Data centers are essential in every organization. Whether big or small, an organization needs to take care of its data centers to prevent downtime that not only leads to loss of revenue and produces negative feedback from consumers.

Cooling mechanisms vary depending on factors such as how big an organization’s data center is, the estimated cost, and the weather conditions. An organization can utilize three different avenues to protect its data centers. It can focus on short-term fixes, inexpensive fixes, and long-term fixes to ensure the system is up and running while preventing equipment damage that is expensive to repurchase. Some of the best ways to keep data centers cool include;

Short Term Fixes

These are fixes that work efficiently in startups or organizations with small data centers. They involve using a simple fix that enables you to protect the data centers and increase the equipment’s longevity. These fixes include;

Spot Cooling

As the name suggests, Spot cooling involves using a cooling device to cool down hot parts of the equipment. Various tools such as a vortex tube works by extracting hot air and replacing it with cold air to prevent overheating the entire kit.

The vortex tube is a low maintenance solution method that gives long life to your data center. The tubes are wear-resistant steel that makes them appropriate for versatile environments.

Arrangement Of Cables

Disarranged cables tend to tangle and produce high amounts of heat. When not correctly arranged, these cables have high concentrated heat that may damage the entire data center equipment; thus, proper disentanglement is required. Use easy to access equipment like seal tape and darts to ensure the cables are correctly running so that the heat circulates, preventing it from being trapped.

Proper Organization

Ensure the servers have ample space between them to ensure they are not producing excess heat or heating each other. Enough space in a data center discourages high heat production and minimizes its distribution, thereby cooling it. Proper organization Gives every server enough space to ensure that all the servers are correctly functioning.

Use The Required Equipment

Ensure the data center room only houses equipment actively used to provide ample airflow and reduce heat produced. Any equipment that is not in use should be taken out of the server room to minimize heat produce.

Cheap Cooling Fixes

This category covers spots that require more effort and finances to carry out but will work well for medium and small organizations. They may also involve expert aid to ensure the equipment is well protected.

Rearranging The Data Center

Rearrangement of a data center involves money, time, and downtime as equipment gets moved, and a lot of planning and team collaboration goes into the process. However, the process goes a long way to ensure that the equipment works more efficiently and offers a better way of managing the airflow.

When rearranging a data center, ensure that the pieces of equipment face each other to make the airflow work in the opposite direction. This act ascertains that hot and cold air do not mix, reducing the chances of overheating the equipment. The process also enables proper circulation as cold and warm air have a distinct path, reducing the amount of heat circulated in the room.

Devise Ways Of Exhausting The Heat

The heat from a data center goes out through the doors, windows, ceilings, and floors. Thus, investing in building materials that do not absorb heat or retain it ensures the efficient elimination of heat removed from the data centers and hot spots.

This process guarantees the cooling devices are not overworking or using an excess amount of electricity to function, thus lowering your bills. Understanding the type of material that will make a data center work effectively is vital to ensure you are not overworking the equipment. For example, insulators that trap heat may be wrong during the summer, resulting in higher electricity bills and overwork your cooling system.

Maintenance Of Cooling Equipment

The cooling equipment of a data center is continuously working; thus, proper and regular maintenance is essential to ensure they are working optimally. Any discrepancies identified should be dealt with early.

Equipment checkups are essential to ensure they are properly functioning and prevent a total breakdown that may lead to loss of information and data, which may be detrimental to an organization. Checkups also save you tons of money as any hitch is caught early and proper measures to handle the situation enforced before it goes out of hand.

Use Of Virtual Hardware

If your data center has reached the optimal number of equipment it can hold, then using virtual hardware will help reduce the amount of heat produced in the room. Virtual hardware produces less heat than actual hardware; it also saves on the room’s reorganization to accommodate more hardware equipment that is costly and time-consuming.

Connecting virtual hardware is fast and will help minimize the downtime, thus causing minimal disruption. This factor is essential to ensure data is not lost, and the working processes are smooth.

Long Term Solution

Long term solution is essential in helping the data centers become cooler. They employ expertise, high-end equipment, and proper care to handle and provide positive results to see your data center work optimally. Some of these long-term fixes may contain expensive installation fees but when well installed, can work well with minimal maintenance making them reliable; they include;

HVAC Cooling Systems

When a small scale cooling system fails an organization, it can enlist a high-scale cooling system. This system is expensive to purchase and install but is efficient in ensuring the data centers do not experience overheating.

Large scale HVAC is useful in large scale organizations that have massive data centers and require a lot of cooling. It regulates the room air distribution, ensuring hot air is quickly taken out of the room and exchanged with the cold air needed to have the data centers working correctly.

When opting for an HVAC system, seek help from renowned companies and have them look at your data center to offer customized solutions to your data center to ensure you get value for your money. Thus, you should do proper research of various HVAC systems and inform the installer on your initial purchase budget and how much the organization is willing to spend on maintenance and keeping the cooling system working.

Use Of CFD

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) involves fluid dynamics to predict vulnerable areas in data centers prone to overheating. It then uses various tactics to cool this specific spot and ensure that these areas do not spread the heat to other cold regions.

CFD uses excellent technological advancements that ensure the amount you use to cool off data centers is appropriate, and the right cooling process carried out. Thus, they are good models that are cost-friendly and effective as they help predict which areas of the data center require more cooling.

The use of CFD is a great idea that sees companies make informed choices on the type of cooling systems that best fit their needs to avoid purchasing redundant equipment

Conclusion

Managing the heat levels in data centers is essential to ensure the equipment is properly functioning and prevent data loss. The ability to cool it and identify loopholes ensure your data center works efficiently and reduces downtime making your servers reliable. This process ensures that you do not have to worry about data loss or equipment destruction.