datacenter cooling question....

Posted by on October 23, 2006, 3:45 pm

hi folks,

we are building a computer datacenter. room is 18' x 16', concrete
walls and 2/3 below ground level. average temperature is about 65-70
degrees F with fairly low humidity (Northern California).

initially we will have two 42U server racks that pull a total of 13000
Watts under full load. electrical power feed is three phase to an in
room distribution box and dual 208V/30A twistlock feeds to the racks.

we plan to expand the datacenter 200-300% in the next 2-3 years (maybe
30-40,000 watts). how much cooling should i be looking at given the
growth i am expecting? i have researched this topic and folks caution
not to over-estimate your need otherwise your cooling unit will short
cycle and such. of course underestimating could also be a serious
issue.

based upon my limited knowledge, i am thinking a 4 ton Mitsubishi split
ductless unit would be a good fit. can anybody offer me a little
advice?

best,
alex

Posted by Bennett Price on October 25, 2006, 11:59 am

. Don't forget heat load from lighting, people, and any adjacent spaces.
. Consider buying two (or more) small machines rather than one big one.
What will you do when 1 machine fails or needs maintenance?
. As has been suggested, get machines designed for mostly sensible (dry
heat) loads, rather than machines designed for human comfort.
. I assume you'll be UPS'ing your servers; do you need extended run time
beyond what batteries provide? If you then switch over to
diesel (or similar), will the A/C restart automatically?
If the diesel starts in just a few seconds, the A/C should have
anti-slugging (delayed auto-restart) provisions.
. Are you doing raised floor? or more generally, how will you distribute
the air in the room?
. Have room built with a vapor barrier (or have it painted with vapor
barrier paint) to make humidity control easier.

. Take a look at >

http://www.tricare.osd.mil/tmis_new/Policy%5CFederal%5Cfips31.pdf
a somewhat outdated (1974) but still valuable guide to setting
up a data center.

putt454@yahoo.com wrote:

> hi folks,
>
> we are building a computer datacenter. room is 18' x 16', concrete
> walls and 2/3 below ground level. average temperature is about 65-70
> degrees F with fairly low humidity (Northern California).
>
> initially we will have two 42U server racks that pull a total of 13000
> Watts under full load. electrical power feed is three phase to an in
> room distribution box and dual 208V/30A twistlock feeds to the racks.
>
> we plan to expand the datacenter 200-300% in the next 2-3 years (maybe
> 30-40,000 watts). how much cooling should i be looking at given the
> growth i am expecting? i have researched this topic and folks caution
> not to over-estimate your need otherwise your cooling unit will short
> cycle and such. of course underestimating could also be a serious
> issue.
>
> based upon my limited knowledge, i am thinking a 4 ton Mitsubishi split
> ductless unit would be a good fit. can anybody offer me a little
> advice?
>
> best,
> alex
>

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