Server room auxiliary cooling

[adtrance]

Has anyone put in additional cooling for a small server room? We've recently added a Cisco UCS chassis which added about 10,000BTU of added heat and the room has become uncomfortably warm. I'm looking for a 24/7 air conditioning unit that is as self-contained as possible and also looking for advice from anyone with good expirience with a specific vendor / AC model.

Something like the following seems to fit the bill but would like to explore what anandtech members may have had experiences with.
https://www.portablecooling.com/sho...d=140&osCsid=b11c208376945d96f63182a8dfaab4f7

Looking for a 10,000 to 12,000BTU cooling unit with about $2500 budget.

 

[aigomorla]

ok... is the room entirely sealed?

Typically heat likes to collect on the ceiling.. so if u have a high placed fan blowing the air out, it can handle the situation.

If its an office room with real servers laid out and the room is sealed, your going to have problems with that unit even.

Basically its this... energy can not be destroyed.
Heat being a form of energy can not be destoryed.

An AC is using evaporation to compress a coolant so when the pressure is released, it super cools, and hence blow cold air.
However an AC will dump the hotter air... the oil from the compressor used to compress the gas.

This means in a sealed room, you can not dump the heat out because there is nowhere to go, hence an AC will not work. Well unless u want to dump it to another room.

This is why when IT sec builds a server room, that is the one room typically in the entire building which has its AC on 24/7, compared to the normal office space.

So like that portable... you have 2 variables u need to consider..
1. Condensation... how does it handle it?? does it have an internal evaporator to evap it?
2. Where is the hot air going to dump into? Remember the heat off an AC will be greater then without because ur putting power into cooling, which means introduction of new energy.

 

[adtrance]

Room is not sealed in the sense that there already is an in-wall unit, typical of the type you'd see hanging out of apartment windows. But much larger. There is outside air access from this room to vent hot air from an auxiliary cooling unit.

I think what may need to happen is another hole cut for the hot air to vent out of (much like a dryer vent) and maybe pipe the condensation drain hose out through this as well. I know there are more self-contained units that still need hot air to be vented but has a built-in condensation evaporation feature.

And that's what I'm looking for; any anandtech members who have installed additional cooling into their server rooms... input into what was used effectively in a 24/7, set-it-and-forget-it environment

 

[aigomorla]

there is no set and forget for IT and server.

But portables arent that great IMO.

A top near ceiling mounted unit like this guy from LG is probably the most efficient in my eyes.

there called split systems:
http://ac-review.com/models/air-conditioner/lg/ls122he.html

however the compressor unit is separate and needs to be mounted outside.


Other then that most companies just use central air...

 

[adtrance]

The split type is the direction we've been going with after taking a look at other options, besides an in-row portable cooler.

http://www.thermospace.com/ductless_split/KSWG_24000-btu-ductless-split-heat-pump.php

Thanks for the input aigomorla.

 

[imagoon]

Typically don't want 10,000btu of cooling when you add 10,000btu of heat or the unit will run all the time. Also in a portable like that, it dumps it's own operation heat in to the room. Like mentioned above, it needs a place to dump the water (typically a bucket or a condensation pump with a hose to a drain in units that sized.) and a place to vent the heat which typically comes out of a duct in the back some place that must be plumbed some place else. In some offices the drop ceiling can work for that, otherwise it needs to go to another room or outside.

 

[aigomorla]

Thanks for the input aigomorla.

if it has to do with PC's and cooling, thats what im here for.

However u guys do know koolance just got CE for servers and there LC gear.
http://www.koolance.com/company/certifications.html

On very hot servers, you may want to consider water cooling them.

And they have Rack cooling options... basically a rack u2 / u4 units which houses all the LC gear, and u just run tubes to the CPU and blocks from there.
http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=1172
And the CE for it is here:
http://www.koolance.com/company/images/koolance_ce_erm-3k3u.pdf

 

[Garion]

if it has to do with PC's and cooling, thats what im here for.

However u guys do know koolance just got CE for servers and there LC gear.
http://www.koolance.com/company/certifications.html

On very hot servers, you may want to consider water cooling them.

And they have Rack cooling options... basically a rack u2 / u4 units which houses all the LC gear, and u just run tubes to the CPU and blocks from there.
http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=1172
And the CE for it is here:
http://www.koolance.com/company/images/koolance_ce_erm-3k3u.pdf

That's some cool stuff, but it's designed to transfer heat from the servers to the environment. What the OP is worried about is ambient heat in the room that needs to be dealt with. The heat produced by a piece of gear is simply a function of how much power goes into it - More power used, more heat output. It doesn't really matter how that heat gets OUT of the box - Fans, liquid loop, etc.

For spot solutions I have used products from Movincool several times - They are pretty slick and make a nice system. You do, however, have to plan for how they deal with condensation and water. When I was a young, noob network manager we plugged one into a temporary server closet It was quite cold the next morning, but the carpets outside were flooded - Not my best moment!

That being said, you should really look to a single solution that can handle the heat of your whole server room. Don't go stacking AC units or anything. Look at the square footage, how many servers you might pack in there, their total heat output (typically a function of the wattage they consume) and then get yourself the right unit to handle it (as previously mentioned, split systems rock). You might also work with the landlord - They might be able to provide you some extra cooling from the building's systems without needing to add in anything extra. Yes, it's going to cost some cash up front, but it will save you huge $$ down the road. Cool gear is happy gear. Hot gear fails.

- G

 

[aigomorla]

water is more efficient.. so even at the higher operating temperatures, he will get better performance....

he said he has a window, a open window with water will allow the heat to escape.. even on hot days.. running a system with 80F coolant will still net u better temps then air on 70F day, only because u have that much larger efficiency point then standard air does along with the stock coolers.


mmm simple analogy would be like putting dry ice over a partial insulator.. and using regular ice cubs over a better insulator...

The dry ice is better... but cuz of hte insulator, your going to get worse performance.
Converting to water means using modern waterblocks... and these arent the corsair H#O blocks either...

These are the real water blocks, which basically destory any stock air sink intel has to offer including there new presealed LC heat sinks that are suposed to come out in Sandy Extreme.