Who exactly is ushering in ASHRAE’s Temperature Guidelines?

- Dave Ruede, VP of Marketing at Temperature@lert, says:

Is raising data center temperature like a game of “you blinked first”, only with your job on the line?

While no global standard exists for data center temperature recommendations, many refer to the white paper ASHRAE Technical Committee (TC 9.9) for Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces, and Electronic Equipment.  As many know, the committee published a 2011 update titled 2011 Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments – Expanded Data Center Classes and Usage Guidance.  (Link to Whitepaper)  With this document, ASHRAE’s TC 9.9 raised the recommended high end temperature from 25°C (77°F) to 27°C (80.6°F) for Class 1 data centers (the most tightly controlled class).  More importantly, the allowed high end was set a warm 32°C (89.6°F), perfect for growing succulents like cacti.

And yet, recent posts on IT professional social media sites have produced questions like, “What gloves are recommended for data centers to help protect from cold temperatures?”  So it appears not everyone is following ASHRAE’s guidelines.  Yet the other fact is that many IT professional media discussions are about energy savings.  And if I remember living through the history of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo correctly, raising home air conditioning temperatures during the summer and lowering home heating temperatures during the winter saves energy and money.  The U.S. Department of Energy’s website estimates a 1% energy saving for each degree the AC temperature is raised.  Some sites claim 2%, 3% and even 4% savings, but even 1% for a data center’s energy budget is very significant.

What are data center’s really doing?  In a July 15, 2013 piece posted on the Computerworld UK website titled It’s getting warmer in some data centers, author Patrick Thibodeau notes that, “The U.S. General Services Administration, as part of data center consolidation and efficiency efforts, has recommended raising data center temperatures from 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22.2°C) to as high as 80 degrees (26.7°C) . Based on industry best practices, the GSA said it can save 4% to 5% in energy costs for every one degree increase in the server inlet temperature.”  (Link to Article)  A 5% energy savings is something that makes IT managers really salivate.

eBay’s newest data center in Phoenix, AZ employs open-air cooling technology to reduce energy used for cooling as a percentage of total site power consumption.  (Link to Image)

So where is the industry?  The article continues that the 2013 Uptime Institute survey that included 1,000 data centers globally, almost 50% were operating at between 71°F (21.6°C) and 75°F (23.9°C).  The Uptime Institute noted that the survey did not show much change from the previous year.  Incredibly, 37% of data centers were operating a frigid 65°F (18.3°C) to 70°F (21.1°C).  Some good news was the fact that data centers operating at less than 65°F (18.3°C) have decreased from 15% to 6% of those surveyed.  This is a self-selected survey, so the data has to be looked at somewhat cautiously since some data center personnel may not elect to participate, but the data is sobering.

So what’s the problem?  Server and other electronic equipment suppliers have participated fully in the TC 9.9 guidelines; they are certain that their equipment will operate within specification at the higher temperatures.  Their warranties reflect this.  And yet, other issues exist.

One may the issue of poorly controlled buildings.   Older, poorly insulated facilities with dated, less efficient HVAC equipment may be forced to lower the temperature to withstand elevated summer temperatures, especially if they have significant air leakage.  Indeed, in the Boston area the month of July 2013 has been an average 4°F (2.2°C) hotter than average, a load that will tax even newer cooling systems.  Finally, the elevated temperatures may only apply to the newer equipment in any given data center.  Many data centers have a collection of equipment that contains some of the newest, state of the art servers sharing space vintage electronics that need the cooler temperatures to operate without problems.  And changing out equipment to allow a site to raise the temperature will mean assessing all electronic systems, including building facilities.

So the industry has a dilemma, save energy and operating cost by raising data center temperatures which could require building, HVAC electronic equipment upgrades, or continue to pay higher operating costs.  The flip side is the price to retrofit buildings, systems and electronic equipment; a cost that would be paid by “Facilities” or “Operations”, not “IT”.

