Rittal provides modern cooling solutions for high-availability IT environment

The LCP DX split system can be deployed for in-rack and in-row cooling. In some scenarios, it may be more cost-efficient to cool individual racks rather than an entire room. Consequently, the LCP DX was specially developed to cool small IT environments. It routes air – chilled to just the right temperature – directly to the IT equipment.
Photo by RITTAL GmbH

The right climate control system is essential for any high-availability IT environment. Without effective cooling, the systems would overheat in a matter of moments. Consider a similar scenario – a car engine, for example. If the water pump fails, the circulation of coolant is disrupted – frying, and potentially destroying, the engine. When it comes to an enterprise’s IT, reliable, high-availability cooling systems are key to ensuring servers, storage systems, and network components operate smoothly around the clock.

Ideally, when small- and medium-sized businesses opt for an upgrade of their IT infrastructure, they call on the assistance of external experts for IT cooling. These specialists can ensure each enterprise implements a solution tailored to their specific situation.

But what exactly are the most important aspects of climate control for IT environments? In all cases, Rittal professionals initially focus on issues such as availability, the specific type of IT system, and load.

For each project, the degree of availability required has to be defined. Is end-to-end redundancy necessary? Or would redundancy of a limited number of highly critical components suffice? After all, the greater the degree of availability required, the greater the capital expenditure. In addition, the exact type of system and its purpose need to be taken into consideration. For example, reliability is more important for an SAP ERP or production planning system than for administrative software for fleet management. Moreover, analysing IT load indicates how crucial the system is to the organisation as a whole. To this end, it is advisable to examine whether international sites are connected across multiple continents, or if various time zones make 24/7 data centre operations essential.

Further questions include: how vital is IT availability to operational processes? And what is the load on existing infrastructure at peak times (e.g. month-end closing, during sales promotions, etc.)? The answers form the basis for planning IT availability requirements. And this information can be used to define parameters for a climate control solution.

In the end, three or four rounds of discussion may ensue before specifications are finalised. This testifies to the complexity of modern-day IT cooling solutions – especially as enterprises explore all avenues to maximise energy efficiency.

Rittal’s advice is to involve all departments that play a role in IT operations at an early stage. For example, facility management contributes to the deployment of climate control and power supply solutions by ensuring resources – ranging from individual IT racks to an entire data centre – are properly integrated with existing building services.

Define end-to-end monitoring

Additional planning is needed for the implementation of effective monitoring and cooling systems. Monitoring is needed day in and day out. Even on weekends, technicians have to be alerted to any cooling unit failures.

A clearly defined chain of notification determines when, and in which situations, facility management should be informed, and at what stage IT administrators are needed. Ideally, the monitoring system would be linked to an automatic shutdown function – to power down servers in the event of cooling system failure. On the whole, a solution that measures temperature is the minimum requirement for reliable IT operations, and costs just a few hundred euros.

In the next step of planning, the project team should define an alert sequence. What needs to happen if a cooling unit is unresponsive – in other words, when it appears to have failed? In this scenario, an experienced consultant can quickly recognise how important the IT systems are for the organisation. People who, by this point, have not given any thought to the alert sequence, are either underestimating the significance of IT to their enterprise, or, quite simply, do not operate a mission-critical IT environment.

Streamlining cooling and power

When outlining cooling output requirements, it is important to take stock of power distribution systems. In some cases, these can be leveraged for new cooling solutions. However, if IT and facility management fail to communicate, the implemented electricity distribution technology may not be adequate for the cooling that the IT resources entail. To plan for cooling needs, the thermal output of installed IT components is aggregated; the information can be found on the corresponding data sheets. If a server, for instance, has an electrical rating of 500 watts, and four of these units are installed in an IT rack, then the corresponding cooling output is 2,000 watts. Rittal suggests that a good rule of thumb is to plan for approximately five kilowatts per IT rack in smaller IT environments. Knowing the total power input for the data centre helps avoid unnecessarily high cooling output – as cooling output will never exceed this amount.

In-rack and in-row cooling

Each enterprise is unique – and whether they aim to cool individual IT racks, rows, or entire rooms, depends on their specific situation. While raised floors can be harnessed for climate control, SMEs in particular may not have them. In these scenarios, cooling units should be installed directly on the IT racks. Heat can then be dissipated directly where it is generated – translating into exceptional energy efficiency. Against this background, the Rittal LCP DX (Liquid Cooling Package Direct Expansion) solution can be installed on the side of IT racks for in-rack cooling. Furthermore, the unit can be deployed between two racks, so one LCP DX can cool both simultaneously.

By contrast, in-row cooling is based on hot and cold aisle containment. The fronts of two rows of IT racks face each other – forming a cold aisle between them. The cooling units blast cold air into this space, to be drawn in by the IT equipment. Warm exhaust air is vented through the rack’s perforated rear panels and into the respective hot aisles, which face the cooling units’ return ducts. The air is taken up, cooled and blown back into the cold aisle.

Segregating cold and warm air

Effective division of warm or cold air makes highly energy efficient in-rack and in-row cooling possible. The better the segregation, the more efficient the cooling. Consequently, the IT racks or aisles are carefully contained and split into warm or cold sections. At the same time, however, cold- and hot-aisle containment does not have to be 100 per cent perfect – the effort would outweigh the benefits. Instead, the separation achieved using rack accessories, such as blanking panels, sealing strips, air baffle plates, and super-airtight brush strips, is sufficient.

Room climate control

Cooling solutions for entire rooms may prove more complex or costly, but should not be automatically ruled out. Enterprises that operate a homogenous IT environment, with IT racks that generate approximately five to six kilowatts of heat each, would benefit from this approach. But as soon as an IT rack with a higher heat output is deployed, the room either requires a greater cooling output, or the rack in question needs to be equipped with additional cooling. In both situations, the solution quickly becomes outdated and inefficient.

Particularly for climate control solutions for entire rooms, it is important that the front and back panels of IT racks and enclosures have adequate perforation; moreover, the higher the air permeability, the more efficient the IT cooling. Many manufacturers, including Rittal, offer panels with approximately 85 per cent perforation – ideal for IT racks generating around five kilowatts of heat.

What’s more, room climate control offers a further advantage. In addition to IT and network components, other equipment, such as telephones and printers in the same room can be kept cool.

For more information, please visit www.rittal.com/.

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