Emerging Data Center Thermal Management and Energy Efficiency Technologies

This chapter introduces a number of emerging topics in data center design and operation. The use of ambient air, water, or ground for heat rejection is attractive for many facilities whenever the environmental conditions are conducive. Changes in equipment layout and real-time control of cooling and information technology (IT) resources also offer opportunities for savings in cooling energy costs. As rack level powers continue to increase for several equipment classes, there is increasing interest in hybrid liquid/air cooling and liquid cooling approaches. Safety issues arising due to elevated temperatures and ambient noise are also receiving increasing attention. Broadening of equipment operation temperature and humidity ranges is resulting in concerns for wiring corrosion. Need for on-demand, rapidly deployable, and expandable computing resources has resulted in rapid development of modular data centers.