Cooling solutions in an operational data centre: A case study

Fakhim, Babak; Behnia, Masud; Armfield, S.W.; Srinarayana, N.

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2011.03.025

Cited by 78 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Large non-uniformity can be observed from the vertically measured air temperature and humidity along each rack. Similar phenomena can be observed for other physical isolation oriented design, such as overhead returns with ceiling vents or ducts and their combination [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A combined cooling solution for high heat density data centers using multi-stage heat pipe loops

Tian

2015

Energy and Buildings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Such non-uniformity lowers the thermal reliability of data processing devices. To reduce this undesired air mixing, cold-aisle containment and blank space blocking are proposed and studied [5], illustrated by Fig. 3 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A combined cooling solution for high heat density data centers using multi-stage heat pipe loops

Tian

2015

Energy and Buildings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Currently, there may already be more than 100 times more energy per square metre in a data centre than in a typical office environment (Fakhim et al, 2011). The authors mentioned in their case study that 'as heat dissipation in [air-cooled] data centres rises by orders of magnitude, inefficiencies such as air recirculation causing hot spots and flow short-circuiting will have a significant impact on the thermal manageability and energy efficiency of the cooling infrastructure'.…”

Section: Solutions For Liquid Coolingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct-to-chip liquid cooling for reducing power consumption in a subarctic supercomputer centre

Ovaska

Dragseth

Hanssen

2016

IJHPCN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reduction of data centre power consumption is a timely challenge. Waste heat reuse is another focus area when developing energy efficient and sustainable data centres. And these two issues are interconnected through liquid cooling of server racks and/or direct-to-chip liquid cooling. Both of these solutions make it possible to transfer a significant proportion of the waste heat energy back to profitable use. Nevertheless, the heat reusing opportunity is not the only benefit direct-to-chip liquid cooling may offer. Another benefit is the notable reduction of power consumption related to cooling fans associated with server blades and rack-level cooling systems. To evaluate this benefit, we performed power consumption and performance measurements in a subarctic supercomputer centre hosting a cluster of 632 blade nodes. Our study concentrated on a 47-node subset that we analysed when the servers were executing the LINPACK benchmark. Our conclusion is that direct-to-chip liquid cooling can reduce the total power consumption, in this case, up to 14.4% depending on the inlet air temperature.Keywords: data centre; direct-to-chip liquid cooling; power consumption; subarctic climate; supercomputer; waste heat reuse.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ovaska, S.J., Dragseth, R.E. Roy E. Dragseth holds a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Tromsø (UiT), and has worked with system administration and user support in the HPC Services at UiT for nearly 15 years. He has been the main system architect behind the last three generations of HPC systems deployed at UiT, and was deeply involved in the design of the current 0.5 MW HPC data centre. Currently, he is working on the final design of the new 2 MW data centre under construction.Svenn A. Hanssen holds a

show abstract

“…A large portion of this consumed energy (almost 50%) is necessary for cooling servers to maintain their temperature within allowable limits (Nada et al 2016). It is also planned to increase cooling capacity used for cooling data centers globally so as to double it every five years (Fakhim et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Analysis of Modifications in Cooling Systems for High-Performance Data Centers. A Case Study

Rusowicz

Ruciński

Laskowski

2017

Proccedings of 10th International Conference "Environmental Engineering"

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. One of main issues concerning server room operation is appropriate cooling of electronic modules to prevent excessive heat generation resulting in their damage. Since high cooling powers are required, precision air conditioning systems are used that are specially designed for cooling server and equipment rooms, server cabinets, etc. These devices require very large energy supplies. The paper proposes an upgrade of a cooling system for three server rooms in which refrigeration equipment with a cooling power of 1.873 MW is installed. The average actual cooling power demand is 890 kW, and some units work as a standby. Thir-eight direct-evaporation air-conditioning cabinets are installed. The refrigerant is R407C. The devices have been operated for 14 years; therefore, the refrigeration equipment should be replaced with modern units. The paper compares three approaches: replacing the units with similar ones based on newer technology, introducing contained aisle configurations of rack cabinets and units based on newer technology with additional EconoPhase modules. The application of free cooling was not analyzed since mounting additional heat exchangers was impossible (due to the lack of space and limited roof loading capacity). The paper provides capital and operating costs of the solutions. The introduction of up-to-date units and replacing condensers resulted in lowering the electric power demand by 16%. The simple payback time (SPBT) of this solution is 18.8 years. The energy savings achieved through the second solution (contained aisle configurations of rack cabinets) amount to 37.8%, with SPBT equal to 8.38 years. Variant III, consisting in using modern units with additional EconoPhase modules, significantly improves energy savings (48.3%) but it requires large capital expenditure, with simple payback time of 12.1 years.

show abstract

Cooling solutions in an operational data centre: A case study

Cited by 78 publications

References 13 publications

A combined cooling solution for high heat density data centers using multi-stage heat pipe loops

A combined cooling solution for high heat density data centers using multi-stage heat pipe loops

Direct-to-chip liquid cooling for reducing power consumption in a subarctic supercomputer centre

The Analysis of Modifications in Cooling Systems for High-Performance Data Centers. A Case Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About