Your HVAC system could end up saving your data center. Learn how efficient HVAC design causes data centers to operate efficiently in this guide.
Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are key to a highly efficient, functioning data center. The last thing you want is unregulated temperatures in your data center. Unregulated data center temperatures can lead to server downtime and a complete shutdown of all functions. Hence, you want your HVAC layout design to be as optimized as possible. But what are some considerations you must make when designing your HVAC distribution for your data centers? Read on to find out.
Understanding the Layout of Equipment and Servers
You must protect and properly maintain your servers and supporting equipment. Before you design your HVAC system, you have to know precisely where everything is located. The server room should be the focus of your design choices. You can design server rooms with raised floors that allow for easy access. Raised floors regulate airflow, humidity, and temperature, ensuring these factors never become too dysregulated. Some server rooms have higher ceilings that can also help regulate the temperature since heat rises. These are just a few considerations of HVAC design for data centers, but there are many more.
Electrical Supply Access, Load Evaluation
When you have a data center, one of your top concerns is electrical distribution and infrastructure. When you design your HVAC configuration, ensure the HVAC complex doesn’t interfere with the electrical mechanisms that servers use to function. Make sure the HVAC electrical supply isn’t close to the electrical supply of the server or that they overload each other, as this could lead to a power outage. Make sure all units can handle the electrical load efficiently and easily.
Humidity and Temperature Control
The range for acceptable temperature and humidity levels is much narrower for a data center than for a standard building. Data centers house a ton of electronics in one small, enclosed space, so it’s important to ensure you keep things cool without any added humidity. Servers have always been sensitive to moisture; aside from a fire suppression system, you’ll need to limit the number of water systems near the server room. Limit the amount of plumbing in the space and ensure you can control humidity at the turn of the dial. These are just a few considerations for people who are implementing HVAC system layouts in their data centers. We hope it helps you make the right decisions!
