InRack and InRow Cooling for Data Center

Traditional data center, computer room, and server room cooling methods cool down an entire room with cold air from centralized units to one end of the room. This approach is acceptable when power densities are minimal with few hot spots in the room. However, room-oriented designs are affected by room constraints including ceiling height, room shape, obstructions above and below the floor, rack layout, Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units' location, power distribution, etc.

CRAC units force chilled air into a data center and around the equipment. In most cases, cooling these vast volumes of air is very inefficient. Although a hot and cold aisle containment decreases the volume, it still results in a lot of excess cooling and costs of powering the CRACs. 

So why don't consider more selective data center cooling options which work together with your CRAC units or chill specific critical loads with high efficient ways but low energy cost?

Modern data centers adopt InRack and InRow coolers (IRCs), also known as close-coupled cooling systems, because they are tailor-made for high densities of hot-running IT equipment and tight energy budgets. These cooling strategies are inherently more efficient than standard CRAC systems because it ties into the IT equipment rather than sending cooled air into the room space. They may be mounted among the IT racks / cabinets or they may be mounted overhead or under the floor.


InRack Cooling

Dedicated racks, another low-effort retrofit, offer cooling isolation. The rack operates just like a standard data center rack, but it is sealed on all sides as a self-contained system. Cool air is forced up through the rack from the bottom, running over the equipment before exiting through the top to a hot plenum, where the heat is vented or recovered as necessary.

InRow Cooling

In-row cooling systems work within a row of standard server racks. The units are standard rack height, making them easy to match with the row and couple tightly to the IT equipment to ensure efficient cooling. Systems from APC by Schneider Electric, Liebert by Emerson Network Power, Rittal and others are engineered to take up the smallest footprint and offer high-density cooling. Ducting and baffles ensure that the cooling air gets where it needs to go.

    

Compared with the room-oriented architecture, the airflow paths are shorter and more clearly defined with the close-coupled cooling systems. Smaller fans can be used due to lower volumes of chilled air; energy costs are minimized; it is easier to target air onto high-density hot spots for preferential cooling; and business continuity improves, as the failure of any one single unit in the cooling environment only affects that rack or cabinet, as opposed to the total data center or the whole aisle containment. And, as the majority of these systems are modular, it is easy and cost-effective to build in degrees of resilience, leading to higher availability across the whole data center.


About us

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For the Data Center Design Consideration, please visit 

(1) Site Selection,

(2) Space Planning,

(3) Cooling,

(4) Redundancy,

(5) Fire Suppression,

(6) Meet Me Rooms,

(7) UPS Selection,

(8) Raised Floor,

(9) Code & Standards, and

(10) Transformers and Harmonic Distortion

All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.

Data Center Design Consideration: Cooling

Further to the previous articles in Data Center Design Consideration: Space Planning, thermal management is also an important consideration in data center design. As more cloud-based platform and applications developed and the big data trends, the demand for server usage and data storage will grow continuously. As a result, more power is consumed and more heat is generated by the servers and electronics. Proper heat dissipation techniques are therefore necessary to ensure heat is effectively removed from the equipment.

Proper design for data center cooling at least has 3 components:


Mechanical, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (MVAC) Precision System

It supplies and distributes chilled air into the computer room. The MVAC system is designed based on the total heat load of the equipment. Depending on the geographical location of your data center, temperature is typically kept between 20 - 25 degree.

Rack Layout

The TIA-942 standard recommends the use of a hot aisle and cold aisle layout in positioning racks. Racks are organised in rows with an aisle dividing each row of racks. Racks are then installed with either the front or the rear of the rack facing each other along every aisle.

The aisles, which access the front, are designated cold aisles while the aisles that access the rear are designated hot aisles.

With this layout, cooled (fresh) air is introduced into the cold aisles. As the cooled air enters the rack and moves from the front to the rear, it extracts heat from the rack-mounted equipment. At the rear, air is expelled into the hot aisles where they are directed back to the Air Handling Units (AHU) / Computer Room Air-conditioning (CRAC) Units. Using this directed path of air circulation, the computer / servers equipment are effectively cooled.



