Effective airflow management with NetRack

 

Data is critical hence it needs to sustain longer than the system itself. So, data centers are becoming the hub of efficiency and robustness. Therefore, its maintenance in terms of airflow management also plays a crucial role in enhancing the overall adeptness of the data center.

Criticality of airflow management

With there is a growing need for increasing the capacity of data centers, there is also need to accommodate more server racks. Hence, the cables need to be managed efficiently to increase the competence of the airflow management of a data center. To gain clarity, the use of airflow management in a data center ensures that the air temperature and pressure are maintained, and any significant variation is prevented from protecting equipment from thermal damage. Now, if the cables are not appropriately managed and zip-tied together, it can disrupt airflow. This happens especially when the cable bundle gets larger since they need more space to increase airflow. This, in turn, can lower the equipment fan’s efficiency and change the pressure in the rack resulting in equipment damage.

Sustainable solution

Typically, in a data center server room, cables run both under the floor as well as overhead. The underfloor space through which the cables pass, the cold air passes too. With additional server racks, more cutouts are drilled on the floor, causing the hot and cold air to mix. In such a scenario, one option is that the data center can use underfloor space for air system management and overhead space for cable management. But this can at times increase pressure variation causing pressure on the equipment fans. We at Netrack understand the need for a comprehensive solution that will be proactive enough to ensure efficient cable and airflow management. The following are few solutions we recommend.

Importance of Cold and Hot Aisle Containment

One of the most effective solutions we offer is Cold and Hot AisleContainment to manage airflow efficiently and Avoid Cold Hot Air mixing. The Cold Aisle Containment (CAC) solution contains the cold air and ensures the cold air is entering only the equipment.

Benefits

●       Rack-level cooling

●       Ideal for Higher loads

●       Minimize hot and cold air mixing

●       Easy to implement

In the Hot Aisle Containment, we will contain Hot air. We recommend Hot aisle containment for a small data center where the number of racks is less and Cold Aisle containment for large data centers with several racks and cabinets. Hot Aisle Containment (HAC) channel the exhaust air in such a way as to prevent hot air from affecting the rest of the room.

Benefits

●       Cost-effective solution

●       Improve efficiency and cooling capacity

●       Reduce energy cost

●       Compatible with any environment

●       Consistent airflow and temperature

Need for Brush Module

Also, we strongly recommend choosing right rack that is equipped with an air diverter kit, blanking panels, and brush modules. The brush module plays a key part in managing airflow within the data center to avoid cold air leakage even during the high-pressure flow. The brush module is added on the top, bottom, and side panels of the rack with an air seal kit to reduce cold air leakage. This will ensure a consistent flow of cold air through mission-critical equipment.

Benefits

●       Ready-made solution

●       Available in different sizes and shape

Air Diverter Kit and its usage

Data center racks operation faces a challenge in managing cross airflow that can cause a thermal short circuit and air blockages. The air diverter solution kit is designed in a such a way that the non-conventional side to side air flow devices will be converted to conventional front to rear air flow. This improves the overall airflow management.

Benefits

●       Efficient air flow management in side-side air flow devices

●       Easy installation

●       Available with assisted air flow model

Prevent the damage

Poor airflow management not only increases the operating cost of the data center through unnecessary energy consumption but can lead to premature equipment and cable failures, overheating issues, and an increased chance of outages. Since such downtime can immensely impact the IT infrastructure business so; a comprehensive airflow management solution should be an integral part of a data center.