Sunday March 21, 2010 1:15 PM AEST
Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > News > Will Sony's 3D Bravia leave you thunderstruck?
Intel tries using normal outside air to cool datacentres
NEWS

Intel tries using normal outside air to cool datacentres

by Sylvie Barak  on Sep 19, 2008
Tags: Intel | tries | using | normal | outside | air | to | cool | datacentres

Blowing in the wind

INTEL JUST RELEASED a white paper which reckons servers can stick it out in pretty tough conditions, cooled only with outside air and save money to boot.

The Intel report on "free cooling" talks about using something called air-side economisation which sucks in outside air to cool datacentres, pushing the hot air from the machines outside. The simplicity of it sounds stunning but even more stunning is that it could mean the end of the expensive, energy sucking CRAC units currently being used.

Testing to see if machines could actually be cooled by outside air temperatures as high as 32 degrees Celcius, Intel also decided to challenge the notion that outside, unpurified air was bad for servers. Turns out, it didn't do them too much harm.

Setting up a datacentre in New Mexico, with approximately 900 used production servers (standard, single-core, dual-socket, Intel-based machines) in a 93 square metre trailer – divided into two parts – Intel cooled one part with a warehouse-grade DX air-conditioning unit and the other almost only with fresh air.

When the outside air temperature reached over 32 degrees C, Intel switched on the aircon, and when temperatures dropped to below 18 degrees C, Intel warmed the air up a bit by mixing outside air with hot air coming out of the server.

Over the 10-month test, Intel figured its approach, whereby air economisers were used about 91 per cent of the time, saved about 67 per cent of the power needed for a 10MW datacentre, translating into monetary savings of US$2.87 million. Cool indeed.

And as for damage to the machines by humidity and bits of contamination? Well, considering no humidity controls were used whatsoever, and only a bog standard household air filter was put in, the results were not unimpressive.

"There was only a minimal difference between the 4.46 per cent failure rate in the economiser compartment and the 3.83 per cent failure rate in our main datacentre over the same period," noted Intel. Also, "the failure rate in the trailer compartment with DX cooling was 2.45 per cent, actually lower than in the main datacentre," according to the white paper.

Of course, with humidity fluctuations from four to over 90 per cent for machines cooled by outside air, the results were far from perfect, but at 74 per cent fewer KWhs to cool the trailer, Intel shouldn't let a bit of humidity dampen things.

theinquirer.net (c) 2009 Incisive Media
APRIL PC AUTHORITY - ON SALE NOW
In our AMD vs Intel CPU megatest we rate 50 of the best on the market - from budget to performance.
15 Internet Security Software packages get a going over in our 'torture test'.
Plus, we look at what works and what fails in MS Office 2010 and tell you how to try it - for free.
Email a Friend Email this
Print Page Print this
Tweet This Tweet this
Feedback Send us your tips


Ads by Google

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article.
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
Login or register to submit a comment.
 

Top Stories

Not in Australia, the innovative technologies you won't find here: paying with RFID
Paying for our goods with RFID technology might seem risky, but in some countries it's already commonplace. Can RFID payments be more than just an e-toll solution in Australia?
 
Vintage Tech: Looking back at 3DFX Voodoo
3DFX's technology was groundbreaking for its time, but the company is little but an Nvidia afterthought these days. What gave the Voodoo its special magic?
 
That pesky "water damage" phone issue: getting repairs could be tricky
Readers were telling us that repairers were claiming "water damage" as a reason for refusing to repair their phones. So what are your rights in this situation?
 


 
1) Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB36 plans 27%
2) Nokia E7228 plans 3%
3) Nokia E7147 plans 8%
4) Sony Ericsson Aino6 plans 3%
5) HTC Magic5 plans 3%
1) iiNet32 plans 5%
2) Netspace36 plans 11%
3) Optus41 plans 12%
4) 37 plans 6%
5) Telstra BigPond30 plans 4%

Mobiles | Broadband | Credit Cards

Haymarket - PC Authority