Airflow management, what is this?

We keep hot and cold air within our highly efficient data centres separate. To do this, we utilise cold aisle containment systems, which means that there is a positive airflow direction which passes from the front of the racks to the rear.

Controlled temperature (cooled) air is only supplied to the front of the racks, within the containment pods, which is then drawn through client equipment to the rear, which is the exhaust side.

In order to maintain efficiency, we have certain requirements that customer deployments need to meet to ensure proper airflow management.

• Empty rack units must be filled with the 1U rack unit blanks provided in each data hall
• Equipment must use the correct airflow direction, that being front-to-rear
• Any rear-mounted equipment should be in a reverse airflow configuration
  • If this isn’t possible, said devices will need to be front-mounted, or siloed at the rear with rack blanks
• Equipment must be mounted within the marked rack unit numbers, to avoid partial-unit gaps which cannot be effectively blanked
• Any cable passthrough routes from front-to-rear will require brush strips or similar cable / airflow management considerations, to avoid open rack units for cable breaches

By maintaining proper airflow management within your rack(s), you’ll avoid issues with heatsoak and doom loops, which can cause your equipment to work harder and run warmer, which may reduce its lifespan.

Equally, you’ll be ensuring that the facility maintains its excellent efficiency and sustainability standards, which are of core importance to all stakeholders within the site.