FACILITIES design
interlinked. Other free air vendors require separate management systems for the free and forced air systems. A secondary backup option means that should there be any failure of the extract fans, the DX system will automatically drop into a full re-circulation stand-alone mode.
Challenge met!
system is operating at less than full load the free cooling temperature of 13C is increased. At the current IT load full free cooling can be provided up to 21C external ambient. This use of a mix of cooling is slowly becoming a popular solution as companies embrace free air cooling techniques but it does require a commitment to raising both input and output air temperatures in the data centre. Over the next six years at UEA, it is likely that the amount of time on DX cooling may well reduce as data centre standards and IT equipment evolve to work at ever higher input and exhaust temperatures.
To keep the mixed and full DX mode as efficient as possible, Future Tech have deployed EC (electronically commutated) fans which are far more efficient at part-speed than conventional fans. The fans have their speed adjusted under software control to ensure that only the required amount of air is delivered thus avoiding over cooling and the risk of condensation. The ability to drop into mixed mode and full DX mode immediately is also important. It means that should there be a sudden surge in loading on the servers, UEA will be able to counter any risk of thermal runaway because the systems are already
Retrofitting data centre facilities in listed buildings where noise, power, cooling and energy efficiency targets are tough is a challenge that many would avoid. It can often be easier to look at a new facility, move to cloud or use a drop-in data centre.
For the University of East Anglia retrofitting and meeting their very strict corporate environment targets was critical. With Salix providing the funding and ensuring that the targets were contractually binding, it meant that Future-Tech as the lead contractor and DataRacks as the containment designer and manufacturer had to be very innovative and deliver in a short space of time. Confirming that the containment solution had met all of its design objectives and specifically the 1.19 PUE and temperature requirements, Paul Carter, Future-Tech Project Manager, said: “Dataracks were very flexible with both the detailed design and delivery of their aisle containment solution. From initial survey to installation took only three weeks. Given the time pressures on the project this was very helpful and exceeded my expectations. The aisle containment systems is built to a high standard and installed very well. I look forward to working with them again in the future.”
May 2014 I
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