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COMMENT
Temperatures are rising… As the summer sunshine has finally arrived (at last) and temperatures are rising, it is the ideal time to tackle a ‘hot’ topic for many readers: many data centres are struggling to get to grips with thermal management strategies and there is a lack of knowledge in the sector around cooling issues. This is not only wasting energy but also putting facilities at risk of outages. With more than 35% of data centre energy use attributed to cooling, there is a strong business case for tackling the problem. A recent white paper, from Schneider Electric (How Higher Chilled Water Temperature Can Improve Data Center Cooling System Efficiency), shows that higher chilled water (CHW) temperatures can improve efficiency by a staggering 64%. The white paper details two real-world examples; the first in a temperate region (Frankfurt, Germany); the second in a tropical monsoon climate (Miami, Florida). In each case, data was collected to assess the energy savings that were accrued by deploying higher CHW temperatures at various increments, while comparing the effect of deploying additional adiabatic cooling. The study found that an increased capital expenditure of 13% in both cases resulted in energy savings of between 41% and 64%, with improvements in TCO between 12% and 16% over a three-year period. In addition, the study found that PUE for the two data centres was reduced by 14% in the case of
Editor Louise Frampton louise@energystmedia.com t: 020 34092043 m: 07824317819 Managing Editor Tim McManan-Smith tim@energystmedia.com Design and production Paul Lindsell production@energystmedia.com m: 07790 434813
MCP June 2018
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Miami and 16% in the case of Frankfurt. However, Vertiv’s Simon Brady warns that data centres are failing to get even the basics right and this is proving to be a widespread problem in his experience. At Data Centre World, he presented a shocking array of real-world examples where data centres are failing in the most obvious ways: from gaping holes, to some rather ’interesting’ improvised ‘botch jobs’. The skills gap is part of the problem and this is explored in some depth in this issue. People are being educated in silos and there is a need for training to bridge the chasm between data centre technical disciplines; to provide a wider contextual view and understanding of electrical and mechanical engineering, thermal management, IT and business objectives in the data centre environment. As Brady points out: “We have some ‘rocket science’ clever thermal people but they don’t know about power and we have power people who don’t know about thermal management.” Tackling these skills gaps, through targeted training, to meet industry’s needs, will be key to driving improvement. But could artificial intelligence also provide some of the answers? Siemens is making strides to provide real-time data analysis capabilities to dynamically match cooling to IT load in server rooms. Taking some of the human element out of the equation could go some way to tackling thermal issues. However, there is also plenty of scope for improvement with the minimum of investment. As Brady has often pointed out, a lot can be achieved with humble duct tape. Getting to grips with the basics must be made a priority, along with technological solutions. Louise Frampton, editor
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