Data Center Strategies for the CIO
The article Cooler rooms or cooler servers? , which addressed whether the solution to servers that run too hot was to design a better server or design a better data center, generated a flurry of comments from readers. Here is a small sampling of what people are saying about cooling the data center.
The question isn't whether it's good to keep both cool. The question is, which makes more financial sense? Cooling the whole room? Spending the money to purchase servers with a low heat-to-computation ratio?
Probably a combination. But to say that people should equip every computer with VIA ultra-low-power chips and freeze the server room is silly. --AC
Aquafina wll probably be the first vendor to bring water into the datacenter... I believe I've seen evidence in some datacenters already. --vmcto
I've always wondered this. why have duplication of a function in a server across every single server box when it could all be done in the environment. For example all servers get electricity from the server room and all servers get network from the server room so why not all servers get cooling from 10F cooling in the server room.
It makes sense! --Saven Marek
What I have never understood is why servers virtually always have AC power supplies. Yes, you can get NEBS(?) compliant servers that take DC, but this isnt really a general option, but a distinct model
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line compleatly.
UPSs take AC, turn it to DC, charge their batteries. A sepearate system takes DC from batteries, inverts it and sends out AC. (Good UPSs, anyway. Otherwise they are "battery backups", not uninteruptable) Computer power supplies take AC and distribute DC inside the case. WTF?
Why doesn't APC start selling ATX power supplies? Directly swap out AC powersupplies, have them plug into the DC providing UPS and/or per-rack (or even per-room) powersupplies.
Electrical codes are a BS excuse. Even if you needed verdor specific racks, a DC providing rack is, so far as the fire marshal should be concerned, just a very large blade enclosure, which are clearly acceptable.
I cant beleive that Im the first one to ever come up with this idea. So there must be some problem with it.... Some EE want to explain why this wouldnt work? --T-Ranger
I like cooler rooms. Especially for a large number of servers. Its more efficient. --FH
I agree, both solutions would help. Our room is a nice cool 62.5. Best condtions to work in!
Cooler rooms also keep others out... we get a lot of, its so cold, and they leave. That's golden =) --TT
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