Measure Twice, Cut Once

When contemplating a more efficient data center, the questions asked and the choices to make completely depend on each site's situation. Perhaps you are working with a 25 year old room with numerous constraints. Or you could be working with a brand new data center where the paint has yet to dry. Most are probably somewhere in between.

Regardless of where the starting point is, that starting point needs to be defined and then a roadmap planned out. Site evaluations and airflow models play a critical role in the outworking of good data center management.

Why?

Simply stated, there are too many variables and a production data center is no place to experiment. That’s why it is important to have an expert environmental evaluation of the site (or proposed site) and simulate any significant change or proposed layout/design in a CFD model before equipment is rolled in, turned on, and cannot be moved.

In an effort to improve efficiencies, a data center manager can be overwhelmed by all of the various methods and products. Each product can have its advantages and disadvantages. CFD modeling and expert site evaluations can save thousands of dollars and hours of aggravation by modeling different scenarios and determining the best course of action for a particular site.

Experts Say:

“Green data centers don’t just save energy, they also reduce the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades to deal with increased power and cooling demands. Some organizations are also starting to take the next step and are looking at the entire data center from an environmental perspective.”