DATA CENTRES
Data centre sensor requirements
By Anu Kätkä, who represents Global product management in Vaisala’s Industrial Measurements.
D
ata center owners and managers are acutely aware of the need for better energy efficiency. With responsibility for around 1% of global electricity consumption, the sector is heavily affected by turbulence in energy costs, so there is a very strong demand for energy efficiency. At the same time, governments around the world are looking to energy hungry industries for opportunities to reduce the use of fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Around 60% of a data center’s energy requirements are driven by its IT infrastructure, so there are energy reduction opportunities in (usually new) equipment that is more energy efficient. However, there are good opportunities for energy efficiency in the other 40% of energy demand; the majority of which comes from a data center’s cooling and air-conditioning systems. Efficient temperature and humidity control is important for the optimal functioning of IT infrastructure. In many modern facilities 99.999% uptime is expected; representing annual downtime of just a few minutes. These extremely high levels of performance are necessary because of the importance and value of the data and processes being handled by the IT infrastructure. In common with all good process efficiency measures, effective energy management relies on the availability of accurate, reliable, continuous monitoring data. So, for data centers, what must be measured? and where?
Temperature
Cooling and air conditioning is necessary to remove the heat generated by IT equipment; to avoid over-heating and prevent failures. It is therefore necessary to monitor temperature in the aisles and racks, as well as in all spaces, ducts in the ventilation system, cooling system pipes, and outdoors. Naturally, it is vital that the measurement locations are truly representative and that the network of sensors is able to detect any potential cold- or hot-spots.
26 November 2022 •
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Larger data halls can be more challenging to monitor because they have a greater potential for spatial temperature variability, so it is important that there are sufficient numbers of temperature sensors to ensure that all servers are monitored. Some servers may be close to a cooling unit and others may be further away; some may be at the bottom of a rack, and others higher up, so there is potential for three-dimensional variability. In addition to a sufficient number of sensors, it is also therefore important for air flow and cooling to be optimally distributed throughout the server room.
Most data centers will need to monitor ‘delta T’ – which is commonly defined as the temperature difference between hot and cold aisles. However, in reality, the situation is more complex because there are actually four different delta Ts (1) that need to be monitored if cooling operations are to be as efficient as possible. The most obvious delta T is the temperature difference in air before and after it passes through the IT equipment. The second frequently measured delta T is the temperature difference across the cooling equipment. However, in reality, the temperature of the air leaving the coolers is rarely the same as the air arriving at the IT equipment. This is usually
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