Harden the server hardware rather than babying it?
Server vendors have set very strict parameters for the temperatures and humidity levels at which their machines will function properly. Thus, datas centers have to support these fragile conditions with energy hogging cooling infrastructure. The question came up at the Uptime Institute Symposium: Why not just spend the money hardening the servers, expanding the thermal requirements and lowering overall cooling (power) consumption?
The idea is interesting and may have promise in some applications. But most high density data centers run the hot aisle, cold aisle method of cooling that faces server intakes toward air conditioned raised floor vents, directing all hot air to aisles on the backside.
If you increase the allowable thermal requirement, nobody will be able to work in the hot aisle and your Category 6 cabling is going to degrade in performance down to Cat 5.
Posted: March 15th, 2007 under Data center power efficiency.
What I’d like to see is an abandonment of this unrealistic size of 1U.
All the manufacturers are packing way too much into a 1U chassis, therefore making them OUTRAGEOUSLY long as a result. These 1U X >24″ machines are impossible to cool properly, and I haven’t seen too many sub-30″ machines lately, which are even worse. Very few facilities can even provide power for much more than about 30U of twin-PSU’ed servers anyway, so why bother with 1U?
Why not focus instead on a 2U box that is roughly 19″ square? That way it can be mounted in a 2-post rack to maximum density, AND you can squeeze the racks ROWS closer together. Overall density can actually go UP instead of down and cooling will be far more efficient. A 2U box can have a fan tray of 3″ fans, instead of trying to squeeze air through little 1″ units.
Just my 0.02ยข.
–chuck
Comment by chuck goolsbee — March 15, 2007 @ 10:35 am
Great comment Chuck. A lot of these companies aren’t doing any real hardware engineering anymore.
Comment by Matt Stansberry — March 15, 2007 @ 10:50 am
Why server room cooling
“Freon” is a trade name for a family of haloalkane refrigerants manufactured by DuPont and other companies. These refrigerants were commonly used
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