Climate control in server rooms and other technology areas

Free survey to ensure the climate control in server rooms and other technology areas is adequate.

In the majority of applications, air conditioning systems for technology and server rooms can be designed using standard models of equipment that both heat and cool. The important factor being that the different requirements for server rooms is taken into account. However, for larger IT centres and mission critical server rooms then special cooling equipment designed specifically for server/technology rooms should be considered.

Bucket technology

While it is not suggested many companies have a server room anything like the one in the picture, showing two plastic buckets balanced above the computer system – to catch dripping water from the air conditioning unit. A poorly maintained atmosphere in the technology area will have a negative impact on data processing and storage operations. The results can range from data corruption to complete system shutdowns and failures. A high or low ambient temperature or rapid temperature swings can corrupt data processing and shut down an entire system.

 Cooling demand for different environments

There is an important difference between the cooling specifications for a standard office based comfort cooling system and that required for a computer or technology based server room. In a server, room the heat is coming almost entirely from IT hardware, lights, support equipment, and motors. There is very little heat generated by people and usually limited outside air. In contrast, by sizing the air-cooling unit based on comfort cooling typical of a normal office environment, comprising of a room occupied mainly by people and a few PC’s. The unit will not perform correctly and with the probability of removing too much moisture, making the air dry, increasing the possibility of damage to equipment by static electricity. It is also important to have a fresh air supply available at the equipment inlet. If not, the equipment will obtain some of its air from other areas of the room, often resulting in dangerously high inlet temperatures. Temperature variations can alter the electrical and physical characteristics of electronic chips and other board components, causing faulty operation or failure. These problems may be transient or may last for days. Even transient problems can be very difficult to diagnose and repair.