COOLING SERVICES
Why is Data Center Cooling Important?
The high costs associated with cooling infrastructure are one of the reasons why businesses abandon on-premises data centers and migrate to colocation. Most private data centers and telco closets are quite inefficient when it comes to cooling IT infrastructure. They also lack the monitoring capabilities of colocation data centers, which makes it increasingly challenging to fully optimize infrastructure to reduce cooling demands.
It should be obvious that poorly managed data center cooling can result in excessive heat which can lead to significant stress on servers, storage devices, and networking hardware. This can lead to downtime, damage to critical components, and a shorter lifespan for equipment which leads to increased capital expenditures. Not only that. Inefficient cooling systems can increase power costs significantly from an operational perspective.
Current Cooling Systems & Methods
Calibrated Vectored Cooling (CVC)
CVC is a form of data center cooling technology made specifically for high-density servers. It optimizes the airflow path via equipment to allow the cooling system to handle heat more effectively, making it possible to grow the ratio of circuit boards per server chassis and utilize fewer enthusiasts.
Chilled Water System
Chilled water is a data center cooling system commonly used in mid-to-large-sized data centers that uses heated water to cool air being brought in by air handlers (CRAHs). Water is supplied by a chiller plant located somewhere in the facility.
Cold Aisle/Hot Aisle Containment
Cold and hot aisle containment is a common form of data center server rack deployment that uses alternating rows of "cold aisles" and "hot aisles." A cold aisle has cold air intakes on the front of the racks, while the hot aisles consist of the air exhausts on the rear of the racks. Hot aisles expel hot air into the air conditioning intakes to be chilled then vented into the cold aisles. Empty racks are full of blanking panels to prevent overheating or wasted cold air.
Computer Room Air Conditioner (CRAC)
One of the most common features of any data center, CRAC units are extremely similar to conventional air conditioners powered by a compressor that draws air across a refrigerant-filled cooling unit. They are quite inefficient concerning energy usage, however, the equipment itself is comparatively inexpensive.
Computer Room Air Handler (CRAH)
A CRAH unit functions within a wider system involving a chilled water plant (or chiller) somewhere in the facility. Chilled water flows through a cooling coil inside the unit, which then uses modulating fans to draw air from outside the facility. Because they operate by chilling external air, CRAH units are a lot more efficient when used in locations with colder yearly temperatures.
Critical Cooling Load
This measurement represents the complete usable cooling capacity (usually expressed in watts of power) on the data center floor for the purposes of cooling servers.
Evaporative Cooling
Manages temperature by exposing warm air to water, which causes the water to evaporate and also draw the heat out of the air. The water could be discharged either in the kind of a misting system or a moist material such as a filter or mat. While this system is extremely energy efficient as it doesn't utilize CRAC or even CRAH units, it will demand a lot of water. Datacenter cooling towers are often utilized to facilitate evaporations and transfer extra heat to the outside atmosphere.
Free Cooling
Any data center cooling system that uses the exterior atmosphere to present cooler air to the servers instead of continually chilling the same air. Even though this can only be implemented in certain climates, it's a very energy-efficient form of server cooling.
Raised Floor
A raised floor is a frame that lifts the data center floor above the building's concrete slab flooring. The space between the two is employed for water-cooling pipes or enhanced airflow. While power and network cables are sometimes run through this space as well, newer data center cooling design and best practices place these wires overhead.
Low Side Works
It is an already established practice now in commercial vertical that the builder constructs the complete structure with basic HVAC requirements. The building with Chillers and pipeline connecting the Air Handling Units (AHUs), located in respective AHU rooms of various floors. These AHUs are designed to deliver a pre-Designed cooling capacity and for a pre-designed Area of the floor. In a nut shell the builder has floors with AHUs (connected to the Chilling Unit), ready to deliver the AC to the area to be occupied.
When a customer (usually from Software business) is ready/decides to occupy, along with the other services the Air-Condition works (primarily air distribution work) will be called for and this work is popularly known as LOW SIDE WORKS.
Resources
Data Center Resources specializes in maximising power and cooling efficiency in critical data centers. Our comprehensive line of data center products and services enables our customers to effectively power, cool and monitor their critical systems.
