hot/cold aisle

In its simplest form, hot aisle/cold aisle data center design involves lining up server racks in alternating rows with cold air intakes facing one way and hot air exhausts facing the other. The rows composed of rack fronts are called cold aisles. Typically, cold aisles face air conditioner output ducts. The rows the heated exhausts pour into are called hot aisles. Typically, hot aisles face air conditioner return ducts.

A containment system can be used to isolate hot aisles and cold aisles from each other and prevent hot and cold air from mixing. Containment systems started out as physical barriers that simply separated the hot and cold aisles with vinyl plastic sheeting or Plexiglas covers. Today, vendors offer plenums and other commercial options that combine containment with variable fan drives (VFDs) to prevent cold air and hot air from mixing.

Best practices for hot aisle/cold aisle containment include:
1. Raising the floor 1.5 feet so that air being pushed by air conditioning equipment can pass through.
2. Deploying high cubic feet per minute (CFM) rack grills that have outputs in the range of 600 CFM.
3. Locating devices with side or top exhausts in their own part of the datacenter.
4. Installing automatic doors in the data center.

Learn more about Data center cooling

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Cooling data centers with outside air gets the go-ahead: Using outside air to cool your data center can save you money. But what about those nasty contaminants that might come in?
Liquid cooling buyers' guide: Data centers are welcoming liquid cooling into their infrastructures for better cooling efficiency. This guide to liquid cooling in the data center looks at a few products.
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Data Center Library: Enterprise Data Center Design and Methodology: A review of Enterprise Data Center Design and Methodology by Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Enterprise Architect Rob Snevely.
Data Center Decisions Session Downloads: Power and Cooling Track (Chicago 2006): This track looks at how data center designs can maximize air flow, A/C considerations, new techniques in cooling and the looming issue blade servers bring to cooling.
	Bob McFarlane: Blogs and more: Expert Bob McFarlane recently hosted a blog that tackled the full array of problems that face anyone managing a data center's physical environment. The best of the blog is here.
Heating and cooling playbook: Need help keeping your new blades and ultra-high density server racks from overheating your data center? Our heating and cooling playbook will show you the ropes to keep things cool.

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

More resources from around the web: - Robert Sullivan describes hot/cold aisle technology. - The U.S. Department of Energy provides a clear illustration of hot/cold aisle geometry. - SearchDataCenter.com discusses cooling strategies for data centers.

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