Server Room Cooling

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For many datacenter managers when it comes to server room cooling the attitude has been the cooler the better. High server room temperatures and humidity levels can have an adverse effect on the operational efficiency and life expectancy of your equipment. Having a server room that runs too hot can also lead to costly downtime. But there is some debate on what the optimum server room temperature should be. Despite the necessity of keeping your datacenter cool and dry, a number of leading manufacturers and datacenter efficiency experts now believe that datacenters can operate at higher server room temperatures than previously thought.

Server Room Temperature

The optimal sever room temperature is general considered to be between 55 to 65 deg F. But some experts now believe they can increase their server room temperature without scarifying performance. It’s estimated that for every 1 degree you raise your server room temperature you can see a 4% reduction in energy costs.

Raising Datacenter Inlet Temperature

An increase server room inlet temperature can mean hours of free sever room ...
... cooling through water or air-side economizers. Depending upon your climate this type of server room cooling can lead to dramatic energy savings. Research is beginning to demonstrate that datacenters and server rooms may not be as vulnerable to heat and humidity as thought. Sever room temperature is inseparable from air distribution. A key to maximizing efficiency is understanding how air is distributed through your server racks. When sever room cooling exceeds the amount necessary there is an opportunity to increase the sever room temperature set point. If your datacenter has hotspots you can begin to lower the server room temperature through simple methods like grommets and blanking panels.

A professional facilities management team can do an evaluation of your server room cooling system using computational fluid dynamics. They can chart and analyze your datacenter to help you find the sweet spot where you datacenter operates effectively and you get the maximum energy efficiency.