Image from Slate.com piece about Google’s data center (Link to Image)

Data center professionals are no different from other industries in that making change is hard, it can come with risks.  And changes to operating protocols are not done lightly when many data centers based their business strategy on reliability guarantees to their customers.  Who among us is willing to stake their professional reputation and possibly their job on a major undertaking that contains variables that may be out of our control?  So a studied approach is called for.   But in the end, the cost of energy will inevitably increase, and the need to implement more powerful servers, etc. will be irresistible. When that time comes, the need to implement raising temperature limits will be examined closely as part of an overall business strategy.  In the mean time, data center personnel may want to check out a recent Slate website post titled “The Internet Wears Shorts”, wherein the author describes Google technicians who work in summer clothes.  The thrust is that Google has achieved significant energy efficiency, partially by running their data centers at “a balmy 80°F” (22.2°C).

Author: Dave Ruede is VP Marketing at Boston based Temperature@lert (www.temperaturealert.com), a leading developer and provider of low-cost, high-performance temperature monitoring products.  Professional interests include environmental and energy issues as they relate to data centers, clean rooms, and electronics.  Contact: dave@temperaturealert.com

Where in the World is my Data?

- Dave Ruede, VP Marketing at Temperature@lert, says:

Siting a Data Center: Dilemma or Opportunity

Recently, much has been written and discussed in both professional social media sites and IT journals about locating a data center, particularly as it relates to the issue of energy and cooling.  The discussion has raised several options including siting facilities in countries where cooler temperatures are normal and geothermal and other environmentally friendly forms of energy are more common.  That being said, it takes a long, large, robust data hose to make such sites viable.  Other interesting options are also coming to the fore.  This piece discusses Nordic and other options for businesses to consider.

Go North, Young Man….

A 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek article titled Iceland, Data Center Hub? describes Iceland, with a population of 320,000, as “waiting to host the world’s information.” (Link to BW article) A former NATO air base is the site of Verne Global, a $700 million data center where, “You have 100 percent renewable energy. We can do 100 percent free cooling.”  The piece also notes, “Iceland faces competition from its Nordic neighbors. In southern Finland, near Helsinki, Google has converted a former paper mill into a data center; Facebook’s first site outside the U.S. will be built close to the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden.”

Krafla geothermal power plant in Iceland (Source: Link to Wikimedia.org)

In Iceland, The 100 percent free cooling is from the country’s abundant geothermal sources coupled with low ambient temperatures.  Most Nordic countries have abundant hydroelectric power, a source not without its own environmental concerns.  Still, the economics are compelling for energy efficient operation.

Why Not in My Back Yard?

For some, Nordic and Arctic regions may be too remote to consider. How about next door?  Siting data centers in large population centers can make a lot of sense.  High speed communication is easier because data transmission infrastructure is in place and many users are local.  Knowledgeable and experienced staff can be abundantly available.  But what can be done about data center power and cooling demands in modern urban environments where electrical grids are often strained and getting rid of heat not always easy?

Creative data centers are taking two paths, sometimes in combination. One is to use heat produced for internal cost reduction.  Intel published a 2007 Brief titled Data Center Heat Recovery Helps Intel Create Green Facility. (Link to Intel Brief)  In this piece a new data center was able to provide a 1.7 month ROI by installing special heat recovery equipment instead of conventional boilers for the facilities hot water and heating needs.  NREL’s new HPC Data Center in Golden Colorado uses such an idea.  Opened in early 2013, the facility uses heat capture and reuse to save a projected $200,000 in annual operating expenses, which combined with other energy savings, can bring the site’s total energy savings to $1,000,000 per year.

NREL HPC Data Center waste heat recovery system (Source: Link to NREL)

 A second path is to use the exhaust heat for local businesses and residences. Like many older complexes, my university had a central boiler plant with steam pipes to the campus buildings.  Data centers may be the new “central heating system” for surrounding buildings. 

Website ecoBuilderToday described Canadian telecommunications company Telus’ latest project, a $750-million residential and commercial complex in downtown Vancouver, BC. (Link to ecoBuilderToday Website)  The Telus Garden development will use waste heat from its own data center to heat and cool the 24-story office tower and a 53-story residential tower with more than 425 homes plus retail space.  Waste heat will also supply domestic hot water for both towers.  While power from the grid is needed, capture and reuse of the waste data center heat is expected to reduce the development’s energy demand from conventional sources by up to 80 percent.  Many eyes will be watching this project to determine if the economic projections live up to expectations, but there is reason to believe that this design concept will be useful for many large urban infill projects.

