Short-term suggestions also include regular maintenance of data center cooling systems
Record-breaking heat waves are making headlines and are testing economies around the world with no signs of temperatures dropping in the immediate future. As well as impacting people's lives, extreme heat is having a significant impact on data center operations and infrastructure, from blackouts and disruptions seen in UK data centers to reduced energy production at power stations in France to concerns about water use in drought-stricken areas around the world. Vertiv, (NYSE: VRT), a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, has released recommendations to data center operators and partner companies to help them overcome these challenges.
“We need to be prepared for these extreme weather conditions to become more common, so adapting to this situation is critical,” said Karsten Winther, President of Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "Customers are increasingly aware of the challenges that extreme heat brings and are rightly looking to mitigate the resulting risks to data center operations. Our Services teams have proven invaluable in providing the guidance and support needed, not only to manage the immediate impact of these changes, but also to explore with customers how to develop resilient plans for the future in advance."
To keep systems cool and help ensure data center availability, Vertiv experts recommend the following actions:
- Depending on the load on the data hall, it is best to use as many units as possible to reduce the load on each cooling unit. In general, an organization should operate all units redundantly, but if the IT load does not reach the 100% threshold, enough units should be used to achieve a cooling load as close to the desired level as possible. This keeps refrigerant pressures lower, avoiding the risk of running into overpressure situations due to high ambient temperatures and offering more efficient operation.
- Schedule a regular maintenance plan. Vertiv recommends its customers schedule quarterly preventative maintenance. For compressor (DX) units, Vertiv suggests cleaning the coils quarterly or more frequently. Failure to thoroughly and regularly clean these coils can cause the overall heat capacity of each unit to reduce more than the ambient temperature itself. Additionally, properly maintaining the refrigerant charge level helps achieve design capacity, operating efficiently and smoothly. Too low or too high a refrigerant charge can cause operational inefficiencies.
“The exceptional temperatures we are seeing around the world increase pressure on data center operators and infrastructure providers, challenging their abilities to maintain reliability and connectivity,” says Steve Madara, Vice President for Thermal Sales at Vertiv. "Extreme weather events highlight the importance of a robust maintenance and preventative care plan, tailored to the specific conditions of each operator's region. You may need to prepare to offset capacity increases with reductions in other operating expenses. Partnering with a qualified data center services provider is important to building a maintenance plan that meets the needs of today's heat waves and tomorrow's uncertain climate."
As the planet continues to warm and the climate crisis deepens, cases of extreme heat will become even more common. Short-term measures will need to be combined with more systematic, long-term changes across the industry.
“As an industry we should learn from regions such as the Middle East, Africa and Australia, as they have already adapted to the high temperatures present in their territory for most of the year,” added Madara. "When we do, it will be clear that the current standard will not get us far. We must rethink the planning of rooftop space and the design of our data center infrastructures to accommodate higher heat loads, rethinking the placement of infrastructure systems as well as their capacity."
Other long-term best practices Vertiv experts include:
- Consider different types of cooling systems, including immersion, waterless, and cooling systems freecooling evaporative, designed to offer reliability and efficiency in high temperature environments.
- If you rely on solar panels as an energy source, consider that their efficiency reduces as ambient temperatures rise.
- To determine data center capacity, use predictive models instead of relying only on historical data—data that cannot account for today's extreme temperatures.
Organizations wishing to have a control over the cooling systems of their data centers or who have doubts about business continuity and predictive maintenance in the event of extreme heat events can contact Vertiv experts by consulting the website vertiv.com.
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