The higher temperature settings supported by Rackable’s new
CloudRack C2 enclosure [1] generated quite a bit of discussion last week at
Slashdot [2] and elsewhere. The CloudRack C2 can operate in environments as hot as 104 degrees, offering customers the option of saving energy costs by raising the temperature in their data center.
The aggressive new approach to data center temperature has implications for equipment vendors, as noted by
James Hamilton [3]. “The best way to make cooling more efficient is to stop doing so much of it,” he writes. “I’ve been asking all server producers ,including Rackable, to commit to full warranty coverage for servers operating with 35C (95F) inlet temperatures. Some think I’m nuts, but a few innovators like Rackable and Dell fully understand the savings possible. Higher data center temperatures conserve energy and reduce costs. It’s good for the industry and good for the environment. To fully realize these industry-wide savings we need all data center IT equipment certified for high temperature operations particularily top of rack and aggregation switches.”
Google, which favors running data centers
hotter than 80 degrees [4], makes its own servers. Google’s practices on data center temperature have prompted discussions with Intel, according to
The Register [5], which says Google has asked Intel to certify its chips to operate at temperatures five degrees warmer than its standard specs. Intel has run testbeds using
outside air to cool servers [6] in the data center – a technique known as air-side economization. Intel found negligible differences in equipment failure at temperatures as high as 92 degrees, leading it to conclude that “existing assumptions about the need to closely regulate (heat and humidity) bear further scrutiny.”
A wider temperature range in server warranties would likely prompt more data center managers to experiment with warmer thermostat settings. Is it likely to happen?
Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.
Article printed from Data Center Knowledge: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com
URL to article: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/03/23/will-server-warranties-get-hotter-too/
URLs in this post:
[1] CloudRack C2 enclosure: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/03/19/rackable-cloudrack-turns-up-the-heat/
[2] Slashdot: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/19/1329222&art_pos=1
[3] James Hamilton: http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2009/03/20/40C104FInTheDataCenter.aspx
[4] hotter than 80 degrees: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/10/14/google-raise-your-data-center-temperature/
[5] The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/google_and_intel/
[6] outside air to cool servers: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/09/18/intel-servers-do-fine-with-outside-air/
[7] Rich Miller: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/author/richm/
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