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A Closer Look at Emerson’s SmartAisle
March 11th, 2010 : Rich MillerThis week at Data Center World, Emerson Network Power introduced the SmartAisle, a system that combines cold-aisle containment, in-row cooling and management tools to provide data center managers with more control over the temperature and energy use in their environments. In this video from the Data Center World expo, Emerson’s Fred Stack provides an overview of the SmartAisle using a demonstration unit on the expo floor. This video runs about 3 minutes, 30 seconds.
For more on this topic, see our Data Center Cooling Channel. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.
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OpenGate Targets Hot Spots for Switches
March 9th, 2010 : Rich Miller
A diagram of the new SwitchAir cooling solution for network equipment from OpenGate Data.
Data center cooling specialist Opengate Data Systems today introduced a new cooling product focused on addressing “hot spots” associated with networking equipment. SwitchAir Network Switch Cooling Solutions was developed to provide in-rack cooling support for high-density network switches, which can present cooling challenges as data center operators run their facilities at warmer temperatures to improve energy efficiency.
High switch port density has led many data center operators to position network switches facing the rear of rack to simplify network cabling. Due to the high switch port density, intake air typically enters at the sides of the switch chassis and heat exhausts out the rear or out the other side of the network switch chassis. SwitchAir enables rear rack mounted network switches to receive the required cool air from outside the rack, which is delivered to the network switch via the channels alongside the switch.
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Vette Corp. Unveils Coolcentric Unit
February 16th, 2010 : Rich Miller
A diagram of the LiquiCool system, from Coolcentric, which uses liquid cooling delivered to the rack via a rear-door heat exchanger.
Vette Corp. believes its time for liquid cooling to have a higher profile. Today it is launching Coolcentric, a new division of Vette to market its LiquiCool systems, which cools servers using a water-cooled heat exchanger in the rear door of the cabinet.
Coolcentric will make the case for liquid cooling as a tool to save money and space while making data centers more energy efficient, a pitch designed to resonate with data center managers grappling with corporate focus on cost-cutting and sustainability.
“A majority of the world’s data centers are highly inefficient and utilize legacy air cooling methods that consume vast amounts of energy,” said George Dannecker, President and CEO of Vette Corp. “The benefits of data center liquid cooling are clear, evidenced by dramatic reductions in power consumption, space requirements and operating costs. Coolcentric aligns all our knowledge, experience and resources to best serve the needs of owners and operators of sustainable data centers.”
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Phase Change Cooling for Service Providers
February 2nd, 2010 : Kevin NormandeauIn a typical data center power consumption profile, approximately 45% of data center power actually drives the IT load. The cooling infrastructure accounts for another 45% to keep the equipment cool. As such, cooling the equipment can be just as costly as the actual running of the IT equipment. With increased demands on data centers, cooling costs threaten to become an even larger portion of an organization’s operating expenses. This white paper from Alcatel-Lucent shows how to reduce cooling costs and substantially reduce energy expenses.
As service providers and other organizations take steps to ensure competitiveness in a challenging market, many are examining new approaches to data center cooling technology. Current heat exchange methods for cooling data centers are inherently inefficient in meeting the requirements imposed by today’s dense, high-speed computing equipment, and they can contribute considerable expense as well. By implementing a solution that aligns with a range of business initiatives — including cost-effective operation, optimization of energy efficiencies, reduced management complexity, and the need to meet green computing initiatives — service providers can address these
challenges and extend their competitive advantage.This paper examines a new approach to data center cooling known as “phase change” or “two-phase” low-pressure pumped refrigerant cooling. It details the advantages of this approach over traditional computer room air conditioning (CRAC) methods, and it identifies the specific benefits — from lower OPEX and reduced energy requirements to optimized utilization of data center space — that service providers can realize.
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Oracle and the Dawn of Containment
January 27th, 2010 : Rich Miller
A look at the containment system in the Oracle data center in Austin, Texas.
Attend any data center industry event these days, and you’re likely to hear multiple presentations mentioning the merits of variable speed airflow and isolating hot and cold air in the data center. But things were different back in 2004, when the data center team at Oracle Corp. confronted rising heat loads as the comapny expanded its Austin, Texas data center.
“There was no discussion of variable airflow, there was no discussion of containment,” said Mukesh Khattar, Director of Energy at Oracle. “At the time it was hot aisle/cold aisle.”
The Oracle team improvised a containment system that vented hot waste air from the top of the server rack into an enclosed ceiling plenum and directly back to the CRAC (computer room air conditioner) unit. Having isolated the air delivery and return system, Oracle worked to adjust the airflow speed, alowing them to reduce the power required to cool the system.
