Mission Critical - Winter 2008 - (Page 60)

High-Performance Data Centers Call for Innovative Cooling Techniques The conventional solution can be risky BY BRIAN DONOWHO M ore than 80 percent of today’s data center managers identify thermal management as their greatest challenge. This is no surprise considering the average heat load generated per cabinet by new equipment has doubled since 2000. The excess heat generated by equipment can concentrate within the cabinet and cause equipment to critically overheat and shutdown, costing companies time and money. Contemporary thinking in data center thermal management promotes a hot aisle/cold aisle approach to segregate cold air in front of rows of equipment cabinets and hot exhaust air behind these rows of cabinets. This approach works well in low- to medium-density data center applications. Unfortunately, the hot aisle/cold aisle approach does not perform well in many medium-density applications and cannot begin to support high-density applications. Chatsworth Products, Inc. (CPI) offers a ducted exhaust cabinet that manages the exhaust airflow to overcome the capacity constraints of the hot aisle/cold aisle layout. Ducted exhaust cabinets controls heat by allowing the equipment to draw the required volume of air through the cabinet, then directing the exhaust out of and away from the cabinet, completely eliminating the problem of hot air re-circulation and hot spots, delivering higher energy efficiency. Thermal Management The primary goal of thermal management in the data center is to maximize the performance, uptime, and life expectancy of the active equipment. The goal is accomplished by delivering cold air to every piece of equipment so that the internal temperature of all equipment in the data center never exceeds the manufacturer’s maximum allowable operating temperature. The cold air delivered to the equipment must be at or below the manufacturer’s recommended temperature and in sufficient volume to meet the equipments’ airflow requirements. Delivering cooling with the lowest possible energy consumption is an important secondary goal. Eliminating wasteful air re-circulation and optimizing the return Brian Donowho is senior product manager for Chatsworth Products, Inc. (CPI). He has been with CPI for nine years, spending time in production management as well as product management. 60 | Mission Critical Winter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mission Critical - Winter 2008

Mission Critical - Winter 2008 Table of Contents Editorial: What Have We Been Doing? Cronin’s Workshop: Imagining the Perfect Data Center Power And Cooling Solution Digital Power: The Next Edge in Business Resiliency Zinc Whiskers: Keeping Up With The Green Movement Mission Critical Care: Shipping, Staging, and Installation Legal Perspectives: “A Reliable Energy Supply Is Key to Data Center Success” Continued Payback, Instant Protection Beyond the Nines The Green Information Technology Revolution Health Care Network Offers Glimpse of the Future of Backup Power High-Density Data Centers – Discuss, Design, Deploy High Performance Data Centers Call for Innovative Cooling Techniques More Data in the Data Center Five Considerations for Powering Data Center Racks New Products Industry News Events Classifieds Letters Ad Index Datacenter Wiki: wiki-Mission Critical

Mission Critical - Winter 2008

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