C O L D A I S L E C O N TA I N M E N T
The Next Generation of Data Centre Containment
Partial Containment
By Lars Strong, P.E., Senior Engineer, Upsite Technologies
Introduction
Lars Strong takes a
closer look at effective
airflow management
for your data centre.
Containing hot or cold aisles in
computer rooms has become almost
as standard a practice as installing
grommets and blanking panels. The
2013 Uptime Institute Data Centre
Survey shows 72 per cent of large
facilities (>5000 servers) and 53
per cent of small facilities (<1000
servers) have installed hot or cold aisle
containment. While the benefits of
containment are well known, until
recently the solutions available have
had significant limitations: high cost,
inflexibility to a changing environment
and disruption of operations from
construction activities required for
installation. Perhaps most significantly,
in many of the containment installations
that have occurred, full containment,
whether cold aisle or hot aisle, were not
necessary to achieve the desired airflow
management results.
Fortunately, data centre managers
can now consider modular partial
containment. While the applications
may vary, the core airflow management
benefits of all forms of containment are
similar and well documented: reduced
hot spots, reduced mixing of hot and
cold air, increased rack density, and
energy savings as a result of being able
to adjust CRAC/CRAH unit airflow
rates and temperature settings. To
some degree, all solutions provide these
benefits. The prudent consideration for
any data centre manager evaluating
containment solutions for their
computer room is: what form of
containment will provide the desired
airflow management benefits while
keeping cost and impact on operations
to a minimum.
The newest form of containment—
modular containment—has been
engineered to provide the core benefits
of traditional containment solutions,
but with the flexibility of ‘modules’ that
are installed on an individual rack basis.
This allows great flexibility, as any row
can be scaled up and down as needed.
Modular containment also addresses the
issue of inconvenient installation with
a user-friendly, non-intrusive, magnetic
application that can be self-installed in
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