Controlled cooling of a data center

• US 20030221821A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 12/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Beitelmal, Abdlmonem H., Bash, Cullen E., Sharma, Ratnesh K., Patel, Chandrakant D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,114,555 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 165/247
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/00 Control inputs relating to air properties
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/125 mounted on wheels
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/40 HVAC with raised floors
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/42 Mobile autonomous air conditioner, e.g. robots
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0255 using acoustic signals, e.g. ultra-sonic singals sonar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S15/93
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20745 within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device

Abstract

A device for sensing at least one environmental condition in a data center. The device includes a chassis, a propelling mechanism, a power supply, a steering mechanism, and a controller supported on the chassis. The chassis also supports at least one environmental condition sensor and is operable to travel through the data center and sense at least one environmental condition at various locations throughout the data center.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

means for propelling;

means for navigating;

means for controlling said propelling means and said navigating means to move said device to sense at least one environmental condition; and

means for transmitting said at least one environmental condition sensed by said sensing means.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said means for sensing at least one environmental condition comprises means for sensing one or more of temperature, air flow, and humidity.

3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for storing said at least one environmental condition sensed by said sensing means.

4. The device according to claim 3, further comprising:

means for processing said stored at least one environmental condition; and

means for evaluating said at least one environmental condition to determine a manner of varying cooling fluid flow through a room.

5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for suspending said device above a plurality of racks in a data center, wherein said means for suspending includes means enabling said device to travel between said plurality of racks.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein said controlling means comprises means for determining a direction and a speed of travel of said device.

7. A device for sensing at least one environmental condition in a data center, said device comprising:

a chassis;

a propelling mechanism, a power supply, a steering mechanism, and a controller supported on said chassis; and

at least one environmental condition sensor supported on said chassis, wherein said chassis is operable to travel through said data center and to sense at least one environmental condition at various locations throughout said data center.

8. The device according to claim 7, further comprising an apparatus for logging data received from said at least one environmental condition sensor.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein said apparatus for logging data is configured to evaluate the data received from said at least one environmental condition sensor.

10. The device according to claim 7, wherein said at least one environmental condition sensor is configured to sense one or more of temperature, humidity, and air flow.

11. The device according to claim 7, further comprising:

a plurality of environmental condition sensors positioned at various heights with respect to said chassis, wherein said plurality of environmental condition sensors are configured to detect at least one environmental condition at said various heights.

12. The device according to claim 7, further comprising:

an apparatus for communicating with a data center controller.

13. The device according to claim 7, further comprising:

a guidance sensor provided on said chassis.

19. The system according to claim 12, wherein said cooling device comprises at least one of a variable capacity compressor and a heat exchanger, and a cooling device controller configured to control said at least one of said variable capacity compressor and said heat exchanger.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein said cooling device controller is operable to control the output of said at least one of said variable capacity compressor and said heat exchanger in response to information received from said at least one vent controller and thereby vary an output of cooling fluid supply in said plenum, wherein said varying said output comprises varying at least one of temperature and speed of said cooling fluid supply.

14. A system for cooling components in a data center, said system comprising:

an environmental condition sensing device configured to travel through said data center;

a cooling device for supplying cooling fluid to said components, said cooling device including a variable output fan;

a plenum having an inlet and a plurality of outlets, wherein said inlet of said plenum is in fluid communication with said fan; and

a plurality of vents in fluid communication with said plurality of outlets for delivering said cooling fluid to said components, wherein said vents are operable to vary a characteristic of said cooling fluid delivered through each of said vents in response to environmental data transmitted from said environmental condition sensing device.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein said environmental condition sensing device comprises:

a propelling mechanism configured to move said environmental condition sensing device;

a steering mechanism configured to maneuver said environmental condition sensing device; and

a controller configured to control said propelling mechanism and said steering mechanism.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein said characteristic of said cooling fluid comprises at least one of volume flow rate and velocity.

17. The system according to claim 14, further comprising:

at least one vent controller operable to control at least one of said vents in response to receipt of environmental data from said environmental condition sensing device.

18. The system according to claim 17, further comprising:

a plurality of temperature sensors, said temperature sensors being configured to measure temperature at various locations within said data center, wherein said at least one vent controller is operable to further control at least one of said vents in response to receipt of temperature measurements from said temperature sensors.

21. The system according to claim 14, further comprising:

a cooling device controller operable to control the output of said cooling device; and

a pressure sensor situated within said plenum to measure a pressure of said cooling fluid located within said plenum,

wherein said cooling device controller is operable to vary the output of said cooling fluid from said cooling device in response to a measured pressure of said cooling fluid in said plenum.

