February 20, 2004—Recently released environmental guidelines for data centers from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) provide a common protocol for use by the entire spectrum of data center-related industries from information technology (IT) equipment manufacturers to design engineers and facility operators. ASHRAE encourages both manufacturers and facilities operators to follow the protocol for maximum benefits.
Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments provides a power density roadmap as well as recommended environmental conditions and protocols that should provide for more seamless integration of IT equipment into data centers. This will result in a reduction in thermally related IT equipment faults, an increase in reliability, and the potential for more energy efficient facilities, explains ASHRAE.
A key feature of the environmental protocol is that it is based on inlet conditions to the equipment rather than on nominal space conditions. ASHRAE says this difference has the potential for significant energy savings relative to most existing designs.
In addition to providing a common environmental interface for the equipment and its surroundings, the publication also provides guidance on evaluating and testing the operational health of the data center through specific temperature and humidity measurements.
There also is a chapter dealing with equipment placement and airflow patterns, and a protocol for reporting IT equipment heat release and airflow information that is suited to facilities planning and thermal management.
The cost of Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments is $43 ($35 ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 800/527-4723 (US and Canada) or 404/636-8400 (worldwide) , or order online at the ASHRAE.org Bookstore.