Recognized by ASHRAE
On Saturday, the Oracle team’s work on the Austin facility was recognized with an award from ASHRAE, the industry group for heating and cooling professionals.“This project debunked a lot of common myths associated with variable airflow in data centers and clearly demonstrated its cost effectiveness,” Khattar said. “It has become well accepted. This has led to a swift market transformation.”
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Seven Ways to Extend Power and Cooling in the Data Center
January 6th, 2010 : Kevin NormandeauIs your data center running out of power or cooling? This Eaton white paper offer insights on how to extend the sytems you already have and helps you build an optimal plan.
To keep pace with business demands, data centers pack in more power-hungry, heat generating IT systems than ever. Many power and cooling systems are reaching their limits. Older power protection, power distribution and HVAC systems could be bottlenecks to needed expansion. Since these support systems represent 40 percent of the cost of IT equipment, a wholesale upgrade is generally not an option.
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So, what is the best way to augment and extend existing capacity within the constraints of tight budgets and limited support staff? How can you establish a power and cooling infrastructure that is ready for growth but not over-provisioned for an uncertain future?
The solution. This white paper offers strategies that enable IT managers to: -
Iceotope: A New Take on Liquid Cooling
November 17th, 2009 : Rich MillerTwo UK companies are introducing a new cooling product that immerses servers in liquid coolant, an approach they claim can dramatically reduce data center energy costs – if IT managers can get comfortable with the idea of liquids in their data center.
Boston Limited and Iceotope are unveiling the new solution today at the SC09 supercomputing conference in Portland, Oregon. “Each server motherboard is completely immersed in an individually sealed bath of an inert liquid coolant which passively transfers heat away from the sensitive electronics to a tightly integrated heat exchanger formed by the wall of the bath where water is continuously re-circulated and cooled,” the companies said in a press release. “Compared to traditional air cooling systems, the two liquids are thousands of times more effective in capturing and transferring heat, thereby requiring much less energy to run the overall system as the water can be allowed to run warmer whilst still providing adequate cooling.”
A water cooling loop is also integrated into the server, which comes in a sealed chassis that installs vertically into a cabinet. Here’s a video that illustrates the concept:
Using an “end to end liquid” system to remove heat from the server to the exterior of the data center is far more efficient than air cooling, Iceotope says, and allows the entire liquid cooling system to operate at a much higher temperature, allowing more extensive use of free cooling (using cool, fresh air in data center cooling) and reduced need for energy-hungry chillers.
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Speeding Up Those Chiller Restarts
October 26th, 2009 : Rich Miller
An overhead view of the chiller plant at RagingWire Enterprise Solution in Sacramento, Calif.
When a data center loses power, the goal is to get the servers back online as quickly as possible. But you can’t restart all the servers until the cooling is working again. While servers can restart quickly, it often takes much longer to restart chillers, which provide refrigerated water for cooling systems.
Chiller vendors and data center operators are targeting this problem, as illustrated in a recent collaboration between Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and RagingWire Enterprise Solutions, a Sacramento IT infrastructure provider. RagingWire has been the testbed for Johnson Controls’ Quick Start software, which has accelerated the restart times for the providers’ York chillers.
Three-Minute Restart
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The Quick Start feature has reduced the time required for chiller restart and return to chilled-water setpoint from 13 minutes to less than three minutes during power interruptions or utility transitions, according to Jim Jim Kennedy, senior facility manager at RagingWire, which worked closely with Johnson Controls to jointly test the new capability. -
Arch Rock Launches Monitoring Tool
October 26th, 2009 : Rich Miller
An overview of a sample configuration for the Arch Rock Energy Optimizer for data centers. Click for larger image.
Arch Rock today is introducing a new version of its Energy Optimizer wireless monitoring system customized for data center usage. The product was initially launched in April to provide energy reporting for commercial buildings, and has been updated with additional sensors to measure temperature and air pressure, and custom reporting on a data center’s power usage and thermal status.
Arch Rock joins a growing number of players targeting the market for wireless monitoring products for use in data center retrofits. Other companies targeting this niche include SynapSense, Sentilla, SensiCast and HP (which uses SynapSense in its soluton).
Wireless monitoring is valuable in data centers because it allows company to retrofit existing data centers to detect “hot spots” where cooling may not be reaching servers. Fine-tuning cooling systems allows data centers to make more efficient use of the energy used for cooling, which often consumes nearly as much power as IT equipment. Measuring data center energy use is a growth area as companies seek to get a handle on energy costs and carbon emissions ahead of anticipated regulatory efforts by the Obama administration.
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