The average equipment rack in most of today’s high-performance data centers is limited to 1–3 kW with a typical overall heat load density of less than 100 W/ft2. Near-future racks, however, will dissipate up to 15 kW; in 2–4 years, computer and communications rack heat loads are projected to balloon to 30 kW with heat load densities exceeding 500W/ft2. Handling these heat loads is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive using traditional rack and data center cooling approaches. Based on an analysis of a realistic data center expansion plan, the current paper compares capital and operating costs associated with three alternative cooling approaches: (1) a business-as-usual approach, (2) employment of cooling augmentation systems based on chilled water and refrigerant-based heat exchangers, and (3) deployment of water- and refrigerant-based device-level cooling for some of the heat load. A major conclusion of the work is that challenging current industry norms can result in significant energy savings while allowing the benefits associated with increased functional density.
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ASME 2007 InterPACK Conference collocated with the ASME/JSME 2007 Thermal Engineering Heat Transfer Summer Conference
July 8–12, 2007
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Conference Sponsors:
- Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division
ISBN:
0-7918-4277-0
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Analysis of Alternative Data Center Cooling Approaches Available to Purchase
Robert Hannemann,
Robert Hannemann
Thermal Form & Function, Inc., Manchester, MA
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Herman Chu
Herman Chu
Cisco Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA
Search for other works by this author on:
Robert Hannemann
Thermal Form & Function, Inc., Manchester, MA
Herman Chu
Cisco Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA
Paper No:
IPACK2007-33176, pp. 743-750; 8 pages
Published Online:
January 8, 2010
Citation
Hannemann, R, & Chu, H. "Analysis of Alternative Data Center Cooling Approaches." Proceedings of the ASME 2007 InterPACK Conference collocated with the ASME/JSME 2007 Thermal Engineering Heat Transfer Summer Conference. ASME 2007 InterPACK Conference, Volume 1. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. July 8–12, 2007. pp. 743-750. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IPACK2007-33176
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