Data centres play vital roles in the operation of businesses of all sizes and niches, but it’s not just the corporate world that is ruled by the data centre. The use of devices for personal and professional purposes relies on the function and availability of one or multiple data centres. Our energy usage; lighting; telecoms; internet; transport; banking; security and entertainment all depend on the efficiency of a data centre at some far corner of the country or even at the other end of the globe. A fact that makes the maintenance; repair and cooling of data centres of the utmost importance.
For those who don’t know, data centres consist of numerous computing resources, including storage systems; servers; databases; devices; networks; applications and software. Despite the rise of virtualization and cloud computing, data centres still play integral roles in the storage and processing of data and information. For businesses with their own data centres, ensuring data centres excel on all fronts whilst achieving maximum efficiency; performance and uptime is a matter of satisfying their own customer needs. As well as being specialists in HVAC fit-outs, our data centre and server room cooling services are relied on by clients across the country. In this guide, we reveal why cooling is important and how organisations everywhere can improve the efficiency of their all-important data centres.
The importance of cooling
Harnessing the data centre cooling capabilities that your system deserves is integral to maximising efficiency and maintaining the best IT function. Whilst the principles of data centre cooling are simple, it’s recommended that you look to an expert like us to reap the rewards of professional cooling and reduce risks.
Data centres must be cooled to a certain temperature to guarantee the best working conditions for all associated IT equipment. Seeking professional advice and support can also mean lower energy bills for your company, allowing you to spend saved funds elsewhere within your business.
Making your data centre efficient
There are many steps you can take to ensure the cooling of your data centre is completed to the highest standards. Reviewing the operating temperature of your data centre is a great place to begin, and will give you the information you need to optimise for better cooling and efficiency.
In addition to optimising energy distribution systems and adapting the size of your data centre, improving air cooling will create an environment where your entire data centre will thrive. Effective air cooling comes down to a number of factors, with “hot aisle” and “cold aisle” approaches. This is in conjunction with in-row cooling strategies used to cool air more effectively whilst minimising the amount of cool air required. Altering ducting systems can also cool down troublesome hot spots.
Start off on the right foot
As well as taking steps to improve the efficiency of your data centre, designing it with best practice in mind is a great way of achieving excellent energy savings. Bespoke data centre design also ensures the best optimisation and support for the IT equipment within your network. The Carbon Trust provides some handy advice on designing your data centre with efficiency at its forefront:
“Free air cooling rather than chiller plant and traditional Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units has significant impacts on energy efficiency and performance. Therefore the geographical location of the data centre in relation to local climate is a key consideration. Some of the most efficient new build data centres are using evaporative free cooling technologies combined with modular provisioning and operation – they also incorporate intelligent building management systems with temperature and humidity sensors allowing cooling response to be ‘trimmed’ in line with dynamic IT loads and hence thermal response.”
Find the best computer room air conditioning products around and unlock the benefits of effective data centre cooling for yourself by contacting our team today.
