two aspects. The first is the transition of over 80,000
historical manuscripts held in the Vatican Apostolic Library to a digital format. This
aspect has been in process since 2012. The second aspect involves implementing
the upgraded network infrastructure that would enable effective optimization of data
center cooling, power continuity, and storage, and was successfully completed.
According to Luciano Ammenti, IT Director, Vatican Apostolic Library, “We neededa solution with a tangible contribution to technology and a solution provider withspecialized knowledge to allow the Vatican Apostolic Library to easily extend its
services to patrons well into the future.”

The Apostolic Palace fromthe inner Belvedere courtyard

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVESThe Vatican Apostolic Library needed the capability to monitor and manage its new data center, and support the demand forincreased power and capacity. The existing tools were inadequate and the new data center needed to address inefficiencies
surrounding power monitoring, energy management, capacity, and environmental conditions in the data center, while offering
the latest technology to the Library’s patrons. This would allow the Vatican Apostolic Library to address current needs andprepare for future growth as the digitization project progressed.
In addition, the data center enhancements would support the Vatican Apostolic Library’s commitment to create a setting whichallows readers to easily access the manuscripts while avoiding further degradation of the original materials.

PANDUIT SOLUTION

After validating the robust performance of the connectivity previously installed at the main data center, located in a nearby
site, the Vatican Apostolic Library again selected Panduit to fulfill its network infrastructure requirements. This included
implementing the integrated physical infrastructure, hardware and software, and the hot aisle containment system for thenew site within the historical home of the Vatican Apostolic Library. According to Mr. Ammenti, “The consultative approach of
the Panduit team along with partners such as EMC2, Stulz, and Borri UPS, allowed us to resolve our physical infrastructure
challenges with credibility and reliability.” The implementation of the SmartZone™ Solutions allows the Vatican Apostolic Library
to monitor and process real-time data, and access current and historical views of power and temperature, providing enhanced
functionality and visibility across its entire physical infrastructure. The solution addresses the Library’s power and energy usage
challenges, capacity constraints, environmental issues, patch field connectivity, and security and access control requirements
to provide the tools and information needed to make intelligent decisions for its data operations.
SmartZone™ Gateways simplify the Vatican Apostolic Library’s network architecture by processing and consolidating themonitoring, management, and control of gateway-enabled rack power distribution units (PDUs) and environmental sensors
through a single IP address, reducing the need for separate IP ports. This information can then be displayed via internal
firmware or utilized by SmartZone™ Software platforms for real-time monitoring and display, management, and automateddocumentation of operational metrics. To enhance data center security, SmartZone™ Gateways support access control card
readers on cabinets and manage encrypted access data for smart card technologies and other readers.
The upgraded network infrastructure includes eight Panduit Energy Efficient Net-Access™ S-Type Server Cabinets, thermallycompartmentalized using a complete Panduit® Net-Contain™ Hot Aisle Containment (HAC) System for energy efficiency,
optimized airflow distribution, and improved thermal performance across the data center. The cabinets consist of componentsthat maintain hot/cold air separation to improve cooling efficiency from the previous cooling system by 40%, which significantly
lowers cooling expenses for the Vatican Apostolic Library.
To improve cable management while ensuring system performance, durability, and reliability within the Vatican Apostolic
Library’s data center solution, NetManager™ High Capacity Horizontal Cable Managers and Patchlink™ Horizontal Cable
Managers were deployed.
The solution was completed with Panduit copper and fiber systems for connectivity within the cabinets. Together, the Panduit
OM3 fiber optic transport system (MPO interconnects, angled patch panels, and pre-terminated fiber cassettes) and Category
6A 10 Gig copper system provide reliable network performance and enable application availability while exceeding thelatest industry standards. The consistent performance and reliability accommodate the Vatican Apostolic Library’s network
performance needs.

3

BUSINESS BENEFITS“The use of Panduit technology has provided us with an essential contribution to our data
center in terms of efficiency, infrastructure management, and data availability, creatingbalance between cost and performance,” said Mr. Ammenti.

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The robust and innovative architecture of the Panduit Integrated Data Center Solution
provided the Vatican Apostolic Library with the capability to support the vast amountof data generated by the digitization project, ensuring high reliability and elevatedtransmission speed.
The deployment time for the installation was 30% less than deployment time offeredby alternate solutions, which was a great added value for the overall project. Since thecompletion of the project, visiting customers to the Vatican Apostolic Library have shownsincere interest in duplicating the same layout, implementing similar Panduit solutions
suitable to their needs.

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