3 INEXPENSIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR
HIGH DENSITY RACKS
Simple Tips to improve efficiency in your Network
Closet or Data Center
The power
density of data center racks and network closets has been rapidly
increasing in recent years. In 2010, a typical data center rack
contained 1.7kW of load whereas today, its not unusual to see 10kW or
more in high density applications. Increased utilization of the
cloud and virtualization has translated to higher computing demands
for many sites which means data centers and network closets need to
house and support more servers. With the growing popularity of
high efficiency blade servers, rack density has increased to
previously unimagined loads. The biggest challenge this
has created is cooling the rack. Traditional CRAC configurations frequently fail to adequately support high density loads.
Most of our
customers don’t have the budget to completely reconfigure their data
center architecture and adopt large scale cooling solutions such as InRow cooling or hot aisle containment in the short term. So, we’ve provided three simple and
cost-effective tips to help inexpensively control the environment for
your high density equipment.
1. Maximize airflow with Cable
Management
Proper cable management does more than keep things tidy. Inadequate cable management
can not only lead to damaged cables or increased time to add or
change out cables, but can block critical airflow or access. This can
lead to inefficiencies in the performance of your equipment or even
downtime. Cable Management parts and accessories are relatively inexpensive and are simple to install. Read more about the importance of Cable Management
2. Control Hot Spots with
Supplemental Cooling
Rack-based cooling products are specifically integrated in or on individual rack
enclosures to solve inadequate air distribution problems. Quick and
easy to deploy, Rack Air Distribution systems work with existing cooling products to either provide cool
air to or remove heat from the rack enclosure. Various hot air
removal systems, fans, and rack air distribution systems are
available to help minimize hot spots and ensure uniform inlet
temperatures to the IT equipment.
3.
Monitor the environmental conditions of your racks with NetBotz
NetBotz offers a
cost effective approach to environmental monitoring. NetBotz monitors
humidity, temperature, door contact and dry contact, and other
environmental conditions remotely over your network. Additional
features like user-defined alerts make the NetBotz 200 the
perfect unit to protect your IT assets from environmental threats. NetBotz is highly
configurable and can be used in both Network Closets and Data
Centers.
Increased computing capacity and smaller, more energy efficient
servers are increasing rack density in many network closets and data
centers. To ensure proper operation of your equipment and
ultimately prevent downtime, it is essential to provide sufficient
airflow and cooling to your racks. Server manufacturers are
working on technologies that internally cool the chips installed in
their servers, but until those internally cooled products are
mainstream, it will be up to the data center manager to maintain
proper operating temperatures with external cooling.
Power
Solutions carries a complete line Cable Management, Rack Air Distrbution,
and Environmental
Monitoring products from manufacturers such as APC by Schneider
Electric, Eaton, Server Technology, and Middle Atlantic. Visit
our website for more
information or contact me.
Sincerely,
Guy Lacerte
Power
Solutions, LLC
800-876-9373 ext. 702
[email protected]
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