While containment solutions for hot or cold air can eliminate hot spots in data centre racks and provide significant energy savings for operators, for existing facilities, a number of factors must be considered, taking into account the requirements of the facility.
“The best containment solution for an existing facility will depend on the constraints of the facility,” said Victor Avelar, senior analyst and director, Data Centre Science Centre, Schneider Electric. “Ducted hot-aisle containment is preferred for highest efficiency, but cold-aisle containment tends to be easier and more cost effective if the facility already has raised-floor air distribution.”
To illustrate the point, the company has produced a new white paper by Paul Lin, Victor Avelar and John Niemann, that gives a step-by-step approach to determining and implementing the most appropriate containment solution within an existing data centre. It investigates the constraints, reviews available containment methods, and discusses the logical steps for deciding between hot or cold-air containment. In providing recommendations for determining the best approach, it emphasises the importance of ongoing air-management maintenance.
The benefits of a wisely chosen containment solution, the paper says, include increased availability owing to the prevention of hot spots; increased rack power density because hot-air recirculation is eliminated; increased cooling capacity because of the increase in temperature difference, or delta, between the cold supplied air and the hot returned air across cooling units; plus increased cooling efficiency and potential energy savings thanks to a more effective segregation of hot and cold air streams.
The document entitled “Implementing Hot and Cold Air Containment in Existing Data Centers” is available for free download without registration at the address below.
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