We often receive questions from folks in the industry about our products and solutions. Bill Watts, CPI Sr. Data Center Architect, responds to a customer who has three questions concerning CPI Passive Cooling®.
Question: Should I use side panels on bayed cabinets?
Answer: Although we recommend side panels on bayed cabinets you could remove the ones internal to the end cabinets in the row. Blanking panels do need to be utilized and caution around mixing technologies should be observed. Blade server chassis for instance should be separate from older style servers as there is a substantial difference between fan technologies.
Question : Does CPI Passive Cooling work as well without raised floor?
Answer: Yes, a non-raised floor scenario works very well with CPI Passive Cooling. While with Intel I designed a large room (~6000 SF) without a raised floor it is running very high density blade servers with an average 25 kW per cabinet. These servers run at a processor utilization of over 90%. In this application we reused an existing FAB with laminar flow so the air was distributed into the room from the ceiling.
Question: Should I duct cool air into cool rows?
Answer: If you use all passive cabinets (chimney) it does not matter where the air is delivered. It can enter through the walls or in between the rows in hot aisle or cold aisle using ducting from the cooling system supply.
Our Technical Staff can assist you in reviewing possible scenarios and model results. Please contact us at (800) 834-4969. If you have a question you'd like answered please select the "Comments" link below. Bill Watts, Sr. Data Center Architect