Thread: Designing Efficient Cooling

In the past people assumed that for every one watt of power consumed, you requires one watt of power for cooling. However, now people are building sophisticated datacentres to reduce the power required for cooling. Datacentre builders are using the notion of hot aisles and cold aisles, and are also encasing (insulating) the racks to ensure that hot air does not mix with the freshly brought cold air. Datacentre designers are also using blanking panels to fill up empty space in racks in order to manage airflow efficiency. People are also locating datacentres in regions where the outside air temperature and humidity is optimum (temperature range of20 degree to 25 degree C, and humidity range of 40 to 45 percent with a maximum dew point of17 degree C). Some system designers have started to leverage water¬cooling in lieu of air-cooling in order to more effi¬ciently remove the heat from the hot systems.



However, the plumbing infrastructure requirement for water-cooling leads to high¬er startup costs. Datacentre designers are also employing raised floor designs to facilitate bet¬ter airflow circulation. In conclusion, the use of these cooling techniques is now leading to a ratio of less than one watt of cooling for every one watt of power consumed. In conclusion, it is important to note that in addition to performance, power management is another quantitative way of measuring system performance. Going forward, as standards bodies produce new power measurement units this will become another key differentia tor between the products from different vendors.