Source: http://macc.umich.edu


Rack Design

In order to make the cool aisle / hot aisle layout effective, the rack are required to be carefully installed and designed. It ensures cooled air enters the rack, is forced through the equipment and hot air is expelled from the rack:

1. Intelligent fan doors for drawing cooled air into the rack.
2. Blower fans to ensures cooled air is available along the front of the entire rack.
3. Fan doors and blower fans are used when there are insufficient air entering the cabinet.
4. Filler panels and air dams for blocking gaps between the front and rear of the rack.
5. Air diverter kits to divert cooled air upwards which helps air to flow into the equipment and to prevent hot air at the back from re-circulating to the front.

About SMA

Strategic Media Asia (SMA), a critical infrastructure training and event organizer based in Hong Kong, provides an interactive environment and opportunities for members of IDC industry and engineers to exchange professional views and experience on critical infrastructure and E&M facilities.

SMA is one of the CPD Course Providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).

For details of other data center courses and seminars, please visit our website at http://www.stmedia-asia.com/trainings.html.

Invitation to Data Center Technical Visit + CPD course in Critical Facilities Design

2-day CPD course in Data Center Facilities Design
and Infrastructure Engineering (20 - 21 February 2014)

(HKIE CPD Course Code: CPD0227)

The 2-day CPD course is designed for Building Services Engineers, Facilities / Data Center Managers, IT Management, etc. to enrich and update the knowledge in critical facilities and data centers design & build.

Topics include:

- IT strategy
- Cabinet layout
- Raised floor system

- Data center network and structure
- Telecommunication backbones, redundancy, sizing and planning
- Fiber and optical system design
- Fiber and optical cable components
- Copper cabling components
- Copper system design and high speed ethernet
- Cable distribution, layout and management
- Earthing / grounding and bounding
- Power (1) – high / low voltage system, switch system, etc.

- Power (2) – UPS, transformers, fuel tanks, generators, etc.
- Cooling (1) – cooling topology, hot / cold aisle, etc.

- Cooling (2) – chiller, CRAC, cooling towers, etc.
- Environmental management system
- Physical security
- Fire protection system

Date: 20 - 21 February 2014 (Thursday - Friday)

Time: 10:00 – 18:00 (14 Hours)

Venue: 20/F, New Victory House, 93 - 103 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Fee: Special rate for HKIE's all membership classes

For detail and syllabus, please refer to the CPD Course Calendar of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, HKIE (http://www.hkie.org.hk/eng/html/cpd/cpdviewer.asp?sn=2936) or contact (852) 2117 3893.

Kindly complete and return an Application Form together with a crossed cheque made payable to “Strategic Media Asia Limited” - Room 1605, 16/F, Causeway Bay Plaza 1, 489 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Half Day Technical Visit to Data Center in Tseung Kwan O
TELEHOUSE HONG KONG CCC

Sponsored by KDDI Hong Kong Limited (www.kddi.com.hk)

Further to the HKIE CPD Course, the half-day technical visit targets to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of IDC industry to exchange professional views and experience on critical infrastructure / E&M facilities:

Date: 12 February 2014 (Wednesday)
Time: 13:45 - 17:15
Meeting Point: Exit D, Kowloon Tong MTR Station (Please refer to a rundown attached)

Fee: HK$100, Round-trip transportation will be provided
(Waiver for the CPD course's participants)

Remark:

Business Card and HKID Card are required for the on-site registration. KDDI Hong Kong reserve the right to refuse any unexpected registration for the Technical Visit. In case of disputes, the ultimate decision will be reserved by KDDI Hong Kong.

TELEHOUSE HONG KONG CCC

TELEHOUSE HONG KONG CCC (Telehouse Hong Kong Cloud Computing Complex) is one of the largest (360,000 sq.ft) and most technologically advanced carrier neutral data center facilities in Hong Kong and in the Asia Pacific Region.

Operated by KDDI Corporation, TELEHOUSE HONG KONG CCC is a Tier 3+ purpose-built data center facility that is strategically located in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong. With virtually no risk of natural disasters in the vicinity, TELEHOUSE HONG KONG CCC is ideal for securing mission-critical business systems.

