Five essentials for green and energy-saving data center construction (1)

In the next few years, China's data centers will enter a period of rapid development. It is estimated that the demand for data center traffic processing capability will increase by seven to five years ~ 10 times, and the data center area doubles. The high energy consumption of data centers not only brings a heavy burden to enterprises, but also creates a huge waste of energy in the whole society. In this context, the concept of green IT is introduced into the data center to build a green and energy-saving data center. The concept of low carbon economy and energy conservation and emission reduction is introduced into the construction of a new data center to reduce energy consumption, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The construction of green and energy-saving data centers should meet the five principles: improving the reliability and availability of data centers; sustainable development; responding to the call for energy conservation and emission reduction; achieving efficient management of data centers; People-oriented data center environment. This article will discuss the construction of green and energy-saving data centers from the aspects of space layout, air conditioning, cold source, and wiring.

Energy-saving and efficient space layout

Generally, the IDC layout should consider the IDC location and equipment layout, people's logistics and entrances and exits, fire prevention and evacuation, air-conditioning air flow organization, and other issues. The layout of the green data center has two main meanings: one is green and energy-saving, and the other is to improve space utilization.

1) Energy Saving

By optimizing the air flow organization of the data center, the air return temperature is improved, the efficiency of the air conditioner is improved, and the data center is "green. The following measures can be taken:

● Build cold and hot channels;

● Close heating and cooling channels for cabinets with high power density;

● No device in the cabinet, cable entrances and exits, angle rails, cabinets, and adjacent columns are closed.

2) Improve utilization

More devices such as computing, storage, switching, routing, and wiring can be accommodated in the same IDC space. The rational layout of the green data center can have a significant impact on space utilization. The main measures include:

● Adopt narrower and more suitable high-density cabinets;

● Use a higher Cabinet (such as 47U) and stick it to the top-mounted cable;

● Use the Cabinet top bus system to replace the power distribution column head cabinet;

● Closed cold channel;

● OU Installation Design for strong and weak current cables in the cabinet.

Air conditioning and air supply are all responsible

Maintaining the temperature and humidity design conditions is critical to the smooth operation of the data center. If the IDC environment is not suitable, it will have a negative impact on data processing and storage, and may cause data operation errors, downtime, or even frequent system faults and complete shutdown. Negative effects include high temperature, low temperature or rapid temperature fluctuations, high humidity, and low humidity.

Therefore, precision air conditioners with constant temperature and humidity are generally used in the data room.

(1) Air Conditioning Air Supply Mode Optimization

Currently, the typical Air Supply Modes of precision air conditioners include underfloor air supply and underfloor air supply. There are several obvious advantages in underfloor air supply and air return:

The underfloor air supply mode can lay strong and weak current cables in layers above the rack. The underfloor does not take the cables and is only used for ventilation. This not only ensures the Fire Safety of the data center, it also ensures smooth remote transmission of cold air;

The air flow of the upstream air supply and the downstream air return is not applicable to the IDC with high calorific value;

Underfloor air supply and air return are more efficient for cooling.

(2) Air Conditioning Air Supply Path Optimization

The underfloor air supply and back-to-Air air supply routes generally come out from the lower part of the air conditioner. The static pressure BOX formed by the overhead floor flows out from the ventilated floor and is then sucked into the cabinet from the front of the Cabinet, flow out from the rear of the cabinet and return to the air conditioning inlet.

In addition, in order to achieve a satisfactory cooling effect, on the one hand, it is necessary to set an appropriate air outlet pressure (that is, the static pressure speed of the airflow) according to the air outlet opening area and air volume requirements of the rack ); in addition, you also need to set the corresponding restraint airflow measures based on the different power density of the Rack:

● Low power density (P ≤ 4KW): The underfloor air supply mode can be used. In this mode, the effective air outlet area in front of the Rack must be no less than 20% square meters (about 12m2 square meters) of the Rack section ), when the power is greater than 2 kW and the air inlet area of the Rack cannot meet the requirements, it is recommended to install a fan with equivalent air volume and wind pressure on the top of the rack to form an effective restrained air flow and meet the heat exchange conditions.

● Medium power density (4KW

● High power density (10KW

(3) Air Conditioning Equipment Layout

The shape of the room and the distribution of the heat load of the equipment determine the optimal layout of the air-conditioning equipment in the data room. The air-conditioning equipment in the IDC room can be installed inside and outside the IDC room wall. If a liquid cooled heat dissipation device is used, install it outside the IDC room to prevent damage to the electronic equipment due to coolant leakage.

The front of the air-conditioning equipment in the IDC room should be perpendicular to each row of machines and aligned with the hot aisles to make them in the same direction as that in the air supply area (as shown in ). This setting can minimize the path of the air conditioner in the IDC to reduce the air flow and prevent the air from flowing down to the cold channel when the hot air is returned to the air conditioner. Ventilation in the same direction can prevent the "dead zone" generated under the floor when the blowers blow each other ".

For long and narrow rooms, installing the air-conditioning equipment in the IDC room can achieve effective cooling. For large square rooms, the air-conditioning equipment in the IDC room must be installed in both the surrounding area and the central area.