Rack & Cabinet Airflow Considerations
What should you be looking for in a rack or cabinet in your data center? Focusing on the important features will save you time and money in the years to come, so take the time to know what you have and where you might be headed. Although most data centers are supported by standard racks […]
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Self-driving data centers
As we delve deep into another year there are no shortage of summaries over the last year and predictions for 2020 and the next decade. The last year, as the year before, has seen even more awareness of climate change and advocation for renewable energy sources. Along with this is the demand for smarter services, […]
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Longevity of Geothermal
On rare occasion I run across a system that, although smaller in size, supports a mission critical facility and supporting spaces with geothermal. In one instance, open loop geothermal-sourced cooling was serving a smaller network operations center that had a large screen wall with a small data center behind it. The building had two central […]
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Investing in Fuel Cells
Fuel cells have been providing energy to the data center industry for over a decade, with many performing far beyond expectations. They were chosen for their reliability with constant loads and efficiency, operating to supplement or replace part of power drawn from the utility. Another touted benefit is their environmental impact, reducing the carbon footprint […]
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Overcoming Challenges with Onsite Renewable Energy Use
Renewable energy and onsite power generation has taken significant strides in use and availability but there are still challenges in connections, expectations and experience. Although performance of the systems has increased while cost has gone down, tax credits and incentives are still needed to ensure that the return on investment is still attractive. Spatial requirements […]
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To Raise a Floor or Stay a Slab?
The debate about whether a raised floor is designed and installed for a data center has gone on for years, with the fate of raised floor seemingly coming to an end. However, when diving into the matter, the decisions are often about the best way to manage cables, supply cooling water and airflow, and supporting […]
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ASHRAE 2012 Winter Meeting Notes
I thought I’d provide a few highlights from what I learned and heard at the ASHRAE 2012 Winter meeting in Chicago. ASHRAE has gone through some rebranding, including a new logo & tagline: Shaping Tomorrow’s Built Environment Today. Of data center interest: Technical Committee 9.9 (http://tc99.ashraetcs.org/) had two meetings at the conference; for more information it […]
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