For detail, please visit http://www.stmedia-asia.com/data-center-tour.html

About The Blogger

Strategic Media Asia (SMA, www.stmedia-asia.com) is a leading technical training and event organizer for corporations specialized in data center design & build, E&M facilities, telecom, ICT, finance and colocation. Currently, SMA delivers a series of data center trainings and qualification programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

All these events / training seminars are designed to support the leadership needs of senior executives (Chief Information Officers, IT Directors / Managers, Facilities Managers, company decision makers, etc.) and to provide useful and applicable knowledge.

For detail, please visit SMA's Technical Training Seminars & Data Center Qualification Programs.

Now for Sale - Training Manual of "HVAC Design and Cooling Specialist for Data Center Efficiency"

HVAC DESIGN & COOLING SPECIALIST FOR DATA CENTER EFFICIENCY

This is a training manual developed by a team of experienced Chartered Engineers (CEng). For data center operators and facilities managers, we help you to understand key challenges and consider different factors, from design, testing, commissioning, sustainability and efficiency, of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system for data centers.

In addition, the manual details the guidelines of data centers’ cooling criteria, HVAC load development, air distribution, liquid cooling, contamination, availability and redundancy, Computer Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model, energy efficiency, etc., from general theory to technical implementation.

To predict a data center’s power and heat loads over the years ahead is the hardest thing for data center owners. It introduces datacom power trends and cooling applications showing expected growth in power density for different types of computing equipment out to 2020.

Total Number of Page: 106

Total Number of Slide Contained: 204

Size: 210mm x 300mm x 10mm

Language: English

Color: Black & White

CD / Soft Copy: Not Included

THE MANUAL CONTENT

Datacom Equipment Power Trends and Cooling Applications

(a) load trends and their applications

(b) air cooling and liquid cooling of computer equipment

Design Consideration

(a) design criteria and HVAC load

(b) computer room cooling and air distribution

(c) liquid cooling

(d) availability and redundancy

(e) integration with other MEP system

(f) controls and computer fluid dynamics

Testing and Commissioning

(a) air cleanliness test, heat load test

(b) factory acceptance test and site acceptance test

(c) integrated performance test (IST)

Sustainable Design

(a) combined heat power plant (CHP)

(b) solar, geothermal and evaporative cooling method

(c) air side economizers

(d) desiccant unit

Energy Efficiency

(a) power usage effectiveness (PUE)

(b) chilled water plant optimization

(c) water side and air side equipment

(d) part load operation

(e) controls and energy management

(f) LEED certified data center

(g) building energy code

ORDER METHOD

Please contact us at info@stmedia-asia.com
The manual is also available on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/usr/st-media

Data Center Raised Floor and Cooling System

Data Center Executives are addressing the cooling infrastructure demands with a full line of airflow management and in-floor cooling solutions. The continued adoption of high density equipment, virtualization and cloud computing strategies requires the cooling infrastructure of a data center to be capable of adapting to high and often variable heat loads while offering superior energy efficiency.

There are line of in-floor cooling products for raised floor data centers can nearly eliminate by-pass air and save significant energy. Using directional airflow and variable-air-volume dampers, the data center can instantly react to any variation in utilization to match cooling with the heat load at the rack level. Some data center also provide fan assisted airflow to eliminate hot spots or implement high-density equipment in a current raised floor facilities without significant capital investment.

In addition, a full line of containment systems and air sealing grommets is designed to help reduce by-pass airflow, improve energy efficiency and increase data center capacity. More information can be found below.

Electronically controlled variable air volume damper used to adjusts the amount of air to meet the specific needs of the rack it services.

Fan assist module is designed to provide a blast of cooling through an individual airflow panel. This powerful solution is ideal for solving the toughest hot spots in a data center.

Grate panels the airflow angle toward the equipment achieving a 93% Total Air Capture (TAC) rate by a standard server rack.

Full line panels have the unmatched ability to handle heat density needs of the most demanding mission critical facilities.

Blade damper allows the user infinite airflow adjustability when it comes to airflow from any airflow panel.

Seal a variety of openings in the aisle, blocking bypass airflow and maximizing cooling performance.

The rack shield isolation system is designed to capture subfloor supply and dedicate it to the computer thermal load, thereby ensuring that cold supply air will not spill across the raised floor.