Telus Garden data center, retail and residential complex design concept

Too Many Choices, Too Little Time

Which location is best for a particular data center?  Businesses will need to assess their strategy and priorities.  Considering the Verne Global Iceland based location, Bloomberg Businessweek authors cite an industry competitor who notes, “Iceland may be too remote to become a true data hub. The location would be useful for backup data rather than live traffic that’s needed on a trading floor.”  Certainly the infrastructure for seamless, reliable high speed communication is paramount. Still, the arguments and economics may be compelling for those who can afford to build and enlist high quality staff in such remote locations.

For the urban infill projects, large commercial and industrial cities will have future challenges for electrical grid capacity and reliability.  The 2012 hurricane Sandy certainly showed even data centers that planned for such outages were at risk of flooding in their below grade generator rooms. So assessing the businesses service reliability guarantees will be an integral part of the siting decision.

As I write this article I am in a friend’s beautiful wooded New England pond side cabin in early April, and winter’s grip is still evident.  Despite this, crocuses are beginning to emerge through the leaves, beavers are actively taking down trees for new projects, and giant blue herons and Bufflehead ducks forage for food.  It’s nice to have the time to relax and catch up on reading and writing, but my ADD is whispering to me that it’s time to get closer to civilization.  Iceland or Vancouver, two interesting choices, ones businesses may want to consider in their search for cost-effective data center options for their current and future customers.

Author: Dave Ruede is VP Marketing at Boston based Temperature@lert (www.temperaturealert.com), a leading developer and provider of low-cost, high-performance temperature monitoring products.  Professional interests include environmental and energy issues as they relate to data centers, clean rooms, and electronics.  Contact: dave@temperaturealert.com

Liquid cooling for data centers: It’s not a question of if, but when.

- Herb Zien, CEO of LiquidCool Solutions, says:

Data center efficiency, power and cooling management issues are multiplying exponentially. Notwithstanding facilities and IT managers’ eagerness to implement tools designed to manage cooling efficiency and capacity, the industry at large maintains an unwavering dependence on air-cooling. As a result large investments in efficiency improvements are generating small, incremental returns. These baby-step changes in existing technologies that evolved over the last decade have grown into a monster: the very loud, energy-intensive fan-cooled data center that’s expensive to operate and difficult to manage.

LiquidCool Solutions (LCS) opted to take a clean slate approach. LCS developed an elegant solution for cooling electronics that focuses on energy efficiency, scalability and rack management. LCS’s patented liquid submersion technology cools all electronic components within the server chassis. Mechanical refrigeration is eliminated; as are blade fans, rack fans, CRAC units and air handling systems. By eliminating all this extraneous equipment, it is possible to reduce data center energy consumption by 40% and floor space by 50%.

There is also a range of spin-off benefits. In addition to efficiently removing heat, the dielectric fluid inside the chassis insulates electronics from air so temperature fluctuations are dampened and there are no issues with static electricity, air pollution or corrosion. Where working in a data center is typically like working in a cold, loud cage, LCS cooled spaces are surprisingly quiet.

In retrofitting existing data centers that are out of power, it’s as simple as replacing hardware on the normal refresh cycle. Server density is increased and the energy that was needed for cooling can then be repurposed to increase compute capacity, which in turn postpones the need to construct a new data center. With no raised floors, ductwork or floor space dedicated to cooling apparatus, facility construction costs are also reduced.

A three-minute overview of LCS’ liquid cooling via patented total liquid submersion and directed flow technology: http://www.liquidcoolsolutions.com/technology.html

About LiquidCool Solutions LiquidCool Solutions is an applied R&D company that licenses its extensive patent portfolio related to total liquid submersion cooling to manufacturers of IT and data center cooling equipment manufacturers. LCS also leverages its total immersion cooling expertise on a collaborative basis to help companies solve their difficult heat dissipation problems.

