Q: What are some ways to improve cooling efficiency in an older installation without having to purchase new infrastructure and equipment that simply isn’t in my budget?
A: Chatsworth Products (CPI) experts can review your installation, and identify potential opportunities to increase thermal efficiency. Oftentimes, significant remediation is achieved with a number of cost-effective and easy to implement solutions. For example, populate any unused rack-mount unit (U) openings with filler panels.
Q: How does this help?
A: Conditioned air that travels anywhere other than your compute is considered bypass airflow. The potential for bypass airflow exists in a number of areas. These include unused and unsealed U spaces, unsealed openings in raised floors, spaces between rails and side panels, cable entry ports and gaps between bayed cabinets or the floor. Bypass airflow contributes to hot spots, cooling unit inefficiencies and increased infrastructure costs.
Cost effective accessories that “fill” these spaces are proven to improve airflow distribution.
Careful management of airflow through the room and cabinet will direct the lowest temperature air—air directly from the air conditioning system—through equipment first.
Assuming the air conditioning system has sufficient capacity to remove the additional heat transferred, cooling efficiency will be improved.
Q: What accessories does CPI offer?
A: CPI has a broad offering of accessories to help improve your cooling efficiency. Here are just a few:
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Snap-In Filler Panels: Snap-In Filler Panels block airflow in-between equipment by sealing unused U spaces in the cabinet.
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Air Dam Kits: Air Dams block airflow around the sides and top of the equipment mounting space, so cold air passes through equipment, and hot air does not recirculate around equipment.
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Thermal Containment Solutions: Thermal containment solutions like CPI’s Vertical Exhaust Duct and Build-To-Spec (BTS) Hot Aisle Containment utilize CPI Passive Cooling® to create effective and efficient thermal solutions at every level of infrastructure deployment.
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Raised Floor Grommets: Raised Floor Grommets feature a dual-layer brush with an integrated EPDM membrane that forms a superior seal around cable bundles. Raised Floor Grommets prevent airflow from escaping through cable access holes in raised floor environments — significantly increasing cooling effectiveness in the data center.
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For details on all of CPI’s thermal management accessories, visit the product accessory page. If you’d like to schedule an on-site walk-through with a thermal management expert, contact us now.
Brittany Mangan, Digital Content Specialist