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Old 01-05-2006, 03:13 PM
gallant gallant is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 57
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I have evaluated a number of solutions for hot spots in the data center environment. We have known for a long time that eventually heat densities in individual racks (and in data centers as a whole) would reach the point where air is simply not efficient enough as a heat transfer medium to remove all the heat generated by the servers. Clearly, for some, that day is here. Try and put 10-15kw of servers in a single rack and you will quickly see what I mean. No amount of rerouting airflow or hot aisle/cold aisle is going to help for long.
The problems with the chilled water racks or chilled water heat exchanger doors are the same regardless of manufacturer. They all require that I, a) have a chilled water system already in place and b) that I reroute chilled water to individual racks. That makes for a serious retrofit. Can you imagine plumbers installing new chilled water pipes, cutting, welding and brazing under your raised floor? The idea doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. The idea is terrific if you are building a new facility and can get the chill water pipe in before you populate the data center. I wouldn't build a new one today without this feature.
A better idea for a retrofit is a refrigerated rack. You still have issues with power requirements, humidity, condensate etc... but at least "Bubba" isn't in my data center with an acetylene torch.
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