Consideration of High Temperature Ambient Environments and Free Cooling in Data Center Operation

- David Ruede, VP Marketing at Temperature@lert, says:

Techies love acronyms, and IT professionals are masters of the jargon. Where else would we find such gems as CRAC, PUE, SaaS, DCIM, VoIP and VPN among the scores if not hundreds of options for the next big idea?

Why do we need these when The Free Dictionary lists 259 phrases alone for the acronym DC? (Link 1)  First, we love to speak in shorthand.  Time is always too short; things need to be done quickly.  Speaking in Acronym makes us an insider, the elite few who can feel the bits and petabytes flowing through the veins and arteries of the interconnected web of the virtual world.  And short of a Vulcan Mind Meld, acronyms save time, although one could argue that when used in meetings there may be a few who don’t really understand the meaning and because they don’t want to appear “stupid”, don’t ask.

Many of these terms started off as marketing terms.  Why would we need CRAC when AC may be sufficient?  And why is PUE debated daily as to its true meaning in professional social media sites?  Every data center operator, supplier and professional looks to set themselves or their companies apart from the competition.  I’ll argue this is a good thing because it makes web searches easier – I don’t have to sort through hundreds of household air conditioners sold in retail outlets to find what I need for a data center, server or telecom room.

Recently a new acronym has been making its way into the jargon.  HTA, High Temperature Ambient, has cropped up in several professional periodicals and online marketing pieces.  The phrase is used to describe the benefits of reduced energy consumption in data centers and other IT facilities that operate at what many consider higher than “normal” temperatures, say 30°C (86°F) for example.  Described in earlier pieces as high ambient temperature or high temperature in the ambient, the idea of running data centers at higher temperatures has gained prominence as a way to save electrical energy, a very costly piece of the data center’s operating budget.  Often used with terms like “free cooling” or “air side economizers”, the idea is that today’s servers have been specified to run at higher temperatures than those just a few years ago, so operating equipment at higher temperatures has no detrimental effect.

In April 2012, Intel published a study of the potential energy savings in green data center maker Gitong’s modular data centers.  The Shanghai study showed an annual cost reduction of almost $33,000 per year, which is significant.

Figures 1a, 1b: Tables showing before and after HTA results - Source: Intel Link 2

While saving energy is a very desirable goal, data center, server and telecom room operators are well served to understand the underlying assumptions behind “turning up the heat and opening up the doors and windows”.  First, all of the equipment in an IT space comes with manuals, and the manuals specify operating conditions. Insuring all of the equipment in the ambient is able to run at elevated temperatures is highly recommended, particularly since older devices or appliances may be more prone to heat related performance degradation.  AHRAE’s TC 9.9 2011 Thermal Guidelines for temperature and humidity control are a good reference as to where to start when designing or setting up an HVAC system. (Link 3)

Second, while the HVAC systems in IT spaces are generally well designed and provide adequate airflow to the equipment, time has a way of changing things.  Profiling the temperature of the data center to see if any changes in operation or addition of equipment have created “hot spots” with sufficient resolution to insure each rack or piece of equipment is operating within specification can be done with existing equipment by moving temperature sensors to areas not normally monitored during the temperature mapping process.

Third, changes in temperature can cause changes in relative humidity.  Continuous monitoring of not only temperature but relative humidity before and after raising the temperature is recommended to insure both of these critical parameters are within manufacturer’s specification.

And if IT professionals decide to employ “free cooling” by figuratively “opening up the doors and windows”, they would be well advised to check ASHRAE’s TC 9.9 Gaseous and Particulate Contamination Guidelines for Data Centers and again their supplier manuals for specification compliance. (Link 4)

Figure 2: Ambient Air Cooling Unit (Link 5)

Much has been written about free cooling; a June 2012 article is a good example. (ref. Link 5)  Cooling may indeed be “free” and many can and do use free cooling combined with HTA to make significant reductions in their energy bills.  As in all good ideas, “first, do no harm” is a good motto.  IT professionals may be well served to verify and validate the assumptions against best practices as they apply to their sites before any significant changes in operation are made.

For information about temperature, humidity, or water leak sensors and other environmental monitoring products, visit Temperature@lert’s website at http://www.temperaturealert.com/Temperature-Alarm.aspx