What is data center cooling? Data center cooling is the process of keeping a data center at an ideal temperature, cool enough to maintain and protect information technology equipment (ITE). In order to achieve this, a data center cooling system must operate continuously around the clock. Since data centers are known to be very energy-intensive, they typically use as much or even more energy as the computer that they support. If a data center cooling system is designed well, it is likely to use just a small fraction of the energy used by the ITE.
A data center cooling system must have perfect cooling with a heat containment system built in. According to the users at PeerSpot, this will avoid hazardous air leakages. Our community members also said precision was an important aspect to look for when choosing a quality data center cooling system. More directly, the users advised checking server head load, then researching the design of the data center and racks, and finally ensuring the system's task efficiency before making a final decision.
Cooling is necessary in a data center because without it, your entire organization’s ITE is at risk. Safe temperatures must be maintained for servers. Because data centers are vital for storing information, it would be a detrimental loss to a company if their data center were to become compromised or damaged. Without proper data center cooling, servers can overheat and fail. And because servers are in use constantly, heat is always being generated.
A cooling system works by removing heat from the vicinity of the ITE’s electrical components to avoid overheating problems. When a server gets overheated, onboard logic usually turns it off to prevent damaging the server. In the case that the server gets too hot, it could negatively affect its lifespan. Data center cooling systems use cooling techniques made up of a combination of raised floors and computer room air conditioner (otherwise known as CRAC) or computer room air handlers (CRAH) infrastructure.
Below the raised floor, either the CRAC or the CRAH units work to pressurize the space, pushing cold air through perforated tiles and then into the server intakes. The cold air is then passed over the server components, is vented out in the form of hot exhaust, and then directed back to the CRAC or CRAH unit for cooling without mixing with the hot air. Usually, the return temperature of the unit is set as the main control point for the data floor environment. To maintain ideal and efficient operating conditions, data centers use a variety of innovative and modern data center cooling technologies.
The recommended temperature for server inlets (which is the air drawn in to cool interior components) is between 18 and 27 degrees Celsius, with the humidity range between 20 and 80 percent (according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers). Take note, though, this is not the suggested temperature for the entire server room but is just the recommendation for the server inlets.
Some companies run on a model of “expected failure” if they are a large enterprise and have hyperscale data centers, anticipating that servers will fail on a somewhat regular basis. Thus, they prepare ahead of time by putting software backups in place to route around equipment if it fails. In fact, to replace failed servers more often than normal can actually be less expensive than the cost associated with operating a hyperscale facility at lower temperature levels. This is not usually the case for smaller companies, though.
Below are some of the most common cooling methods used in a data center:
When it comes to controlling data center cooling and keeping it as efficient as possible, it is important to avoid making these common mistakes: