In the near future, data centers are estimated to undergo major changes owing to the increased demand for power. In fact, 47% of all servers are likely to go hyperscale by the year 2020. With hyperscaling, a single data rack can accommodate more hard drives and servers, to provide higher storage densities and speed.
As a consequence of the increasing load, the power consumption of electronic racks (which ideally consume between 1-3 kilowatts of power per server cabinet) has drastically increased to 6-13 kilowatts per server cabinet. Naturally, this increase in power consumption has increased the temperature in server racks. Therefore, data facilities are now faced with the uphill task of maintaining the ideal temperature for optimum server functioning.
Even with a basic cooling system in place, this situation calls for innovative methods that can ensure that high density does not come at the cost of temperature mismanagement within your data center. Here are a few methods to manage this high load of power and heat.
The Natural Convection Method
This is a well-designed cooling system in which air is circulated through a planned facility. In this process, cold air falls to the floor and warm air rises, allowing the overhead chilled air service circulation to the ceiling, to push or pull the air through IT systems.
The Adiabatic Cooling Method
In this process, heat can be reduced through a change in air pressure caused by volume expansion, where water and electricity are efficiently used via the “free cooling” methods (the process of using low external air temperatures to aid in chilling water, often used in industrial systems).
The Liquid Cooling Method
Liquid cooling systems are always a perfect choice when thermal density and power exceed the cooling capacity of the air flowing through an IT cabinet. The most recent innovation of the cooling systems, immersion cooling is the process where an IT hardware is directly placed in a liquid cooling system, allowing maximum power density through maximizing thermal transfer rate.
In this new power-hungry future, there is only so much that current cooling systems can do. However, there are a few steps that you can take today to minimize the temperature in your data center. For example, you can use highly perforated server racks to naturally manage airflow. At Hardy Racks, our server racks come with 86% perforation, which is the highest from any brand in the world.
We also have highly accurate PDUs which can help you pinpoint areas in your data center where power is used in excess. In combination, these simple and cost-effective solutions can help you increase server density without any complications.
Get in touch with us to know more.