Cooling the Server Room? 61
kolchak asks: "As the Australian summer heats up, we are looking at a cooling solution for our computer room. We have 4 racks (almost all full) with around 40 machines, switches, routers, 2 UPSs and 2 monitors. Unfortunately, its located in the middle of the office with no windows available for ventilation. We can vent the exhaust into the ceiling space which in turn is vented outside. Also, since the room is so small, we need to install any cooling device outside the room (a store room backs on which will house the cooling unit and potentially pipe hot / cold air through the wall). All the units we've seen so far need to be in the room, we just don't have the space. Anyone come across and solved this? Any ideas on good cooling units we can install easily and cheaply?"
Cooling a server room (Score:2, Interesting)
During the winter, however, the room is near the furnace, and I have a difficult time getting rid of the excess heat.
Our solution (such as it is) is to install a window unit AC in the room and vent the heat into the surrounding area. During the winte
mod parent up (Score:2)
Re:Cooling a server room (Score:1)
Not pretty but.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not pretty but.. (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Not pretty but.. (Score:2)
Re:Not pretty but.. (Score:2)
2) Halon was banned because it allegedly harms the ozone layer.
3) Halon doesn't cause any harm to humans even if you're in the room when it goes off. Look up the MSDS. Halon is healthier than smoke inhalation or breathing a room full of carbon dioxide or being electrocuted by water spraying all over you and electrical equipment.
Once again... (Score:5, Informative)
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/22
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/03/14
Or search for "cooling" in Ask Slashdot.
I'll boil it down for you:
1: Get professional help (arch, engineer, contractor)
2: Repeat #1.
Re:Once again... (Score:3, Informative)
I *am* an HVAC systems engineer. And strictly off the record, this sounds like a perfect application for a ductless split AC system [enviromaster.com] (alternate link for comparison [acdirect.com]). The nice thing about these units is that all you need to run is two copper tubes: Typically a 3/8" liquid and 1/2" vapor line (plus insulation). That greatly simplifies and penetrations you have to make to the building. The condenser unit can also be up to 100' feet away (including a max. 30' difference in
Re:Once again... (Score:2)
In this case he seems to have access to the ceiling space so a conventional fan coil would probably be better and cheaper.
Swamp cooler baby (Score:1)
Split systems are the only good solution (Score:3, Informative)
In your situation, you just run the piping through the plenem to an outside wall. You can toss the condensers just about anywhere (tho you probably want to make sure there is room to fence in the slab so some smartass cant just walk up and turn off your AC.
Re:Here's a free clue from America: (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Here's a free clue from America: (Score:1)
heres an idea... (Score:4, Insightful)
Apparently there are whole companies who specialize in heating and cooling.
That will probably work out better than asking a bunch of geeks for a hack without knowing any of the details...
No cooling unit idea but a suggestion (Score:2, Insightful)
Essentially central air.. (Score:1)
Be it jurry-rigged to a window-sill style A/C (with a fan in the system for circulation) or a proper ventilation system - that's up to you.
Let's make a deal (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Let's make a deal (Score:2, Funny)
Split System. (Score:4, Informative)
Outside you have a condensing unit that can sit on the ground or the roof, inside you have a fan coil. The two are connected via 50-100 ft of insulated copper pipe.
There is little ductwork involved, the fan coil sits in the ceiling space and simply recirculate and cools the air within the room.
Typically a configuration like this would run up to 5 tons of cooling, which is about 17KW worth of heat removed from your computer room.
If you need more cooling you can install more units.
Contact a local refrigeration contractor or refigeration equipment supplier for help, they are generally quite helpfull if they think they might get a sale out of it.
mod up parent (Score:1, Interesting)
If you want to get really fancy, the refrigeration people can install a system that monitors the temperature and can page you (or an engineer) when the temperature gets too high. Large food establishments have this sort of thing. I've played with this setup, however, and I can tell you that the stuff the refrigeration engineers will install for
Re:mod up parent (Score:1, Informative)
Works nicely, you can communicate with it via ftp or snmp, for example.
Re:Split System. (Score:1)
And as every one keeps saying. Contract an HVAC pro.
Build a cheap custom AC unit out of a window unit. (Score:2, Interesting)
You would probably be surprised how little a small custom cooling setup like this will end up being.
story (Score:2)
Don't go with the portable 10-15,000 BTU units (Score:3, Interesting)
1 watt-hour == 3.41 BTUs. Say your typical rackmount PC, without monitor, draws around 100 watts, that's 341 BTUs. 40 machines plus two monitors and UPSs, plus some odd heat from lights and whatnot, call it about 14,000 BTUs. All that heat rises, and the best thing to do with it is duct it away, then replace it with cold air.
DO NOT SIMPLY DRAW IT INTO THE DROP CEILING, unless there is predictable airflow beyond the ceiling tiles, or a duct, with negative pressure relative to the server room. If there is not a definite exit from the ceiling, or if you're just pushing it up there and hoping it ends up someplace else, forget about it, it just lingers.
Portable AC-on-wheels: they generate decent BTUs removal, but their exchaust is ferocious. If you must use one, cut a hole in the wall for the exit hose, or mount it in a nearby window, just get it away. Don't even think of emptying it into the walls or drop-ceiling, it'll linger and boost the ambient temp.
