Three Simple Steps You Can Take to Improve Cooling in Your Data Center Today

Look, just like lots of other things in your life, airflow management in your data center is all about control. Unlike other things in your life, there are some simple things you can do to give you some level of control.

Let’s start at the beginning, then some tips.

Early Data Center Design – Room Level
Early data center design relied on control in the form of rack layout. Hot aisle / cold aisle (HACA) was an early approach that faces computer intakes towards the cool air aisle in the data center and directs the hot exhaust into a common hot aisle. It works for lower densities, but in today’s high-density computing data center environment, it’s just not enough.

Row-level
That’s where containment strategies come into play. Aisle containment physically separates and encloses either the hot or the cold aisle in a hot-aisle/cold-aisle arrangement. This technique requires keeping two rows of enclosures cooled to match the single hottest server in the range. While more effective than room level control, it can create a hazardous working environment for technicians, result in poor lighting conditions and pose a potential fire suppression challenge as well.

Enclosure-level
The next level of airflow containment is at the enclosure level. This approach uses an adjustable base-plate to let under-floor air enter directly into the enclosure. It directs the air properly to the server intakes by using diverters, air curtains and blanking plates to ensure proper air segregation in the enclosure. This enables data centers to mix high-density enclosures with lower density enclosures, providing optimal, granular control of the cool air resource. One major benefit is that it greatly reduces the server inlet temperature variations common in traditional data centers. And that allows data center managers to incrementally increase the temperature of the supply air – where every one degree (F) increase can net between 3 percent and 4 percent energy savings.

OK, for those of you who cheated, here are three steps that data center managers can take immediately to achieve the benefits of server-level containment:

Three Simple Steps You Can Take to Improve Cooling in Your Data Center Today
Clear your under-floor plenums. To maximize airflow in your data center and ensure that it is directed where it needs to go, first make sure your raised floors are cleared of any obstructions – especially where your CRACs or CRAHs are pushing out the supply air.

Use best practices. Plug enclosure rack mount openings with blanking plates. Make sure the enclosure air is properly segregated with air curtains. Consider skipping the wasteful use of perforated tiles (subject to bypass cooling) in favor of bringing the air directly into the enclosure base through an adjustable base-plate.

Contain your cabling. Ever notice how your server cabling seems to be everywhere? It is, and it’s also blocking cool airflow to your servers. Look for ways to manage them properly to ensure better airflow. Ideally, route them through a side-car attached to the enclosure.

Thoughts or suggestions?