Hot and cold aisle containment, Partition, Strip Doors, Retracting Roofs, Hinged and Sliding Doors all work together to create the perfect containment solution.

The CRAC Hood Extension is a ceiling return duct that connects the top of the CRAC unit directly to a ceiling return plenum greatly increasing cooling capacity and efficiency by capturing hot exhaust air and channeling it directly into the CRAC unit.

Design & Operate a Data Center for Energy Efficiency

2-day Training Seminar on EU Code of Conduct for Data Center Energy Efficiency (2012) The Best Practices for Designing an Energy Efficient Data Center

Overview

In response to the rising challenges facing data centre operators, owners, systems designers, equipment manufacturers and customers, the European Commission have introduced the Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres. The Code aims to raise awareness of the issues and opportunities and to recommend best practice solutions. We introduces the Code, the benefits it brings, the levels of commitment required, the technical background to the best practices, data collection and reporting together with real examples. This 2-day training seminar enables individuals working in data centres to improve cost and energy efficiency. The ongoing development of the Code encompasses topics associated with new data centre planning, design and development, and the tuning and operation of existing facilities. All sections are conducted by Chartered Engineers (CEng) and help you to approach best practices in designing and operating energy efficient data centers by our further technical programs.

Registration Detail Date To Be Announced (2-day) Time 10:00am - 5:30pm Venue 10th Floor,Central Building, 1 - 3 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong Target Audience CIO, CTO, IT Directors, Data Center Operations / Facilities Managers, Data Center / ICT Consultants and E&M Engineers Fee Normal Rate: HK$6,500 (Early Bird Rate: 10% Discount) (Two refreshment breaks will be provided.)

Enrollment Online Registration or Download Application Form Exam and Certification All content cover an accredited syllabus necessary to sit the British Computer Society (BCS) "Intermediate Certificate in EU Code of Conduct for Data Center" exam through Prometric (www.prometric.com). However, taking the course does not offer a guarantee of passing. Extra examination fee required. Individual CPD / completion certificate can be granted by our experienced Chartered Engineers (Available upon request).

Should you have any enquiry, please feel free to contact us at 3796 3026 / info@stmedia-asia.com

Day 1 Content - Define, identify and list data center best practice sections - Power distribution in data center - the power tree - Optimizing the data centre requirements - Area of responsibilities (physical building, mechanical & electrical plant, data floor, racks, etc.) - Efficient cooling 1 (hot / cold aisle containment, raised floor, ceiling height, airflow control, etc.) - Efficient cooling 2 (CRAC settings, arrangement of cable trays, cabinets and cooling plants, etc.) - Efficient cooling 3 (air free cooling, water free cooling, mechanism of absorption chiller, etc.) - Interactions and interdependencies of various systems - Standby UPS - Standby ferro UPS - Line interactive UPS - Double conversion on-line UPS - Delta conversion on-line UPS - Temperature and humidity control - Factors affecting data center energy consumption Day 2 Content - Resilience level and provisioning - Data center efficiency and Uptimes Tier levels requirements - ASHRAE 2011 common environmental guidelines - ETSI EN 300 019 Class 3.1 - Select and deploy of new IT equipment - Data centre utilisation, management and planning (software, IT and M&E) - Physical building layout (site selection, water sources, use of economizers, etc.) - Lighting control (EU standards, LEED, BREEAM, etc.) - Monitoring (energy use & environmental reporting, etc.) - Items under consideration (rotary UPS, mechanical UPS, etc.) - Minimum practices for data center energy efficiency - Metrics used to measure data center energy efficiency

