Originally posted to Data Center POST By Erich Hamilton
While many people welcome summer’s warmer weather and sunny days, for data center operators it is often some of the most trying and expensive months of the year.
Temperatures in a data center should not exceed a certain limit, which is unique to each data center, in order to ensure hardware operates at an optimal level. Once the servers surpass the maximum operating temperature, equipment will begin to fail. The heat created from the servers and lighting in a data center, combined with summer’s hot air puts a data center at high risk for fried hardware, as well as a costly repair and electric bills.
Often times, data center operators will make the mistake of overprovisioning Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units in an effort to keep their data centers cool. While this solution will maintain optimal temperature levels, it is extremely expensive to house a CRAC unit in every aisle. Other operators deploy racks with a lower number of servers to use less air, and in turn reduce their energy bill, however, this method does not maximize the density of a data center.
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