Quantitative comparison of air containment systems

Data center cooling energy efficiency is critical to successful operation of modern large data centers. The current trend of deploying high heat load density cabinets in data centers necessitates the use of air containment systems. According to a recent poll (by Gartner), about 80% of the data centers already have or are planning to deploy a containment system. There are primarily two types of air containment systems: hot air containment and cold air containment. This paper compares the performance and cooling energy costs of different types of air containment systems. It also includes the set of guidelines that should be considered when selecting one containment type over the other. In order to compare the performance of standard Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle (HA/CA) arrangement vs. Containment Systems we have selected a comprehensive data center layout. This layout contains a mix of equipment (Server, Networking, and Storage) which is characteristic of a typical data center facility. In this paper we will first determine the cooling needs of the equipment and establish the associated set point conditions for the CRAH (Computer Room Air Handlers) units, and then later consider different types of chilled water systems to do the comparative analysis.