SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING EQUIPMENT RACK COOLING PERFORMANCE

• US 20080174954A1
• Filed: 01/24/2008
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: American Power Conversion Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Zhang, Xuanhang, VanGilder, James W., Shrivastava, Saurabh K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,991,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/687
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20745 within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control

Abstract

Aspects of the invention are directed to systems and methods for designing and analyzing data centers. One aspect is directed to a method of determining cooling characteristics of a data center. The method includes receiving data related to a configuration of equipment in the data center, identifying rack clusters in the configuration of equipment, and determining a capture index for at least one equipment rack of at least one rack cluster.

Claims

1. A method of determining cooling characteristics of a data center comprising:

receiving data related to a configuration of equipment in the data center;

identifying rack clusters in the configuration of equipment, and for each rack cluster determining whether the rack cluster is a hot aisle cluster or a cold aisle cluster; and

determining a capture index for at least one equipment rack of at least one rack cluster based on identification of the at least one rack cluster as a hot aisle cluster or a cold aisle cluster.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving data further includes receiving information related to airflow and power associated with the equipment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information related to airflow includes airflow of cooling air available to the at least one rack cluster.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the information related to airflow includes the temperature of the cooling air.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the information related to airflow includes airflow of rack hot air exhaust drawn by coolers.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information related to airflow includes the temperature of the rack hot air exhaust.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the rack clusters include at least one hot aisle cluster.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the rack clusters include at least one cold aisle cluster.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting a selected calculation model for determining the capture index based at least in part on the configuration of the equipment and calculating the capture index using the selected calculation model.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the selected calculation model is an algebraic model.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the algebraic model calculates the capture index of a rack in a hot aisle cluster based on a ratio of total captured airflow to total supplied airflow at the rack, wherein the total captured airflow is calculated based on airflow of all coolers in the hot aisle cluster and horizontal distances from the coolers to the rack, and wherein the total supplied airflow is calculated based on airflow of the rack, airflow of neighboring racks and horizontal distances of the neighboring racks from the rack.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the total supplied airflow and total captured airflow are further calculated using a coupling coefficient to weight calculated airflow of racks in a row opposite the rack.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the algebraic model calculates the capture index of a rack in a cold aisle cluster having a raised floor based on a ratio of total supplied airflow to total captured airflow at the rack, wherein the total captured airflow is calculated based on airflow of the rack, airflow of neighboring racks and horizontal distances of the neighboring racks from the rack, and wherein the total supplied airflow is calculated based on supplied airflow at the rack associated with airflow of tiles of the raised floor and geometric distances of the tiles from the rack.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the total captured airflow is further calculated using a coupling coefficient to weight the calculated airflow of racks in a row opposite the rack.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the algebraic model calculates the capture index of a rack in a cold aisle cluster having both a raised floor and at least one cooler based on a ratio of total supplied airflow to total captured airflow at the rack, wherein the total captured airflow is calculated based on airflow of the rack, airflow of neighboring racks and horizontal distances of the neighboring racks from the rack, and wherein the total supplied airflow is calculated based on (1) supplied airflow at the rack associated with airflow of tiles of the raised floor and geometric distances of the tiles from the rack, and (2) airflow of coolers in the cold aisle cluster, airflow path of the coolers, and horizontal distances of the coolers from the rack.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the selected calculation model is a computational fluid dynamics model.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the selected calculation model is a neural network model.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the selected calculation model is a PDA-CFD model.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center includes at least one in-row cooling unit disposed in a row of equipment racks, and wherein the method further includes determining temperature of return air to the at least one in-row cooling unit based on the capture index for each rack within a cluster associated with the in-row cooling unit.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining total escaped power for at least one rack cluster, and providing an indication of the total escaped power.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the capture index with a threshold and providing an indication if the capture index is below the threshold.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising optimizing a layout of at least one cluster based on an indication of a rack of the at least one cluster having a capture index less than the threshold and providing an optimized layout.

23. A computer readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions including instructions that will cause a processor to:

receive data related to a configuration of equipment in the data center;

identify rack clusters in the configuration of equipment, and for each rack cluster determine whether the rack cluster is a hot aisle cluster or a cold aisle cluster; and

determine a capture index for at least one equipment rack of at least one rack cluster based on identification of the at least one rack cluster as a hot aisle cluster or a cold aisle cluster.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to receive information related to airflow and power associated with the equipment.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine capture index based on airflow of cooling air available to the at least one rack cluster.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine capture index based on temperature of the cooling air.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine capture index based on airflow of rack hot air exhaust drawn by coolers.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine capture index based on temperature of the rack hot air exhaust.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine capture index for at least one rack of a hot aisle cluster having an in-row cooler.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine capture index for at least one rack of one cold aisle cluster that receives cooling air from a perforated tile of a raised floor.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the data center includes at least one in-row cooling unit disposed in a row of equipment racks, and wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine temperature of return air to the at least one in-row cooling unit based on the capture index for each rack within a cluster associated with the in-row cooling unit.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to determine total escaped power for at least one rack cluster, and provide an indication of the total escaped power.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to compare the capture index with a threshold and provide an indication if the capture index is below the threshold.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the sequences of instructions, further include instructions that will cause the processor to optimize a layout of at least one cluster based on an indication of a rack of the at least one cluster having a capture index less than the threshold and provide an optimized layout.

35. A data center management system comprising:

a memory for storing data; and

a controller coupled to the memory and configured to;

receive data related to a configuration of equipment in the data center;

identify rack clusters in the configuration of equipment, and for each rack cluster determine whether the rack cluster is a hot aisle cluster or a cold aisle cluster; and

determine a capture index for at least one equipment rack of at least one rack cluster based on identification of the at least one rack cluster as a hot aisle cluster or a cold aisle cluster.

36. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to receive information related to airflow and power associated with the equipment.

37. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to determine capture index based on airflow of cooling air available to the at least one rack cluster.

38. The data center management system of claim 37, wherein the controller is further configured to determine capture index based on temperature of the cooling air.

39. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to determine capture index based on airflow of rack hot air exhaust drawn by coolers.

40. The data center management system of claim 39, wherein the controller is further configured to determine capture index based on temperature of the rack hot air exhaust.

41. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to determine capture index for at least one rack of a hot aisle cluster having an in-row cooler.

42. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to determine capture index for at least one rack of one cold aisle cluster that receives cooling air from a perforated tile of a raised floor.

43. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to determine temperature of return air to at least one in-row cooling unit based on the capture index for each rack within a cluster associated with the in-row cooling unit.

44. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to determine total escaped power for at least one rack cluster, and provide an indication of the total escaped power.

45. The data center management system of claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to compare the capture index with a threshold and provide an indication if the capture index is below the threshold.

46. The data center management system of claim 45, wherein the controller is further configured to optimize a layout of at least one cluster based on an indication of a rack of the at least one cluster having a capture index less than the threshold and provide an optimized layout.

47. The data center management system of claim 35, further comprising a graphical output device coupled to the controller, and wherein the controller is configured to provide a graphical output of a layout of at least one cluster of racks to the graphical output device.