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That server room in Atlanta had me rethinking hot vs cold aisle setups
Went to help a buddy with his small biz setup last month. Their AC went out mid afternoon and the whole hot aisle/cold aisle layout they had was a mess. I always just followed the standard setup from training but seeing how fast things cooked made me wonder if there's a better way for smaller rooms. What do you guys do when space is tight and airflow is a pain?
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julia54917d ago
12 years doing this and I've seen the same pattern everywhere. People overthink hot cold aisles when the real problem is just basic physics. Hot air rises, cold air falls. That's it.
Small rooms are worse because the ratio of equipment to empty space is all wrong. Less room for the hot air to go. I started doing raised floor in small spaces even if it seems silly. Makes a huge difference for less than 500 bucks.
Another thing nobody talks about. Most small biz AC can't handle the heat load even if it's rated for the room size. They forget the servers are running full blast. Had one buddy with a 2 ton unit in a 10x10 room. Cooked everything in 20 minutes flat after the AC failed.
Simple rule I follow now. If your room is under 200 sq ft, skip the aisle stuff and focus on direct exhaust venting. Cut a hole in the ceiling if you have to. Let that hot air go somewhere instead of swirling around.
The big pattern I see is people treating data centers like they need fancy solutions when really it's just about moving hot air away from cold air. Same as a kitchen range hood or a bathroom fan. Just move the heat.
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shanelee17d ago
Wait @julia549 have you noticed any issues with condensation doing the direct ceiling vent thing? Seems like you'd get moisture problems in winter if the outside air is cold enough. Just wondering if that's ever bitten you.
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