Cooling challenges and best practices for high density data and telecommunication centers

Power and power density increase on the level of integrated circuit (IC) has been exploding following Moore's law for more than two decades [1]. Riding on the trend of IC density increase, densities on chassis enclosure as well as cabinet levels have also been increasing dramatically. A standard cabinet measuring approximately W610mmxH1880mm xD102mm that used to house only one or two computers just a decade or so ago can house more than 60 so. called blade computers. Dramatic density increases inevitably lead to dramatic power consumption and heat dissipation increase. While the consequences of failure to effectively remove heat from IC devices are well understood [2], the ramifications of dramatic chassis/cabinet density and heat dissipation increases on operating environments gained recognition only recently [3,4,5,6]. This paper includes the outlines of a book titled "Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments" [7] written by a technical committee called Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment (TC9.9) of American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The book focuses on the convergence of data processing product specifications among major equipment vendors and outlines the data center environmental requirements that are necessary to maintain mission critical operations. The paper also describes some time tested best practices for achieving mission critical and high availability data center environments that involve high density IT equipment.