Delivered by Experienced Speakers Mr. Joe Tang Having more than 10 years experience in mission critical design, Mr. Tang was working on numerous projects involving data centers, disaster recovery sites, trading floors for multinational financial institutes and data centre providers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, South Korea and India. He is specialized in the areas of master site planning, mission critical infrastructure design, single point of failure study, cause and effect analysis and integrated system test. Mr. Tang is now working in a multi-disciplines consultancy providing sustainable design and green initiatives to different sections in Asia Pacific. Mr. Tang is also: - A Chartered Engineer of Engineering Council (CEng) - A Member of The Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET) - A Corporate Member of Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering(MCIBSE) - A Member of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (MASHARE) Ir Joson Chan Ir Chan had started his career as part-time lecturer since 2001 and has been served in various territory institutes. He majors in teaching subjects in electrical engineering, project management, sustainable engineering and facility engineering for critical services. Ir Chan is a permanent members of CNet Training professional data centre training team. Ir Chan has gained extensive experience within different aspects of infrastructure projects and as a Senior Engineer in an E&M consultant firm, mainly involved in the data centre / financial institutions MEPF design projects and working with companies such as Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, etc. He is now working in an international theme park and resort to maintain facility support of critical facility and Network Communication Centre. He unites learning with this key career experiences, allowing delegates to gain essential insight into real-life working and scenarios. Ir Chan is also: - A Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) - A Fellow of Society of Operations Engineers (FSOE) - A Chartered Engineer of Engineering Council (CEng) - A Member of The Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET) - A Corporate Member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (MHKIE) - Grade H0 and C0 Registration of Electrical Worker of the HKSAR Government Ir K.T. Poon Ir Poon has more than 10 years consultancy experience in data center design and build, operation management, energy and cost management projects both in Hong Kong and China. He was also working for a design and installation of a facility management system in an international school in Hong Kong with a subsystem of an energy management system. Ir Poon is a part time lecturer in various tertiary institutes. He also teaches facility management, business strategic management of the distance learning courses (both degree and master degree) offered by overseas universities. Ir Poon is also: - A Corporate Member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (MHKIE) - A Chartered Member of the British Computer Society (MBCS) - A Chartered Engineer of the Engineering Council, U.K. (CEng) - European Engineer of the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (Eur. Ing.) - A Chartered Information Technology Professional of the British Computer Society (CITP)

Recent Participants Come Form...

Airport Authority Hong Kong Fujitsu Hong Kong Limited Asia Satellite Telecommunications Ltd Johnson Controls Hong Kong Limited Citic Telecommunication CPC Group Leigh & Orange Limited CTM (Macau SAR) Meinhardt (Hong Kong) Limited EMSD, HKSAR Government Mizuho Corporate Bank Limited Elixir International Limited Sociedade De Jogos De Macau Facilities Analysis & Control Limited Welcome Air-Tech Limited And More...

© 2012 Strategic Media Asia Limited T (852) 3796 3026 | F (852) 2184 9978 | www.stmedia-asia.com Room 1303, Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Best Practices for Green Data Center Design & Operation

Right-sizing the physical infrastructure system to the load, using efficient physical infrastructure devices, and designing an energy-efficient system are all techniques to help reduce energy costs. A successful strategy for addressing the data center energy management challenge requires a multi-pronged approach that should be enforced throughout the lifecycle of the data center.

Best Practices - Data Center Engineering for Efficiency

System design

In datac enters, system design has a much greater effect on the electrical consumption than does the efficiency of individual devices. In fact, two datacenters comprised of the same devices may have considerably different electrical bills. For this reason, system design is even more important than the selection of power and cooling devices in determining the efficiency of a data center.

Floor layout

Floor layout has a significant effect on the efficiency of the air conditioning system. Ideal arrangements involve hot-aisle/cold-aisle configurations with suitable air conditioner locations. The primary design goal of this floor layout approach is cool air and warm air segregation.

Proper configuration of server software

When configuring servers, many data center managers are not careful about how they configure the powerrelated software. Power-economizer modes should always be selected to ensure more efficient operation of the server.

Location of vented floor tiles

In an average data center, many vented tiles are either placed in incorrect locations or an insufficient or excessive number of vented tiles is installed. By using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in the datacenter environment, the designer can optimize datacenter cool air flow by “tuning” floor tiles by varying locations and by regulating the percent of vents that are open at any given time or can optimize CRAC (Computer Room Air Conditioning) unit locations.

Rightsized physical infrastructure components

Of all of the techniques available to users, rightsizing the physical infrastructure system to the load has the most impact on physical infrastructure electrical consumption. There are fixed losses in the power and cooling systems that are present whether the IT load is present or not, and these losses are proportional to the overall power rating of the system. In installations that have light IT loads, the fixed losses of the physical infrastructure equipment commonly exceeds the IT load. Whenever the physical system is oversized, the fixed losses become a larger percentage of the total electrical bill.



