Data Centre : A game of power and cooling

IPC across the globe see Data Centers as a new avenue to explore. It is exciting and challenging to manage any DC for a Facility Manager as compared to a conventional facility.?An average data centre uses quite a lot of electricity considering the amount of computing power they manage to fit onto a single data floor, and a lot of energy is also consumed to maintain the cooling infrastructure to maintain an ideal and optimal DC environment.?A global study indicates All DC put together across the world consume around 3 % of the total energy demand. With the pandemic opening up the pandora's box of digital growth data centres is the industry to look forward to. The growth potential is many a fold and with more energy-intensive hyperscale facilities on the way in the coming years, power usage is likely to continue increasing despite efficiency improvements.

For any facility manager , understanding the power and cooling characteristics of their data centre infrastructure is important because it helps them to better assess their potential costs and future client demans. Assessing power requirements is one of the first tasks any organization must undertake when it decides to transition to a DC facility management. The power demands and associated infrastructure usually make up a sizable portion of DC running costs. A data center’s?power and cooling system should incorporate a great level of redundancy depending on the tire type that includes uninterrupted power supply (UPS) battery systems and a backup power that can provide enough energy of power to keep the facility running if the main power is disrupted for any length of time. Should the power ever go out, the UPS systems will keep all computing equipment up and running long enough for the generator to come online. Thus data centre power infrastructure incorporates more than one electrical feed running into the facility, which provides additional redundancy.

Data Centre Cooling :- Data Centre Cooling?. Traditional data centre cooling techniques used a combination of raised floors and computer room air conditioner (CRAC) or computer room air handler (CRAH) infrastructure. The CRAC/CRAH units would pressurize the space below the raised floor and push cold air through the perforated tiles and into the server intakes. Once the cold air passed over the server’s components and vented out as hot exhaust, that air would be returned to the CRAC/CRAH for cooling. Most data centres would set the CRAC/CRAH unit’s return temperature as the main control point for the entire data floor environment. The airflow pattern is also becoming a part of the design while the DC is being constructed?

Moden DC facilities adopted hot aisle and cold aisle containment as strategy strategies to physically separate the cool air intended for the server’s intakes from the hot air being expelled by its exhaust vents. Preventing this air from mixing results in more consistent temperatures and maximizes efficiency by ensuring that cold air remains cold and hot air is directed to the air handlers without raising the temperature of the ambient environment. It is thus is very important for a DC facility manager to understand this part to bring inefficiency?Besides the there could be another innovative idea that can add to power/cooling efficiency leveraging on the local environment?

What are the ideal numbers ?Idea parameters for running a Data Centre?According to ASHRAE, the average temperature for server inlets should be between 18 and 27 degrees Celsius with a relative humidity between 20 to 80 % however, and the Uptime Institute advises an upper limit of 25 degrees Celsius. In short the cooler the region with less relative humidity, the lesser is the demand for energy

DC Cooling methods that a facility manager needs to know.?

Calibrated Vectored Cooling (CVC):?A form of data center cooling technology designed specifically for high-density servers. It optimizes the airflow path through equipment to allow the cooling system to manage heat more effectively, making it possible to increase the ratio of circuit boards per server chassis and utilize fewer fans.

Chilled Water System?:A typical data centre cooling system commonly uses chilled water to cool air being brought in by air handlers (CRAHs). Water is supplied by a chiller plant located in the facility

Cold Aisle/Hot Aisle Design?: A common form of data center server rack deployment that uses alternating rows of “cold aisles” and “hot aisles.” The cold aisles feature cold air intakes on the front of the racks, while the hot aisles consist of the hot air exhausts on the back of the racks. Hot aisles expel hot air into the air conditioning intakes to be chilled and then vented into the cold aisles. Empty racks are filled by blanking panels to prevent overheating or wasted cold air.

Computer Room Air Conditioner (CRAC)

Computer Room Air Handler (CRAH)?

Critical Cooling Load: This measurement represents the total usable cooling capacity (usually expressed in watts of power) on the data center floor for the purposes of cooling servers.

Direct-to-Chip Cooling: A data center liquid cooling method that uses pipes to deliver coolant directly to a cold plate that is incorporated into a motherboard’s processors to disperse heat. Extracted heat is fed into a chilled-water loop and carried away to a facility’s chiller plant. Since this system cools processors directly, it’s one of the most effective forms of server cooling system.

Evaporative Cooling: Manages temperature by exposing hot air to water, which causes the water to evaporate and draw the heat out of the air. The water can be introduced either in the form of a misting system or a wet material such as a filter or mat. While this system is very energy efficient since it doesn’t use CRAC or CRAH units, it does require a lot of water. Data centre cooling towers are often used to facilitate evaporations and transfer excess heat to the outside atmosphere.

Free Cooling:Any data centre cooling system that uses the outside atmosphere to introduce cooler air into the servers rather than continually chilling the same air. While this can only be implemented in certain climates, it’s a very energy-efficient form of server cooling system.

Immersion System: An innovative new data centre liquid cooling solution that submerges hardware into a bath of non-conductive, non-flammable dielectric fluid.

Liquid Cooling: Any cooling technology that uses liquid to evacuate heat from the air. Increasingly, data centre liquid cooling refers to specifically direct cooling solutions that expose server components (such as processors) to liquid to cool them more efficiently.

Raised Floor: A frame that lifts the data centre floor above the building’s concrete slab floor. The space between the two is used for water-cooling pipes or increased airflow. While power and network cables are sometimes run through this space as well, newer data center cooling designs and best practices place these cables overhead.

Whats in future for us : According to reports, India’s data center market is expected to present a $4.9 billion investment opportunity, following a tripling of data center capacity by 2025.

Businesses globally and in India are increasingly delving into edge data centers to minimise operational costs. Edge computing is beneficial in areas where IoT is dependent on cloud network access to implement machine learning and complex programs. In 2019, when India was going through a digital transformation several Indian companies had shown interest in investing in data centers in India. Enterprises, telecom companies, and cloud service providers will increasingly invest in edge data centers in the coming years to speed applications such as streaming video, factory automation, and telemedicine; and enable new technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR). Mobile carriers are making huge investments in 5G networks, while the existing 4G networks are facing increased demand for new services and existing applications. Edge data centers ensure good customer experiences for these 5G and 4G services and applications.

Thus a good DC business and management will be a milestone in 4th industrial revolution.