With Computational Fluid Dynamics, Data Center's Cooling Is Optimized - Effects on cooling performance, energy costs evaluated

摘要

In the past, most data-center cooling systems were designed based on rules of thumb or trial and error, and large margins of safety were used to compensate for the inaccuracies in those approaches. But the rapid increase in the power density of modern computing, networking, and storage equipment means that energy costs for power and cooling frequently are higher than the cost of the information-technology equipment they support, when amortized over a typical three-year period. It has become critical to analyze data-center design to optimize the local airflow and heat-transfer conditions that play such an important role in cooling-system performance. Computational-fluid-dynamics (CFD) software tools provide the ability to simulate the performance of data centers and predict the effects of air handlers, power-dissipation sources, raised floors, and other features on temperatures throughout a data center. Following is a case of CFD being used to simulate a typical data center and evaluate the effect of design changes on cooling performance and energy costs.