Airflow Management in Co-Locations Data Centres
There was an interesting article published on the Data Center Knowledge website, a leading online source for daily news and analysis about the Data Centre industry, relating to who’s responsible for airflow management in co-location centres? The piece was authored by Lars Strong a leading U.S. expert on airflow management and Senior Engineer and Company Science Officer for Upsite Technologies who manufacture KoldLok, HotLok and AisleLok airflow management products.
The piece looks at who’s responsible for airflow management in the co-location Data Centre environment – the tenant or the landlord? Not long ago neither would want to take on the responsibility; the tenant because they would not see any savings and the landlord for not wanting to put unreasonable demands on customers and risk losing a tenant to a competitor.
Mr Strong points out that as the demand for co-location space and services is primarily driven by cost, the conversation is shifting to both tenants and owners being concerned about Data Centre airflow management. With cost being such an important competitive factor for providers, both PUE and airflow management are critical factors to the conversation.
The article highlights the impact airflow management can have on PUE and gives examples of the annual cost savings that could be achieved by reducing PUE. Good airflow management reduces the differential between cooling supply temperature and maximum server inlet temperature, with the net effect of this enabling the reduction in chiller energy usage.
So who is responsible for airflow management in co-location data centres? The article concludes that both tenants and landlords have a shared responsibility and have different variations of control over airflow management depending on the billing model. In some cases it will benefit the tenant if strict airflow management is enforced, and in other cases it’s in the landlord’s interest to ensure that airflow management best practices are adhered to, particularly when it comes to multi-tenant facilities.
If you are interested in finding out how following airflow management best practices could benefit your facility please contact our sales team.
