TSYS Group - HQ data center documentation - cooling

Introduction

Cooling is a critical component of any data center. It is often the dominate consumer of energy.

We keep our data center at about 70 degrees F.

Make / model

We have a

• HiSense Portable Air Conditioner (standalone) the manual lists several possible models, unsure which exact one we have. It was about 700.00 at Lowes with a multiple year replacement warranty.

which is rated for:

• 15,000 BTU

It draws about 7 amps when the compressor is running.

With our heat load, the compressor does cycle on/off ,so it keeps cool pretty efficiently from an energy perspective.

Tips/tricks

• Extended exhaust house

We moved the air conditioner to the front of the racks (cold aisle) and extended the exhaust hose todo so.

• Heat barrier

We deployed a cardboard heat barrier above the racks, to keep hot air behind the racks. We also have a vent duct (made of cardboard) to a panel we removed above the doorway.

• Insulation

  • Insulate the exhaust hose!

• Air movers

  • We have a tower fan in the hot row (back), pushing the heat towards the duct.
  • We have two small blowers in the cold row (front) helping "kick back" the air blowing from the HiSense.

Instrumentation

We use:

• temper usb probe
• lm-sensors
• DRAC

all consumed via SNMP by librenms to monitor/alert on temperature.This lets us find hot/cold spots across the racks and make any necessary adjustments.