DATA CENTER OPERATING TEMPERATURE: WHAT DOES DELL RECOMMEND?

By David Moss Dell Data Center Infrastructure dell.com/hiddendatacenter

Thereislotsofhypethesedaysaboutoperatingyourdatacenterathighertemperatures. Youmaybeaskingseveralquestionsregardingthistopic: Howmuchdoesitsaveanddothesavingsoutweightherisks? WhattemperatureshouldItarget? Ihopetoanswertheriskquestioninsubsequentpapersdealingwithreliabilityimpacts andridethroughtime.HavingparticipatedinbothGreenGridandtheASHRAEdata comtechnicalgroup,thesearequestionswediscussatlength.ASHRAE,theAmerican SocietyforHeating,Refrigeration,andAirConditioningEngineers,hasrecentlyincreased itsrecommendedoperatingtemperaturesbyseveraldegrees.Atarecentmeeting,Iap proachedanAPCcolleagueonthetopicofincreasedITtemperatures.Mytheorywas thatalthoughanincreaseinITinlettemperaturesenablesenergysavingsinthecooling process,itmightbethattheincreasedfanpowerassociatedwithhigherITinlettempera turesmightnegatethefacilityefficiencyadvantages.Whatwefoundconfirmedmyhy pothesis.Thereisasweetspotoperatingtemperaturewhenyouareusingmechanical meanstocoolyourdatacenter.

DATA CENTER OPERATING TEMPERATURE: WHAT DOES DELL RECOMMEND?

DATA CENTER TEMPERATURE

Airconditioningsystemsarecommonlycontrolledbymonitoringandmaintaining aspecificreturnairtemperature.Whendiscussingtheroomtemperatureorset point,youareusuallytalkingaboutthereturntemperature.ThisisNOTthetem peraturethatiscriticalforITequipment.TheonlytemperaturetheITequipment caresaboutistheinlettemperature,soinmostcasesyouaretalkingaboutapples andoranges.Thispaperwillsuggestatemperatureinthemidtoupper70sas beingidealforITequipmentwhenusingmechanicalcooling.Butifthistempera tureisdescribingthereturnairtemperature,thesupplyairtemperatureentering theITislikelyinthe50s.Thisisentirelytoocoldandisprobablythesingleworst contributortotheinefficiencyofthedatacenter.

THE HYPOTHESIS
ITequipmentcanbereallyquiteefficientwithrespecttocoolingwhendelivered lowtomoderatetemperatures.Designedtoaccommodatehottemperatures(95 degrees),internalfansspinfastandconsumelargeramountsofairtomaintain acceptablecomponenttemperatures.Withamoderatetemperatureof,say75 degrees,thefansspindown,consumingarelativelysmallamountofairandfan energy.75degreesisgenerallythetemperaturewheretheITfanspeedsbottom out.Withoutselectivelyturningsomefansoff,airconsumptionisusuallyaboutas lowasitwillgoatthismoderatetemperature.TodaysDellservers,forinstance, useabout10wattstopoweranentirefanbankatthistemperature.Butwhen spinninguptoaccommodatehightemperatures,thefanpowercangrow510X. Priortothisexperiment,thehypothesiswasthattherewasapointsomewhere betweenthemoderate75degreeandthehigh95degreetemperaturewherethe fanenergyincreasemightbegreaterthantheenergysavedinthechillingprocess. Wesetouttotestthishypothesis. Inacontrolledthermalchamber,energyandairflowconsumptionwasmeasured forseveralactiveserversoverabroadrangeofinlettemperatures.

(from:EnergyImpactofIncreasedServerInletTemperature;DavidMoss,JohnH.Bean,Jr.,2009)

JUNE 2009

DATA CENTER OPERATING TEMPERATURE: WHAT DOES DELL RECOMMEND?

THE FACILITY TEST

TheseservercharacteristicswerelaterrecreatedinanAPCtestfacilitycapableof measuringfacilitypowerandcoolingenergyuse.APCsectionedaportionof theirdatacentertestfacilitytoisolatethetestfromtheremainderoftheroom. Theyessentiallybuiltalittleroomwithinthelab.Usingrackedsimulatorunitsto producethepowerandflowcharacteristicsoftheservers,coolingwasadjusted withinthetestroomtoprovidecoolingtotheservers.Chilledwaterandsup plyairtemperatureswereadjustedtodeliverarangeofserverinlettempera turessimilartotheservertestsrunatDell.Aswouldbeexpected,thefacility coolingenergydecreasedwithincreasedoperatingtemperature.ButtheIT powerstartstoincreaseatatemperatureinthemid70s.Whencombined,the totalenergy,includingITandcooling,hitsaminimumbetween75and80de grees.

Zoominginonthetotalcombinedrange,itisabiteasiertoseewherethesweet spotfalls:

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DATA CENTER OPERATING TEMPERATURE: WHAT DOES DELL RECOMMEND?

CONCLUSIONS
Whenusingmechanicalmeanstocooladatacenter,thehighestoperatingtem peraturemaynotbethemostefficient.Thispaperpointstoanexamplefacility whereaboveacertaintemperature,itsincrementalITpowerincreasegrewfaster thanthedecreaseinenergyexpendedinthecoolingprocess.ASHRAErecently adjustedtheiruppertemperaturerecommendationto27oC(80.6oF).Thistem peraturemaybeslightlyhigherthantheidealoperatingtemperaturesforsome datacenters.Largeenergysavingsarepossible,primarilyinthechillingprocess,if adatacenteradjustsitsoperatingtemperatureupward.Attentionshouldbepaid toexistinghotspotsorequipmentnotcapableofrunningathighertemperatures beforeattemptinganincreaseinoperatingtemperatures.Somedatacentersutil izeeconomizerstosubstituteforthemechanicalcoolingprocess.Inthesefacili ties,thetemperatureofminimumfacilityenergywouldbehigher. Formoreinformation,pleaseconsiderthefollowinglinks: EnergyAdvantagesofContainmentSystems: http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/business~solutions~whitepapers~en/ Documents~dcienergyadvantagesofcontainmentsystems.pdf.aspx EnergyImpactofIncreasedServerInletTemperature: http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/business~solutions~whitepapers~en/ Documents~dcienergyimpactofincreasedinlettemp.pdf.aspx

JUNE 2009