Cooling the data center

This is a challenge for all school districts, particularly since many have upgraded their internal WAN links and are consolidating servers and services into a single data center. I see both ends of the spectrum in my visits with districts. Some are doing the best they can with residential wall units, fans and cutting vents into data center doors. Others have upgraded their facilities and have nice room-based units specifically designed for computer data centers. Those in a pinch may consider decent-sized portable units that can be picked up at most local supply stores, such as these examples.

If you get serious about this, it's not a bad idea to engage a partner who can inspect your data center. A knowledgeable partner will check wattages and heat output on all equipment to be cooled, will check existing cooling equipment and ventilation and may also have some good suggestions on proper layout for racks and cabinets. It's surprising how the proper ventilation and orientation of a rack can make a difference in the overall cooling needs.

Two big players in this market are Liebert and APC. Traditioally, I always thought of Liebert as a cooling company and APC as a power/UPS company. Each company works in both markets, meaning that you can get Liebert UPS devices and APC cooling systems.

One district I work with has installed a few units by a company called Daikin and they are quite pleased with the results. Their data center stays at about 60 degrees and they have 3 or 4 racks full of servers and storage. They started with a center unit that I believe is an FXHQ model. They eventually had to supplement with two of the FTXS24 units. These are attached to pumps to remove water that accumulates during condensation and proper drainage installation is definitely a consideration. Ask one of my districts that dumps their water buckets daily. :)

I would caution against a wall unit built for a home. Remember that the heat being generated by servers and these types of electronics is a very dry heat, which is quite different from the type of cooling required in residential zones, where humidity is a good bit higher.

I've talked to enough districts over the years to say with some certainty that excessive heat, over time, will cause hardware to fail more rapidly.