34
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COLD
AISLE CONTAINMENT
Optimising
Airflow
By Damian Stackhouse, MD,
EDP Europe
www.edpeurope.com
By implementing a hot and cold
airflow optimisation strategy data
centres can reap the rewards
It's widely recognised that data centres consume almost
as much energy to cool them as they do to power the IT
equipment that they house, with many using up to four
times more cooling than is required. By improving cooling
efficiency, and how the conditioned air is delivered to the
IT equipment, significant savings can be made and extra
capacity found.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration
and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) works
closely with manufacturers to determine the optimal
performance temperatures for their equipment, producing
recommendations and industry guidelines on the ideal
conditions for installed IT equipment. These guidelines now
suggest that IT equipment can work effectively at higher
temperatures than previously thought, enabling the supply
air to be increased, even to as high as 27°C. Some studies
have shown that for every degree Fahrenheit (0.56°C) that
the set point on a CRAC unit can be raised by equates to a
4% energy cost saving. And since cooling costs are almost
as high as powering the equipment, raising cooling set
points can result in major energy cost savings.
In order to operate within the recommended temperature
ranges put forward by organisations like ASHRAE, any
business that operates a data centre (enterprise or
co-location) must have implemented a defined airflow
management strategy. Optimising airflow can help with
delivering a number of key benefits including improving
efficiency, extending the life of IT equipment and
driving cost savings. In order to help achieve the optimal
performance of a data centre’s cooling system, there are
a number of steps that should be taken either sequentially
or concurrently as part of an overall cooling & efficiency
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