If you have a window within 50 feet, you could mount a 20-25,000 BTU AC unit, and send the output through an insulated duct to the server room. If the duct runs more than 20-25 feet, you should put a draw fan on it to reduce back-pressure at the AC. Back-pressure can cause all sorts of trouble, so don't force through a tiny or too-long pipe.
Eh, if any of this seems confusing, hire a contractor!
The most important thing to do is monitor temperature in the room. If any of your PCs is recent, it'll have both "system" and "cpu" temp monitoring. There are temperature logging apps for *nix and Windows.
More beer please.
Re:Don't go with the portable 10-15,000 BTU units (Score:1)
I would submit that... (Score:5, Insightful)
so, for future reference, you put the cart before the horse.
Whatever you do... (Score:5, Funny)
Tip of the iceberg (Score:1)
Until you start planning for IT, IT will not be up to par. First thing I thought about was,"Who the hell even put the room there? If you have the investment involved in that many computers, why not invest in some planning?
Coolchips (Score:1)
Redundancy (Score:3, Informative)
AC units will break down. You know this. When it happens, you will discover you have far less time to react than you think.
And if you don't have redundant cooling, you're gonna fry a lotta expensive hardware.
in-ceiling multis (Score:2)
It's made up of three 5-ton cooling units that can be individually controlled. If you can't vent into the plenum (ceiling), you're looking at putting in a glycol loop up to a condenser on the roof or outside.
Resource-wise, call Liebert [liebert.com] and similar companies and have a rep come in and do a dog and pony show. Also check with local contractors, as they frequently know about palleted and sold units that never got instal
industrial freezer (Score:1)
In supermarket size freezers they use a fanned unit that cools the cold room. Have this on the outside of the building blowing in? (turned down/whatever)
The copper piping idea sounds good, especially to combine with others.
Since you need to cool a whole room I'm sure there should be a proper solution out there.
This Is Easier Than You Think (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll pat myself on the back here. In my 911 PSAP and dispatch center we have a room that houses the phone system, servers and radios. I have to imagine that this room generates far more heat than what you're dealing with because of the transmitters. There was no environmental control, not even vents. Systems would die or reboot without warning all year round but the problem got worse in the summer.
Nobody knew what to do. Like your situation, this room is in the middle of the building. Every amateur carpenter, electrician, HVAC tech in the police department looked at it and scratched their heads.
Then I came into the picture. Rather than wasting time thinking about the problem or asking Slashdot, I picked up the phone and called the local HVAC shop. In minutes I had not one but two qualified technicians with over 30 years of combined experience at my disposal. Two hours later I had a quote. Three weeks later the temperature and humidity in the room are constant and within tolerance. And we haven't had a single equipment failure since.
The system they installed uses the building water supply to cool air in a machine down the hall. The cool air is vented into the room and exhaust is vented up through the roof. That vent work is amazing, none of us non HVAC techs would have guessed it to be possible.
Do yourself a huge favor and call in a pro.
Re:This Is Easier Than You Think (Score:3, Interesting)
And not just because they know what the options are and can design and install the system properly. They'll know what building codes apply, what permits you need, what inspections the various governments will require, etc. At least here in the US, failure to do things properly can lead to nasty consequences: fines if the local fire marshall finds out you haven't done things right, or your insurance company failing to pay if the non-code work contributes to a f
Call a pro (Score:2)
I remember one time, on the coldest (-10f) day of the year, the repair guy was on the roof fixing the AC for the computer room. You need to keep something like this in mind, be sure it can be serviced.
And don't forget humidity in the winter, you want a machine that maintains 68f and 50% humidity year round. Air filtration is also good.
Redundant cooling (Score:2)
It should never run, if it does,it indicates there is a thermal problem in the server room, and tries to save the equipement, in the event the main unit fails.
YAGAEC (Score:1)
They best quick guess formula is 500BTU/RU, so when you call an HVAC engineer in you know he isn't going to totally over sell you.
So (4 Racks * 40RU) * 500btu/U is 80,000 BTU.
(12,000 BTU = 1 ton, the engineer you get may use that term)
Outsource your servers to Canada for 6 months (Score:3, Funny)
Put it in the Ceiling (Score:1)
Where I work we ran into the same problem this summer, over 40 new systems in our server room, plus Ottawa's ability to have some crazy hot and humid summer days.
Our HVAC supplier mounted a Trane conditioner unit in the ceiling, and ran all necessary ducts to the elevator shaft only 20ft. away. Could this be a solution that fits your criteria?
book (Score:2)
http://www.sun.com/solutions/blueprints/books/d
Of course you prob should have read this first, along with the Practise of System and Network Admistration.....
Just a thought though..
Do you let the construction workers have root? (Score:1)
Then don't do the same thing for your HVAC system.
MOD PARENT UP (Score:2)
Doesn't need to be chilled (Score:1)
This is A) cheaper (smaller unit and less electricity) and B) causes less problems if the HVAC fails (less delta-T)
Remember, unless people
Re: (Score:1)
Don't need to call a pro. (Score:2)
Really, if you expect people to call on you for your professional services, why don't you call on professionals in other fields for their services?
On the other hand, maybe you are asking Slashdot readers for solutions that have worked for