Hot and Cold Aisle Containment Explained

There are more than 8,000 data centres in the world today and with the progression of technology and socio-economic trends, like remote working, the demand for these data centres isn’t going anywhere.?

As it stands the US is leading the way as the home of more than 30% of the global quantity of data centres. Followed by Germany and third is the UK, with 456. EFS are proud knowing that our Somerset-made data centre solutions are leaving their mark globally as part of this technology fuelled evolution.?

With these data centres and server rooms in such high demand, more businesses are having to decide between hot aisle containment and cold aisle containment.?

To help you make the right choice, we’re going to take you through some of the key differences.

Why should you consider hot or cold aisle containment??

These solutions are an effort to conserve energy and manage the airflow to help make data centres and server rooms more energy-efficient.?

Though the configurations are bespoke and varying configurations can make the layouts more complex. For the purpose of this piece we will be explaining the design in it’s simplest form.?

To avoid the conflicting airflow of hot and cold air mixing, the server racks and computing equipment is lined with cold air intakes facing one direction, and hot air exits in the opposite direction.?

The hot and cold aisle containment systems allow an added element of restricted airflow using physical barriers to assist in separating the different temperature zones. These physical elements include standard containments and fan drives.?

The main benefit of integrating a system is the ability to manage heating, ventilation and air conditioning effectively and as a direct result conserve more energy, with largely reduced energy costs for your business.

What happens if you decide to proceed without a containment system??

Firstly, you’ll be putting your business and all of the data your business is in possession of at risk. We know that sounds dramatic, but it can be really detrimental. If you decide to proceed without hot or cold aisle containment, don’t say we didn’t warn you.?

There’s more to it than just air flow.?

You could ensure all of your servers are situated, in rows, with their fronts facing the same direction, but this would cause a progressive issue through the layers.??

The hot air being expelled from the first row is being drawn through the intake of the second row, and so on.?

The temperature of each exhaust and intake cross-over zone is increasing rapidly, leading to a dangerous build-up of heat, worsening with each filtration it passes. The only way to keep the final rows, the furthest from the input of cold air, from overheating is to over-compensate the remainder of the room. Keeping it “too cold” and wasting energy.

Cold aisle containment explained…?

Generally, this containment is cheaper to implement as it requires integrating doors at the ends and a ‘roof’ above the space you are trying to contain. Allowing your existing servers, if you chose not to install aisle containment at the time of initially setting up, to remain relatively untouched during the system install.?

Raised flooring has the slight edge in cold aisle containment systems as it can deliver cooling easier and also store cabling.?

This system also offers cold sink areas. These are useful in the event of power loss as the contained air will remain for longer and hopefully cover you until the power comes back on.?

There are still some considerations with cold aisle containment. Such as the overall temperature, areas outside of the cold containment will still be very warm and will need additional heat extraction to be considered a comfortable temperature.

Hot aisle containment explained...?

Containing the hot air enables the remainder of the room to be considered more energy efficient as it acts as the ‘cold’ areas throughout. Raised flooring is not required and therefore in server rooms and data centres with less available space or restrictive ceiling heights, hot containments could be a more feasible option.?

This system is more suited to network racks and stand-alone equipment positioned external to the containment as they can stay in the areas of the site with lower temperatures.?

Hot aisle containment with well-considered heat extraction also reduces the risks of hot spots as the cooler air is able to circulate around the containments.?

Less air-conditioning and cooling systems also helps to prevent the impact of unnecessary overcooling, and as a direct result reduces the unnecessary energy costs used to maintain air flow for stable conditions.?

As we found with the cold aisle containment, there are still considerations. Starting with the more costly installation due to the heat extraction. The air in the contained unit would be considered uncomfortable for most staff to be able to work in for any period. All elements found within the containment would need to be tested and approved for their ability to function safely at higher temperatures, this would include electrical outlets, fire suppression, lighting.

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At EFS we understand the importance of air flow management for the safety of your system and equipment, if you want to know more about our solutions for data centres and server rooms, get in contact with our team today.