22. The system according to claim 14, wherein said vents are located on one or more of a wall, ceiling, and floor of said data center.

23. The system according to claim 14, wherein said plenum includes a divider, said divider being operable to divide said plenum into a first chamber and a second chamber.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein said first chamber is in fluid communication with said cooling device and said second chamber is in fluid communication with said vents, and wherein said divider operates to maintain the pressure of said cooling fluid in said second chamber at a substantially uniform pressure.

25. A method for operating a device to detect at least one environmental condition in a data center, said method comprising:

plotting a route for said device;

maneuvering said device along said route; and

detecting at least one environmental condition with said device in said data center.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:

gathering information related to said at least one detected environmental condition; and

transmitting said information to a controller of said data center.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein said step of gathering information comprises evaluating said information to determine a manner in which one of a vent and a cooling system may be manipulated.

28. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:

receiving instructions to travel to a location determined to contain a hot spot; and

maneuvering said device to said location.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising:

determining whether a new route is required to maneuver said device to said location; and

plotting a new route in response to said new route being required.

30. The method according to claim 25, wherein said step of detecting at least one environmental condition in said data center comprises detecting one or more of temperature, humidity, and air flow.

31. A method of cooling a plurality of components in a data center, said method comprising:

activating a cooling system and opening a plurality of vents, each of said plurality of vents being configured to supply cooling fluid to at least one of said plurality of components;

sensing temperatures in areas around said plurality of components;

receiving temperatures from a movable device configured to detect at least one environmental condition at various locations of said data center;

determining whether at least one of said sensed temperatures and said received temperatures are within a predetermined temperature range; and

varying at least one of said supply of said cooling fluid to said components and the temperature of said cooling fluid in response to at least one of said sensed and received temperatures being outside of said predetermined temperature range.

32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

determining whether at least one of the sensed and received temperatures is below a predetermined minimum set point temperature; and

decreasing a supply of said cooling fluid to areas in said data center having one or more of sensed and received temperatures that fall below said predetermined minimum set point temperature.

33. The method according to claim 32, further comprising:

increasing the supply of said cooling fluid to areas in said data center having one or more of said sensed and received temperatures that exceed said predetermined minimum set point temperature.

34. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

decreasing an output of said cooling fluid from said cooling system in response to said decrease in cooling fluid supply to said areas exceeding said increase in cooling fluid supply to said areas, wherein decreasing the output comprises at least one of decreasing the temperature and speed of said cooling fluid supply.

35. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

increasing an output of said cooling fluid from said cooling system in response to said decrease in cooling fluid supply to said area falling below said increase in cooling fluid supply to said areas, wherein increasing the output comprises at least one of increasing the temperature and speed of said cooling fluid supply.

36. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

sensing a pressure of said cooling fluid;

determining whether said sensed pressure is within a predetermined pressure range; and

varying an output of said cooling system in response to said sensed pressure falling outside of said predetermined pressure range.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein said step of varying said cooling system output includes determining whether said measured pressure falls below a predetermined minimum set point pressure.

38. The method according to claim 37, further comprising:

increasing the output of said cooling system in response to said measured pressure falling below or equaling said predetermined minimum set point pressure.

39. The method according to claim 37, further comprising:

decreasing the output of said cooling system in response to said measured pressure exceeding said predetermined minimum set point pressure.

40. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

determining whether any hot spots exist in areas near said components.

41. The method according to claim 40, further comprising:

transmitting the location of a hot spot to said device in response to a determination of a hot spot existing near said components.

42. The method according to claim 40, further comprising:

utilizing said device to more accurately determine the location of the hot spot.

43. The method according to claim 42, further comprising:

increasing one or more of the volume flow rate and velocity of the cooling fluid supplied to said location of said hot spot.

44. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

performing a numerical modeling of a temperature distribution and flow characteristics of air within the data center; and

manipulating said cooling system in response to said numerical modeling.

45. The method according to claim 44, further comprising:

implementing said numerical modeling to correlate at least two of temperature, velocity and pressure of said cooling fluid and power draw of said racks within said data center to thereby infer a thermal condition throughout said data center, wherein said manipulating step further comprises manipulating said cooling system in response to said inferred thermal condition.

46. The method according to claim 44, further comprising:

receiving information related to one or more of temperature, humidity, and air flow from said device; and

utilizing said received information in said step of implementing said numerical modeling.