Processor: How To Save On Cooling In The Summer Months

As any homeowner knows, air conditioning is more expensive when the temperature spikes outside because the room unit or centralized equipment has to work harder to keep a steady temperature. The same is true with a data center, albeit on a much larger scale and with the added complication of heat rejection, notes Peter Sacco, president of PTS Data Center Solutions (www.ptsdcs.com).

“Air conditioning will almost always be more expensive in the summer months due to the harder the A/C has to work in rejecting heat into a warmer ambient environment,” he says. “‘How much is too much?’ is less a consideration for summer operation as it is for constant operation.”

Here are some strategies for keeping power and cooling operations streamlined and steady as the temperatures rise.

Consider Larger Strategies

To better address power and cooling, data center managers have to look past incremental improvements, according to John Busch, chairman and CTO at Schooner Information Technology (www.schoonerinfotech.com). “Most of the power and cooling that is consumed is wasted due to inefficient use of processing and storage and communications equipment,” he says. “This is, to a large extent, a consequence of dated application and infrastructure software which does not effectively exploit radically improving processor memory technologies.”

more of the Processor Magazine article from Elizabeth Millard

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.