Data Center Cooling - Then, Now and the Future

Abstract

Data center cooling systems have varied widely over the years, yet the goal was always the same: keeping the facility running smoothly by preventing the internal equipment from overheating. As designs keep moving forward, we can see how cooling solutions and strategies have evolved and where they seem to be headed into the future. Air and water cooling, economization, energy recovery, and more have been explored and utilized all over the globe for extended periods of time. What has worked? What has worked best? Today’s data centers are ranked not just on reliability, but also on efficiency and cost effectiveness _ and the means of cooling the data center is one of the biggest energy and cost factors. This discussion will review the iterative design steps that have been taken in the past to see how cooling strategies have improved, and then forecast the next phases we may see in the near and perhaps not-so-near future.