The Challenges of Data Center Cooling

Mission critical installations face a number of cooling system challenges in the modern data center. The requirements of today's IT systems, combined with the way those IT systems are deployed, has created new cooling related problems. These are new problems which could not have been foreseen when the data center cooling principles were developed over 30 years ago.

Core challenges in the data center cooling process can be grouped in the following categories:

• Adaptability/Scalability
• Availability
• Lifecycle Costs
• Maintenance/Serviceability
• Manageability

For many companies, meeting adaptability requirements remains the biggest challenge regarding data center cooling systems. Specifically, this involves problems with the cooling of high density rack systems, and the uncertainty of the quantity, timing, and location of high density racks. Data center cooling is further complicated by IT refreshes that typically occur every 1.5 to 2.5 years.

The cooling system within a data center should be flexible and scalable with redundant cooling features to guarantee steady performance. The data center cooling requirements in regard to lifecycle cost challenges share many features in common with adaptability solutions. Pre-engineered, standardized, and modular solutions are typically needed.

PTS' expertise is a valuable asset in this area as companies are often unable to predict if their data center cooling system will supply a future load, even when the characteristics of the load are known in advance. If your company is looking to establish a cooling system for your data center that will withstand system failures and load increases, contact PTS as the next step in your process.