The Most Interesting Ways In Which Computer Data Centres Are Cooled

One of the most widely used and effective data centre cooling methods is the hot aisle

, cold aisle approach. This method highlights that cooling is as much a problem of removing hot air as it is about introducing cold air. This basically involves positioning server racks in alternating lines with cold air intakes facing in one direction and the exhausts containing hot air facing the other. Those rows comprising the rack fronts are known as the cold aisles and typically face the output ducts of the centres air conditioners. The rows, which the hot exhaust air from the racks pours, are called hot aisles; these usually face the return ducts of the air conditioners.

The hot and cold aisles are isolated from each other to enhance efficiency. This used to be done by the placement of physical barriers like plastic sheeting but these days variable fan drives are more commonly used to prevent the mixing of the hot and cold air. Efficiency can be further improved by raising the floor so that cool air from the air conditioners can pass through.

Air cooling in this way does have its limitations. Rack density, for example, can considerably affect airflow thus reducing the efficiency of the cooling system. Fortunately there are alternatives that can be used independently or in conjunction with the hot aisle, cold aisle system. As a case in point, liquid cooling is at once efficient, quiet and cost effective and can be utilised both in a single rack and in a multi-rack suite.

There are a number of variations in the method of applying liquid cooling to the rack itself. One common system employs a closed-liquid rack. Here, the rack is sealed so that the airflow remains within it. This air passes over a heat exchanger, usually found at the bottom of the rack, and the heat is removed via a liquid-cooling system connected to the heat exchanger. Often quieter than other cooling systems, this closed-liquid rack solution is both thermally and airflow neutral to the room.

Another method is the use of a liquid-cooled door usually fitted at the rear of the rack. Heated air leaving the rack is cooled by the door and returns to the room at around ambient room temperature. Effectively, it is again thermally neutral to the room.

Cooler countries, like those in Scandinavia, are being particularly innovative in their thinking on the question of data centre cooling. One data centre operator in Sweden is building a data centre in a cave and, during winter, will use cool outside air and the caves long tunnels to facilitate cooling while channelling warm air back to heat the facility. Chilled air will be introduced in the summer. Engineers in cooler climates are also exploring the use of closed loop water cooling systems where naturally cool water is pumped from outside, through the data racks, and then back outside where it is cooled again.

Increasingly, environmental considerations are having an effect on the ways in which data centres are cooled. This means that new, environmentally friendly, techniques are evolving so that data centre operators should keep themselves up-to-date with the latest technology to ensure that their cooling systems are the most modern and efficient available.

by: Keith Horwood

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