Strategic Media Asia (SMA) Limited (www.stmedia-asia.com)

SMA enables individuals working in data centres to improve cost and energy efficiency. Our training seminars and workshops encompass topics associated with new data centre planning and development, and the tuning and operation of existing facilities. Service providers and equipment manufacturers will take a particular interest as the workshop takes into account the full range of technologies used in the data centre environment and its impact in how procurement decisions are made.

IT, Project and Facilities Managers, Designers, Consultants, etc. who are responsible for highly critical systems, like the UPS and CRAC systems, etc., in Data Centre and IT equipments are highly recommended to attend.

Should you have any enquiries, please visit www.stmedia-asia.com/trainings.html or www.stmedia-asia.com/events.html

Cut Data Center Energy Bill in Six Ways

"People are looking at data center efficiency, whereas five years ago it wasn't an issue," says Adam Fairbanks, Bluestone Energy, a company that retrofits old data centers to make them more energy efficient and to qualify for utility rebates (many utilities are required to help pay for data center projects that will reduce energy use; if a project can be proven to cut energy draw by 20%, the utility might pay for as much as half the cost of the project). "Today any new data center build gets scrutinized by the CFO as well as facilities and IT."


Where lowering a company's carbon footprint was a big driver for such projects a few years ago, because of the economy, environmental concerns have gotten pushed back and today they're a matter of reducing operating expense, Fairbanks says. "Money drives the majority of the projects we work on," he says.

Fairbanks shares some of the most popular methods his clients have been using to cut energy costs in a power-guzzling data center:

• Turn the thermostat up. The common wisdom around how cold a data center needs to be has changed and an ASHRAE committee has revised the upper limits of its data center temperature recommendation up to 70-77 degrees. "People have said that's conservative, and many equipment manufacturers have said that up to 90 degrees is OK for their products," Fairbanks says.
   
  However, you have to be able to manage the movement of air before you can raise temperatures, he warns. If the air is not coming through the floor properly (due to excessive wires in the way or something) or air is swirling around, you won't see efficiencies.
  
  And you still have to cool computing equipment, even with a set point of 90 degrees. A server left running by itself uncooled would probably fry itself, Fairbanks says. "At one data center I was at recently, we did a thermal scan, where we measure and map temperatures all over the facility. One rack was at 110, which is a danger level," he says. With the proliferation of blade racks, such high cabinet temperatures are becoming more common, and there's a tendency to put all the racks in one corner of the data center, which creates one huge hot spot.

• Upgrade the HVAC. "About 30% of the power used by a data center is consumed by cooling," Fairbanks says, and the average data center is over-cooled by three or four times. A new cooling system also causes less stress on day-to-day operations than bringing in other types of new equipment. "If you put in new servers and power units, you have to rewire half the data center and move things around and it's higher risk than changing the HVAC," he says. "If you have a backup HVAC system for redundancy, you can flip over to the backup while you install the new system and achieve payback quickly."

• Use cold and hot aisles. This method of laying out a data center such that cold air used to cool computers is kept separate from the hot air they generate has been around for years, but has become more widely adopted this year.

• Try blanking panels. Server racks often have holes in the back of the cabinet, especially racks that are not full of blades. The cold air that is pushed up through the floor into these rack can escape out of the holes and into the hot aisle, causing the air conditioning system to run less efficiently. A blanking panel closes over the holes so that cold air is used exclusively to cool the servers in the racks.

• Virtualize. "There's often a conflict between the business units that own the racks and the IT staff that want to use virtualization," Fairbanks says. But here's an incentive: his company has qualified data centers for utility rebates through virtualization projects, since reduced power supplies are required for fewer servers.

• Get cooling and heating equipment to work together. Some inefficiencies are caused by CRAC units that operate independently and often fight each other, Fairbanks notes. Heating systems can conflict with air conditioning and humidifiers sometimes defeat the purpose of dehumidifiers. Bluestone offers software that has sensors and controls that monitor temperature and humidity all over a data center and aggregate information from all the units to a central point that monitors and manages all the set points. The company also provides fan trays that pull air from the floor efficiently into racks where wires or other obstacles are impeding the flow of air.

Adopted from http://www.wallstreetandtech.com