Data centers use large amounts of electricity, which is converted into heat. The more equipment installed in a facility, the more heat will be generated. The term data center cooling refers to the collective equipment, tools, systems, techniques, and processes that ensure ideal temperature and humidity levels within a data center facility.
Proper data center cooling ensures adequate cooling, ventilation, and humidity control throughout the facility to keep all equipment within the required temperature range.
Why is data center cooling important?
High temperatures and high humidity are less than ideal conditions for IT and electrical equipment. Most IT equipment and equipment generate heat that needs to be dissipated quickly to avoid affecting its performance. Excessive heat and humidity can damage appliances and equipment, causing them to malfunction and stop working. Damaged equipment can pose a risk of fire and other safety issues. These risks increase operating costs as equipment must be repaired or replaced more frequently.
Data center cooling works by removing excess heat from the air and replacing it with cooler air. This is usually done in one of several ways:
Hot air is exhausted outside and outside air is brought in, cooled, and circulated within the facility.
Internal air is recovered through cooling, often through hot and cold aisle designs to maximize cooling efficiency.
The hot air is exhausted outside and pre-cooled outside air is drawn into the facility to cool it. This method is called free cooling, and it is only suitable for facilities located in cooler climates.
Current data center cooling systems and technologies
Air cooling and liquid cooling are the two most popular types of data center cooling.
1. Air Cooling
This cooling method is ideal for small data centers or older data centers that combine raised floors with hot and cold aisle designs. When a computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit or computer room air handler (CRAH) sends out cool air, the pressure beneath the raised floor increases and sends the cool air into the equipment inlet. The cool air displaces the hot air and is then returned to the CRAC or CRAH where it is cooled and recirculated.
Hot and cold air channels increase the efficiency of air-based cooling systems through more targeted placement of intake and exhaust vents. This prevents hot and cold air from mixing so the cooling CRAC or CRAH can work more efficiently.
Additionally, CRAH is more efficient than CRAC because it takes in outside air and cools it using chilled water instead of refrigerant. A CRAC functions similarly to a residential air conditioning unit that uses refrigerant to cool the air. CRAC units are better suited for smaller data center cabinets because they cannot keep up with enterprise-class data centers.
2. Liquid Cooling
A relatively new technology is liquid cooling. This is a more efficient and cost-effective cooling system because it can be installed on the data center equipment where it is needed most. Liquids are more effective than air at transferring heat away from emission sources. It can also support higher device densities and projects that generate above-average heat, such as high-density and edge computing data centers.
There are two main types of liquid cooling:
Liquid immersion cooling
Liquid immersion cooling, this method places the entire electrical device in a dielectric fluid in a closed system. The fluid absorbs the heat emitted by the equipment, converts it into steam and condenses it, helping the equipment cool.
Direct-to-chip liquid cooling
Direct-to-chip liquid cooling,this method uses a hose to bring a non-flammable dielectric fluid directly to the processing chip or motherboard component that generates the most heat, such as the CPU or GPU. The fluid absorbs heat by converting to steam, which carries the heat out of the device through the same tubes.
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