EDITOR’S QUESTION
OFTEN
REFRIGERATED
COOLING
SYSTEMS
REQUIRE MORE
ENERGY TO
OPERATE THAN
THE TECHNOLOGY
SPACE COMPUTE
EQUIPMENT IT IS
SERVING.
These HAC cabinets ensure hot and cool
air remain separated and do not mix and
contaminate the input flow, which could
raise the operating temperature.
MICHAEL AKINLA, BUSINESS
MANAGER CENTRAL EUROPE
NORTH, PANDUIT EMEA
n an environment where
consumption of all things
appears to be heading
skywards, data use,
bandwidth and storage
requirements are right on
trend. With levels of data creation and use
now surpassing zettabytes volumes per
year, the data centre technology suites that
facilitate this compute power need to be
carefully controlled. centres consume massive amounts of
energy and need to be accountable and seen
to be operating in a responsible manner.
From the standpoint of an infrastructure
supplier, today’s discussions with data
centre operators and corporate end users,
with owned data centre capability, are
framed around increased bandwidth,
reduced latency and energy concerns
including lower power usage and
effective climate control to optimise the
compute environment. There is also a trend, driven by hyperscale
design, towards solid floor technology
suites, which again reduce overall
complexity and allows cooled air to be
channelled across the space into Hot Aisle
Containment (HAC) pods.
I
Data centre operators are adapting to
a mostly western world view, that data
www.intelligentdatacentres.com
With the mass of experience now available
in the industry, data centres can be
designed to take advantage of the specific
region’s climate, so for example in, northern
Europe, data centres can operate ‘free-
cooling’ of the IT load, which massively
reduces the total energy used in the facility.
These cabinets are designed to effectively
draw cool air through the racks, across
the hot equipment and then expel the
hot exhaust air into the ceiling void to be
recirculated and cooled once again.
Using refrigerated cooling systems to
maintain the IT load will certainly require
higher energy use, and therefore increase
capital cost and operational cost. Often
refrigerated cooling systems require more
energy to operate than the technology
space compute equipment it is serving.
This approach aligns with ASHRAE TC9.9
recommendations which specify higher
equipment operating temperatures, while
remaining within the manufacturers’
warranty specifications and also reducing
energy use.
Advances in computation flow dynamics
(CFD) in the design of technology suites
greatly assists layout and management.
Developments in server, storage, switch
and infrastructure technology, including
cabling and racks, together with intelligent
monitoring systems and millions of
hours of facility analysis allows energy
efficient systems to dramatically reduce
operational expenditure.
New technologies benefit the operator
and user with cheaper energy costs, and
higher performance solutions. This also
offers the operator and customers the
cachet of sustainability, low PUE and
increased eco-friendliness.
Issue 06
31