5 comments

• 

  Darek Wichniewicz

  1 year ago

  I've heard with interest of your presentation during 2007 Gartner Data
  Center Summit. Now, I'm seeking a real technical solution for fresh-air
  cooled DC (facility of 2000-3000 m sq) - designs, suppliers etc.
  
  But for my technical department the main questions are: Is it possible not
  to use air condition? In case of failure of "fresh-air cooling" idea, will we have to add normal coolres later with more effort and cost?
  
  Maybe a reference visit in one of fresh-air cooled DC would help to convince our engineers to accept this way of thinking about Data Centres?
  reply
• 

  Steve O'Donnell

  1 year ago

  Darek,
  
  Depending on the location of your site and the maximum year round temperature the answer is yes. But in any site, it is possible to reduce the amount of air conditioning required provided that the external temperature is cooler than the temperature of air exhausted from your equipment.
  
  I have moved on from my time with BT but if you wish I can put you in touch with the experts who have hundreds of theses sites that just work relentlessly every day?
  
  Use the send me an email form on the about page with a telephone number if you want to chat?
  
  Steve
  reply
• 

  Darek Wichniewicz

  1 year ago

  Steve,
  
  our planned data centre is located in Warsaw, Poland so expected average daily temperature is 16-19 deg (in summer).
  
  Please find some questions from our engineers below:
  
  1. According to technical specification of several manufacturers products (servers and telco equipment), we assume that the temperature in our fresh-air cooled data centre (measured in RACKs) must not exceed 40C, and the humidity should fit between 10-80%. We think that maintaining the temperature just below 40C (without air-conditioning) should be just fine for the servers regular operations. Considering your knowledge and practical experience, would you confirm correctness of our assumptions?
  
  2. Could you describe the parameters of the fresh-air cooled data centre you’ve had dealt with? I.e. avg/max: temp, humidity, power consumption / m2.
  
  3. What was the attitude of the equipment vendors concerning warranty terms and conditions, when it came up that the equipment was operating in data center without air conditioning? Were they accepting this innovative approach to meet the environmental conditions?
  
  4. Do you have any experience with fresh-air cooled used in Service Provider model? Were they rented to external customers, not only used by the owner?
  
  We are preparing ourselves really seriously to design, build, test and operate a “green datacenter”, with no air-conditioning. We appreciate any suggestions and experience that you will share with us.
  
  Kind regards,
  Darek Wichniewicz
  ATM SA
  reply
• 

  Steve O'Donnell

  1 year ago

  Darek,
  
  I am going to write a blog article to answer your questions so that it is shared with everyone. Expect to see it in the next 48 hours.
  
  Thanks for your comments
  
  Steve
  reply
• 

  Michael Ebersole

  5 months ago

  Very interested, could you help with suppliers?
  reply