INFOGRAPHIC
The importance of choosing the right cooling method
4D Data Centres , a UK-based infrastructure management provider , has released an infographic detailing the various cooling methods available to data centres and how to choose between them .
s IT has evolved over time ,
A the technology that cools it has had to evolve as well . There are now several different cooling methods – explained in our infographic – data centres use depending on the cooling requirements of different systems .
Different IT systems , depending on the density of computer parts and the energy draw of the servers , need different levels of cooling . There are several factors to consider when choosing the type of cooling you use :
• You need to ensure your cooling can cope with the heat being produced by servers .
• To keep cost and environmental impact low , your cooling should be energy efficient .
• To avoid spending too much you shouldn ’ t take a higher cooling capacity than you need .
To help you choose between the different cooling methods data centres have available , we have summarised your options :
1 . Cold aisle containment
Data centres use cold aisles to push cool air up through the floor into an aisle walled by servers . This cold air has nowhere to go other than through the server racks , cooling them .
2 . Rear-door cooling
Rear-door cooling sits at the back of a server rack and has increased efficiency since it delivers cooling close to the source of the heat as air leaves the servers . It prevents too much hot air being pumped out into the data floor .
3 . Liquid immersion cooling
Immersion cooling is a relatively new technology and requires submerging your servers into a dielectric liquid that will cool your hardware without damaging it . The dielectric fluid is kept cool by exchanging heat with a chilled water supply .
4 . Free cooling
In an open-air cooling system , temperature and humidity inside the facility remain as consistent as possible with the outside environment , so that less energy is required to cool equipment . This is a very energy-efficient form of server cooling , but can only be implemented in certain places , like near the Arctic Circle , in a cave or in a pod at the bottom of the ocean .
All of the above cooling methods use the mediums of chilled water or air to deliver cooling and there are many different ways that data centres handle cooling these mediums . Ensure your data centre is using an energy-efficient method to handle this cooling to minimise costs and environmental impact . � www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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